Patterns & Metaphors
Shifting patterns of activity
Template:
Individuals when free to choose the activities in which they wish to engage will perform one activity until they 'get bored with it' and then shift to some other 'more interesting' activity. The activities selected may include talking, eating, watching TV, going for a walk, music, bird watching, doing a crossword puzzle, playing a game, gardening, etc. At some stage they will take up each of the earlier activities again.
Metaphor:
Collective attention and public opinion may also be seen as shifting its focus of attention between activities 'currently in the news'.
[Features] The variety of possibilities that may be temporarily selected out of the pool of activities is quite large. The ability of an activity to sustain interest for any period of time varies. The nature of the interest is very different as though each provided a different kind of nourishment (or vitamin). It is not clear whether there is any order to the shifts or how long before an activity may once again become of interest.
[Contrast] Public opinion is notoriously fickle concerning the subjects which retain its interest for any period of time. Fresh items ('news') are clearly essential even though they fall into familiar categories. The question is what kinds of (better) nourishment can be provided with what sort of frequency.
[Keys] The process of becoming bored and the emergence of a 'hunger' for some alternative form of 'nourishment'. The nature of the search for 'kicks' and the importance of 'happenings'. The inter-activity hiatus.<
