On September 11, AEI’s Christine Rosen and M. Anthony Mills discussed Dr. Rosen’s forthcoming book, The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World.
After opening remarks from Dr. Mills, Dr. Rosen introduced her book, noting that as humans have increasingly used—and become increasingly reliant on—technology, it has formed new ways of experiencing and understanding the world in ways that are distinct from past generations. Technology is driving to extinction many deeply important human experiences, including learning new things, tolerating boredom and idleness, understanding human emotions, and feeling grounded. The extinction of these has immense costs for the individual and society. Simultaneously, Dr. Rosen expressed concern about what technology companies want to know about us and why, observing that these practices raise serious privacy and freedom concerns.
Dr. Rosen argued that it is imperative to find and enforce the right balance between placing limits on some of the more extremely transformative projects while not stifling innovation. At the same time, she argued that technology users will have to place some limits on their usage to preserve these essential aspects of the human experience.
Following a discussion between Dr. Rosen and Dr. Mills, the event concluded with a Q&A.
—Jaehun Lee
Event Description
Human experiences are disappearing. Social media, gaming, and dating apps have usurped in-person interaction; handwriting is no longer prioritized in schools; and emotion is sooner expressed through likes and emoji than face-to-face conversations. In The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World, AEI’s Christine Rosen shows that when we embrace a life mediated by machines, we risk becoming more disconnected and machinelike ourselves.
There is another way. To improve our well-being, help future generations flourish, and recover our shared humanity, we must become more critical and mindful users of technology and more discerning of how it uses us. Please join AEI for a discussion between Dr. Rosen and AEI’s M. Anthony Mills on the human crisis of our digital age and how we can reclaim serendipity, community, patience, and risk.
Event Materials
Christine Rosen: The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World
Robert Michael Pyle: The Thunder Tree: Lessons from an Urban Wildland