Absence is ending—but don’t worry, it’s not a bad thing. That’s what Michael Harris explains in his most recent book The End of Absence, published by Penguin Random House. What is absence exactly? In short it’s the time you used to have to be alone with your thoughts that is now taken up by your digital device.
The Internet is a tool—a very powerful tool, but a tool nonetheless. It can be used for good, and evil, but the most interesting part is the unintended, maybe even unrealized, impact constant connection has had on our life.
The Internet gives us instant gratification and validation in through iMessage pings and status updates. It’s no surprise our faces are always buried in our phones— humans are social creatures, we’re all looking for some connection.
So absence is out and the Internet is in. Is that bad? Ultimately no, it’s not a good or a bad thing, but it is an important thing. Right now we live in a time no other generation will understand: We know—many of us at least—what life was like before the internet and what life is like with the Internet. Think about the implications of that and how future generations will view us—the people who were around when the first iPhone was released, or those “old timers” who remember having to pay 10 cents to make a phone call.
While we’re not arguing to throw out your iPhone and start communicating via smoke signal. We do suggest reminding yourself, every once in a while, what life was like before your phone was so small you could actually lose it in your couch.
The End of Absence is available from HarperCollins in Canada and from Current (Penguin Random House) in the United States.
Buy The End of Absence on Amazon (US) or Amazon (Canada)
Find out more on www.endofabsence.com
Top photo courtesy of Hudson Hayden
