Review Article: Life in An Era of Techno-Anxiety

Abstract

Techno-optimism and its close ally, transhumanism, are perennial publishing categories. Not all of the news is rosy, however. Recent titles express real doubts about our increasingly digitized lifestyles. The three works reviewed here attack from different angles. Jonathan Haidt summarizes social science data to make a convincing case for reigning in the use of social media and cellphones by children and teenagers. Vincent Gambuto takes a confessional approach to show how electronic media dictates much of our awareness. He suggests we go deep within to find the resources to counter the digital enticements imposed on us. Christine Rosen raises the alarm at a macro level by noting how experience itself is being refashioned by digital media. From micro-habits like selfies to our inability to savor the spontaneous or unplanned event, our experiences are increasingly mediated. Experience as a result becomes indirect; ourselves are increasingly distant from the object of experience, and the senses become less central to a shared sense of being than they ever have been. These three works on digital aspects of experience open up critical issues for our age. And these issues are worth considering deeply. Collective decisions at every level—governmental, educational, familial and personal—will shape much of social reality in the near future.