It's very hard to fight the fight, though. I make a resolution like this, and then I want to share it online. I write a book about the typewriter revolution, and then I promote it on social media.
This evening I went to a beautiful library downtown to hear Susan Orlean read from her forthcoming book, The Library Book, to a large and welcoming crowd, and I fantasized about living a completely paper-based lifestyle. Then I took out my phone.
You've put your finger on it, Richard... We're immersed in it now. I think all that Kurzweil talk of the Singularity was premature, but we've entered a more pedestrian version of it - we can't not engage with digital networks now. Or to go completely cold turkey doesn't make sense, there's always some digital context tagging us back in.
And maybe we're becoming more network-minded, machinic and data-enabled than ever. Philip K Dick is our spirit totem.
But we can take back some ownership; we can judge and discriminate, and not jump on every damn web trend that approaches for FOMO.
You are 100% right.
ReplyDeleteIt's very hard to fight the fight, though. I make a resolution like this, and then I want to share it online. I write a book about the typewriter revolution, and then I promote it on social media.
This evening I went to a beautiful library downtown to hear Susan Orlean read from her forthcoming book, The Library Book, to a large and welcoming crowd, and I fantasized about living a completely paper-based lifestyle. Then I took out my phone.
You've put your finger on it, Richard... We're immersed in it now. I think all that Kurzweil talk of the Singularity was premature, but we've entered a more pedestrian version of it - we can't not engage with digital networks now. Or to go completely cold turkey doesn't make sense, there's always some digital context tagging us back in.
ReplyDeleteAnd maybe we're becoming more network-minded, machinic and data-enabled than ever. Philip K Dick is our spirit totem.
But we can take back some ownership; we can judge and discriminate, and not jump on every damn web trend that approaches for FOMO.