The End Of Absence- Reclaiming what we've lost in a world of constant connection by Michael Harris

BOOK REVIEW

This book is easy to read with good vocabulary. During the first half of the book, it is like listening to one side of debate for hours. Some times it clicks and resonates, other times it doesn't. He advocates a very abstract thing called absence against all the material technology. I think he used the notion of abstract to bring out the poetic stance. By sharing personal excerpts in the second half of the book, be it his relationship with Kenny or the journal of analog august, he manages to build a trust with readers. And also he puts forth the message that even he is not perfect, even he does not know what he is trying to achieve. I think this adds beauty to the book. What seemed like listening to a rant or debate turns annoyance into sympathy. One solution he offers is to not drown in the sea of content but take breaks of solitude,

gazing into nothing and reflecting. forming our own thoughts.

*This is a link to the book's vocabulary: https://www.vocabulary.com/lists/6833162

 

The End Of Absence- Reclaiming What we've lost in a world of constant connection

Chapter Review

CHAPTER 7

Memory (The Good Error)

The chapter on memory is very weakly argued. Though I agreed with the arguments but he really couldn't convince  why outsourcing is bad. Why is it wrong to have extensions of our memories in our mobile phones?. He gives answers by analogies like when man with 10 memory slaves was asked to join wrestling. He must have found himself in a loss for words. I could infer that the author wants to say that outsourcing your memory makes it alien. It is not personal anymore. But this argument is very weak, Why would I care if my memory is no more private, I am only concerned about retrieval of information when i need it. Then he goes on to draw differences in computer memory and human brain. But everything muddles and he is inefficient in explaining the harm of outsourcing. Even I dont see any harm other than if you want to remember things for test. Interesting points were put forward when he discussed Sherlock Holmes and emphasised on letting selective useful things inside long term memory and also when he  interviewed his teacher and he gives him the moral as you sow shall you reap. He touches on an interesting point that memory begets thought and thought begets actions, actions begets habits, habits begets character/ personality and character begets destiny. So, memory plays a pivotal role in our personality. Also, I hoped that author would have offered solution to the problems faced by information explosion. We tend to have a hard time memorising. I wished he would have told some effective methods to memorise what we look up on google and normally forget as the book is sub titled reclaiming what we've lost. We can't reclaim simply by discussing the problem, author should have offered solutions.