Columbus Page #2

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after just a few minutes.

Now, if this was reversed,

if the son was talking...

about how his dad would read

for hours...

and he once tried reading

with him, but found it boring...

after a few minutes, well,

he would accuse the son...

of having a short attention

span, right?

But why don't we accuse

the professor...

of having a short attention

span?

Because it's not about attention

for him. It just seems idiotic.

But what if that's exactly

the case for the son?

See, what he's saying is that

this boy is actually able...

to give hours of attention

to a video game...

because it's interesting to him.

Yeah, but that's because video

games are designed...

for people with short attention

spans.

Yeah, see, that's what bookish

people say.

But no, what this guy is saying

is...

it's not a matter of attention,

but of interest.

The professor doesn't have

patience for the video game...

because he's not interested

in that kind of experience.

In the same way that the son

might not be interested...

in books, and it's not that he

doesn't have the ability...

to pay attention,

clearly he does.

Like the professor, he's able

to pay attention for hours...

if he finds something

interesting.

So, down with books,

long live video games?

No, not at all.

What he's offering is a critique

of a critique.

But in its place, he identifies

a different kind of crisis.

Not the crisis of attention,

but the crisis of interest.

See, to talk about attention is

its own kind of distraction.

Kids pay attention to

things that interest them.

The real question is what

interests them? Or us?

Are we losing interest in things

that matter?

Words on a page, for instance.

Yeah, see, maybe that's not

so important.

What about everyday life?

Are we losing interest

in everyday life?

You got all this from

marginalia?

Well, you know, he also filled

all the blank pages in the back.

(MUFFLED DANCE MUSIC PLAYING)

Casey?

- Emma... hey.

- Hi.

I was hoping to see you.

Yeah, when did you get back?

Oh, just a few days ago.

I'm only here for a week.

Really?

My roommates and I, we're

getting an apartment this year.

It's gonna be so fun. We're all

flying in early to set it up.

[CASEY]

Wow, it sounds great.

Yeah, I can't wait.

[CASEY]

How was Amsterdam?

Oh my god. It was the best.

You have to go one day.

[CASEY]

Yeah.

No, seriously, you would

love it.

The museums, they're incredible.

Guys are so much more

interesting.

Yeah. Um, and school, how is

that going?

I love it. Sophomore year was

even better. LA is amazing.

It already feels like home.

I'll probably end up staying

out there.

[CASEY]

Yeah.

I mean, I can't imagine coming

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