Michael Harris (26)Critiques

The first half or so was very interesting & thought-provoking, but then it bogged down.

I really enjoyed Harris' extensive pondering on what it means to be the last generation who will ever know what life was like pre-Internet. I appreciated the fact that he wasn't being prescriptive. There were no hard-and-fast rules, no advice, no massive a-ha moments saying "THIS is the right way to live your life in a world that's as hyperconnected as ours."

The truth is, we do live in a world of constant connection. Our phones are always available methods of distraction. But those phones are also tools. They're brought incredibly positive elements to our lives, and yes, there can be downsides to their use as well. I particularly appreciated Harris' willingness to be non-judgemental about the people who choose to live their lives in constant connection.

I think the audience for this book is limited, as not everyone born in our generation cares about, or wishes to return to, a time pre-Internet and pre-connectivity. Harris brings up some interesting points and offers plenty of food for thought, but I admit at times my eyes started to glaze over. The book reads as a meditation on the world in which we live, with strong storytelling and solid research.

I could only make it through about 50 pages of this book. I agree with the basic thesis--we don't have enough unstructured time in our lives--but we also don't have enough editors!!!! This author had the unfortunate habit of restating the same relatively straightforward thought about 3 times on each page.

The books begins with the story of Dr. Bone. She spent seven years in prison in isolation and loved it. Was she demented? I mean who likes to be alone? We punish our kids with time outs.

The is a thoughtful book. I love the part of discussing reading vs social reading. The book takes a jab at us losing something valuable by using Google maps. And how the ubiquitous emoji has flattened our rich vocabulary.

I could have just rated the book as 4 stars and been done with it. But hey, I don't have to boil my thoughts for this book into a single star rating to fit into someone else's algorithm. This is my book review, written by Wellington's personal algorithm.

Magnífico ensayo sobre la visión de la soledad y el trabajo individual.

Interesting rumination but, despite what the goal of the author might be, the argument is a little soft.

We live in a hyper-connected world. If you have a smart phone then you can probably only go a few minutes without having to look at it. There is a constant stream of notifications from emails and social media app that clamour for your attention every time you pop it back in your pocket. The flip side of this is that there are more people today who are incredibly lonely, ironic given that we have a whole world at our fingertips.

Solitary confinement is often used as an extreme form of imprisonment, and the book begins with the story of Dr Edith Bone’s who was locked away for seven years and 59 days. She managed to stay sane by mentally walking through cities she had visited and survived. Our modern life means that the distractions can end up taking over far too often. (Twitter, I am looking at you). However, what Harris wants to concentrate on in this book is the positive effects of solitude. That by taking time away from life means that we can fully concentrate on the matter in hand and possibly even recapture some of our own sanity.

I also realised I was getting angry. Angry because part of my life had been stolen from me. So I set myself looking for those lost pieces of solitude in every corner of the world.

Solitude is something that companies want to erode as profits lie in getting you to consume time and their product or service. However, you can turn it around if you choose to do so. Solitude is the process of removing external distractions and concentrating on the matter that is important to you at that moment. Having time alone to allow your mind to wander will bring forth fresh ideas and direction before you re-engage with the world again. My favourite part was when he spent a week at the family cabin on an island off the coast of British Columbia and lived out the premise of the book. It takes him a few days and then he starts to notice things, that while they have always been there, he has never noticed before. I think he writes well, the book is well researched too, he handles the subject matter well, keeping it interesting and the narrative flowing. Lot of things to think about after reading this and that is a good thing. 3.5 stars

This book presents a lot of interesting ideas about our reliance and constant connection to the internet (social media, email, etc.). It's neither negative not positive, and the author concludes that it's not about good or bad, but about finding balance and using these tools wisely.

The author takes a look at Internet culture, and asks what we have lost in return for constant connectivity. He researches his topic well, and is able to back up many of his claims with research. He writes very well, but I will admit that it is disconcerting at times to hear someone born in 1980 wonder what happened to the years of his young adulthood before the Internet. I have to say, he is about the age of my son, and he had no adulthood without the Internet. I expect he is thinking more about the constant barrage now, mainly with smart phones, of never leaving any part of your world behind because you are carrying it all with you, but it is still able to induce a skeptical snort from an old timer like myself who really does remember the world before the Internet...in fact, I can still remember rotary phones, I am that old. There are also some places where his youth leads him down some questionable alleys, such as assuming when his friends hand their toddler in a high chair a tablet to keep him quiet at a restaurant - what choice do they have? Uh, the same choices we had when you were young...pick the damn kid up and pay attention to him for five minutes. So, other than some moments of silliness, and the assumption that the world will continue going this way for ever (hello? have you heard of the environmental catastrophe we are headed for?), he does a good job with his subject, and does in the end advocate for at least some time of silence, of loneliness, of just being in the world, rather than detaching from it, or accessing it only virtually. He does not suggest he has the answers, but he is willing to ask the questions.

Michael Harris gehört nach seiner Wortwahl zur Generation "digital immigrants", also der letzten Generation, die sich noch an Zeiten ohne Computer, Internet und Smartphone erinnern kann.

Im ersten Teil des Buches macht Harris eine umfangreiche Bestandsaufnahme´: wie selbstverständlich die Informationsquelle Internet und die ständige Erreichbarkeit über das Smartphone heutzutage schon ist, aber auch wie belastend die ständige Erreichbarkeit sein kann. Und er macht sich Gedanken inwieweit diese neue Verfügbarkeit von Informationen den Wissenserwerb des einzelnen auch negativ beeinflussen kann - wozu lernen, wenn doch alles mit einem Mausklick zu finden ist? Die Veränderung beim Lernen stellt er dann auch der Veränderung beim Lernen gegenüber, die entstand, als die rein mündliche Tradition der Wissensweitergabe durch geschriebene, später gedruckte Worte abgelöst wurde.

Der zweite Teil beschäftigt sich dann mit Möglichkeiten (und einem Selbstversuch), sich der ständigen Informationsflut und Erreichbarkeit zu entziehen.

Der Text gab mir einige Denkanstöße, liefert aber aus meiner Sicht keine Lösungen zum, laut Untertitel, "Wiedererlangen dessen, was wir in einer Welt ständiger Erreichbarkeit verloren haben". Aber das Buch ist auch insgesamt nicht als Ratgeber angelegt, sondern sinniert eher über den Wandel durch die ständige Präsenz digitaler Medien. Das hätte aus meiner Sicht aber auf weniger Seiten erreicht werden können.

Und ja, auch ich gehöre zu den "digital immigrants", habe mich in vielem wiedergefunden und das Buch hat den Blick für einige der beschriebenen Phänomene geschärft.½

I'd thought this would be a book along the lines of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking or perhaps Party of One: The Loners' Manifesto: a book about the strengths and benefits of being alone. But the other books I've mentioned were written by introverts. Solitude feels like it was written by an extrovert who's just heard of this exotic practice of Being Alone and is trying it out. The style is enthusiastic and engaging, but several times, I wanted to say, "Well, yes, wasn't that obvious?" to something the author is clearly experiencing for the first time. The focus of the book, much of the time, isn't on solitude, but on interconnectedness. Interesting, and the author brings up several points worth pondering, but it wasn't what I'd thought the book would be about, and I ended up disappointed because of that.

I've talked about, recommended and pulled parts of this book away to think more about since finishing it only a couple days ago -

why? Perhaps because it was for me a winning combination of a seemingly sincere journalistic rather than highbrow examination of ideas with a candid, even droll memoir - to me an irresistible pairing perfect for the subject matter !

The End of Absence is thoroughly enjoyable meditation on the vagaries of our relationship to computer technology and the pitfalls this relationship entails. It rests nicely, and perhaps more accessibly, in the tradition of Marshall McLuhan and especially of Neil Postman and his "technological resistance fighter [who] maintains an epistemological and psychic distance from any technology, so that it always appears somewhat strange, never inevitable, never natural." ( Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology , p. 285).

It is precisely this distancing which constitutes the mental experiment and ultimate value of this book - the criticism and probity into our technologies, which is the first step in dismantling or controlling any undue power that they may possess in our lives. The End of Absence, however, only suggests, and never prescribes practices that may allow us to regain the knowledge and experience of "absence". Reading War and Peace seemed to be a fruitful, if initially frustrating, experience for the author, but his one-month technology fast did not prove to be especially enlightening. The author does not dwell too much on this fact, except to advise temperance rather than complete abstinence, but I think it shows that the perils of modern computer technologies are well moderated by a parallel habit of using the older technologies, so that the benefits of both may be obtained and the influence of their drawbacks softened. The question, however, is whether such a state of affairs can be maintained on a larger, societal scale. History seems to suggest its impossibility, and even Harris is extremely skeptical, which lends his prose a desperate and ultimately defeatist note. That is not to say that there isn't a certain dose of optimism and inspiration to evaluate and curtail one's own use of computer technologies (something that I was definitely prompted to do after reading, and which led me to delete my Snapchat and Instagram accounts - oh the freedom!); but it is far too limited in a book that is ostensibly all about "reclaiming what we've lost in a world of constant connection".

I fear also that Harris' well-reasoned advice will mostly be of use to quite privileged people as himself (or myself). I fear that many of the people who are most in need of technological moderation will never experience it, because of Harris' reticence to even suggest matters of public policy (although I realize that is not the aim of his book). Individual choices make a difference, but more often than not, these choices are only available to the better educated and relatively wealthier populace, which may result in the poor having to bear the brunt of the negative consequences of extreme computer/smartphone use. What I mean is that Silicon Valley millionaires might well send their children to private schools where pen-and-pencil is the permanent state of affairs, they might well limit these same children's smartphone use, but what about the parents who have to send their children to public schools, where increasing integration of technology is the current orthodoxy (very much so here in the folkeskoler of Denmark, for example)? What about the parents who don't have the time or the cultural capital to monitor and regulate technology use? Who might themselves be impervious to its pitfalls?

My criticism then is that Harris is far too modest, far too unambitious. He is too careful in balancing things out, because he insists on personal choice, and people like him do benefit from such choice. And while he does engage, as I mentioned, in the tradition of those such as Postman, the latter, although mostly preoccupied with critique, also manages to offer solutions, such a vastly different school curriculum that focuses on the epistemology and history of subjects, as opposed to their current disjointed and non-contextualized form. Harris never addresses anything of the sort. He speaks of societal problems: children weaned on iPads, trying to zoom into a magazine cover, whose perception of reality is detrimentally colored by computer technologies; the perils of the confessional nature of the internet, exemplified in the distressing story of Amanda Todd; the pitfalls of relying on blogs and comments rather than the refined subjectivity and depth of experience that critics draw on; the replacement of memory by reminiscence, knowledge by information, and so on and so forth, but the only solutions he tries to invoke are small and personal, unable to seriously challenge the flow of societal change, even though he is at times almost shrill in his denunciations of technological reality.

While this criticism is significant, I still give the the book 4 stars for readability, solid writing, depth of reflection, enjoyment and for the personal challenge it issued to me. Ironically, as Lisa Zeidner remarks in her Washington Post review of the book, it "has a kinetic energy well-matched to our jumpy attention spans." The breadth of research and material involved is not unimpressive, and I appreciated how Harris tackled the issue from many angles in consulting neurologists, writers, it experts and anecdotes. He aptly puts the issue in historical context, drawing from the history of writing and printing as predecessors to our own dilemma, and competently sifting through both the differences and similarities between these technological developments. Ultimately, The End of Absence is less ambitious and narrower in scope than, for example, Postman's Technopoly, but it is a good start and Harris is a worthy contemporary example of Postmans's "technological resistance fighter". Additionally, the book relevantly addresses newer technological advances and phenomena that are not covered in older works, and so it functions as welcome update and companion to them. I very much enjoyed it, and would warmly recommend.

The first half or so was very interesting & thought-provoking, but then it bogged down.

This was NOT easy reading but it was worth wading through as it explains what I was thinking about technology taking over our communication. Technology in the area of comunications has opened up so quickly for so many people of ALL ages. Young children can be seen carrying their tablet or iPhone, the elderly are begging their grandchildren to slow down as they instruct them of these new devices. This is an eloquent, well written and though provoking book, not meant to be read in one sitting. "Free" time as we knew it has been replaced by needing/wanting to be in contact at all times with people, the universe and anything else to take away our attention. Do our technologies use us as much as we use them? Check out this book for the answers. A great read.

According to Michael Harris, human beings are in a period of existential transition. The End of Absence is his examination of what's being lost, this waning absence, as our civilization rockets toward a digitally interconnected future. Each chapter is a discussion, and often a meditation, on a particular aspect of living. We humans have been physically doing things a certain way since the dawn of civilization and are now wrestling with the transition to the new digital era. The struggles herein range from humorous to ridiculous to sorrowful.

Given the whole, my favorite has got to be the prologue. It's near perfect. The entire book is exceptional but the author's intro wins Best of Show.½

A probing analysis. It serves as an introduction to a significant cultural phenomenon that could be overlooked because we're so in the forest. I'll be reading related books soon.

"Somehow I’d left behind my old quiet life. And now I wanted it back.” (Ch 1)

Book Description: from Amazon.ca
Only one generation in history (ours) will experience life both with and without the Internet. For everyone who follows us, online life will simply be the air they breathe. Today, we revel in ubiquitous information and constant connection, rarely stopping to consider the implications for our logged-on lives.

Michael Harris chronicles this massive shift, exploring what we've gained-and lost-in the bargain … Harris argues that our greatest loss has been that of absence itself – of silence, wonder and solitude. It's a surprisingly precious commodity, and one we have less of every year. Drawing on a vast trove of research and scores of interviews with global experts, Harris explores this "loss of lack" in chapters devoted to every corner of our lives, from sex and commerce to memory and attention span. The book's message is urgent: once we've lost the gift of absence, we may never remember its value.

My Review:
A colleague brought The End of Absence, which won the Governor General’s Literary Award for non-fiction in 2014, to my attention. It is well-researched and certainly thought provoking, if an occasionally dry read. I don’t think any of us who have experienced life both Before/After the Internet will find any staggering surprises here. But it is good to renew my awareness of the problems created by the incessant buzzing and pinging that has become our daily existence with “the dominance of communication over experience" (Ch 1): attention deficit; changes in brain activity; the unproductive frenzy that is multi-tasking; and, of course, the absence of rejuvenating solitude.

Notable Quotes:
“As we embrace a technology’s gifts, we usually fail to consider what they ask from us in return – the subtle, hardly noticeable payments we make in exchange for their marvelous service. We don’t notice, for example, that the gaps in our schedules have disappeared because we’re too busy delighting in the amusements that fill them. We forget the games that childhood boredom forged because boredom itself has been outlawed. Why would we bother to register the end of solitude, of ignorance, of lack? Why would we care that an absence has disappeared?” (Ch 1)

“Absence isn’t going to return to us easily. Just as we decide to limit our intake of the sugars and fats that we’re designed to hoard, we now must decide to sometimes keep at bay the connectivity we’re hardwired to adore. We must remain as critical of technological progress as we are desirous of it. And we must make these decisions not because we dislike the things we could connect to, but precisely because they’re so crucial to our survival.” (Ch 9)½

Consider this: if you were born in the 1980s, you're part of the last generation of human history to experience what life was like before the Internet. Michael Harris wrote this book to explore what that means. In his words, we need to consider:

"What will we carry forward? And what worthy things might we thoughtlessly leave behind" (15)?

In the first half of the book Harris makes a compelling case for how drastically our always-on and always-connected culture is affecting us. This transformation has arrived so insidiously, we haven't recognized it.

"Think of that moment when the fridge shuts off, causing you to realize—in the silence that ensues—that you'd been hearing its persistent hum before. You thought you knew silence, but you were really surrounded by the machine's steady buzz. Now multiply that sensation by the world" (109).

Anyone who has tried to turn of their technology for any length of time knows this feeling. This silence is a consequence of every major canoe trip I take—and something I have grown to cherish!

In the second half of the book, Harris explores how to respond to these changes. This is where Harris and I part ways. Instead of suggesting and exploring real ways to remain grounded and (at least at times) unconnected, he assumes the inevitability of the change and makes peace with it. After all, how could we possibly hook up without Internet dating sites?

The conclusion that gives him a sense of peace is unsatisfying for me:

"Every technology will alienate you from some part of your life. That is its job. Your job is to notice. First notice the difference. And then, every time, choose" (206).

Immediately my mind went to Ellul in considering the effect this alienation has on those who resist—either by choice or by demographic. Nothing alienates our elderly like a world of constant connection.

The End of Absence is an insightful book that belongs on the shelf beside Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death and Nicholas Carr's The Shallows. Read it and either mourn for what we've lost or consider how to forge a way ahead.½

The End of Absence by Michael Harris is a discussion of how the internet and cell phones have led to a constant connection between people. The book explores how this impacting current society and the interactions between people. The book makes it clear that is has had some negative impacts along with all of the good that comes from the constant connection. It makes the statement that individuals need to look at the impact on them and make a choice on how to use this constant connection.

Michael Harris explores how previous technology has had significant impact on the life style and lives. One of the major ones was the printing press. Major new technology always leads to some disruption of the status quo and major changes in society as it moves forward. Some impacts are good and some are bad.½

No real complaint - fine writing, but this wasn't much of a book. One hundred and four pages? I just wanted more. More from the story, more from the characters ... more!