Opinion | Zadie Smith on Populists, Frauds and Flip Phones
Like so many technologies that came before, it seems to be here to stay; the question is not how to escape it but how to understand ourselves in its inescapable wake.
In his new book, “The Internet Is Not What You Think It Is,” Justin E. H. Smith, a professor of philosophy at the Université Paris Cité, argues that “the present situation is intolerab... See more
In his new book, “The Internet Is Not What You Think It Is,” Justin E. H. Smith, a professor of philosophy at the Université Paris Cité, argues that “the present situation is intolerab... See more
Kyle Chayka • How the Internet Turned Us Into Content Machines
Keely Adler and added
Visakan Veerasamy and added
Yet, smartphones are much more than an accumulation of improvements in hardware and software into a pocket-sized device that we spend too much time looking at. They represent something entirely new. When we pick up our phones, our taps and swipes engage not only a system of hardware and software, but also something much bigger—a set of institutions
... See moreNicole Aschoff • The Smartphone Society
Andreas Vlach added
When we stop worrying about smartphones just in terms of content (what we’re looking at) and start to consider the rituals that tether us to them throughout the day, we’ll notice that the very form of the practice comes loaded with an egocentric vision that makes me the center of the universe.
James K. A. Smith • You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit
The Zeitgeist Is Changing. A Strange, Romantic Backlash to the Tech Era Looms
Ross Barkantheguardian.com
The internet is also in large part inextricable from life’s pleasures: our friends, our families, our communities, our pursuits of happiness, and—sometimes, if we’re lucky—our work. In part out of a desire to preserve what’s worthwhile from the decay that surrounds it, I’ve been thinking about five intersecting problems: first, how the internet is
... See moreJia Tolentino • Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion
I’ve been thinking about five intersecting problems: first, how the internet is built to distend our sense of identity; second, how it encourages us to overvalue our opinions; third, how it maximizes our sense of opposition; fourth, how it cheapens our understanding of solidarity; and, finally, how it destroys our sense of scale.
Jia Tolentino • Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion
sari added
The question I’m really asking, I realize now, is how to be human. When I write, or read, or paint, I am more of a human than I am a gadget. The words you are reading I first put down in longhand using a sharpened pencil. While I was writing, I did not check my email. At such moments, I feel I’m myself rather than a body attached to a buzzing phone... See more
Amitava Kumar • How Daily Record-Keeping Changed My Life
sari added