Interesting piece—I had seen both books and hadn’t read them, so I appreciate your glosses. My question with your piece and ones like it are the specifics. Yes, we are distracted. But distracted from what? Our bodies, yes, as you suggest. But then what? More sex? Sure. But what else? Implicit in some of the Lawrence’s language is a much darker political project, and you rightfully avoid that. But what instead? Pessimistically, I sometimes see phones as the greatest gift because they are a distraction from distraction—splinters in our eyes so that we do not have to face the void of a disenchanted life.
Ambitious essay. I’m a little surprised Simone Weil didn’t get a mention, however. If you haven’t read her I wouldn’t be surprised if she ends up in your pantheon once you do.
No matter where you look away from electronic distractions, no matter how far you travel to escape from the internet, no matter how much you "put down your phone" (old people logic), what will be a guarantee, and absolute truth is there will always be an exhausting amount of abrahamic evangelists whom go through great lengths to sell you their god weirdly similar to an intruding friend from high-school reaching out to you from the past's abyss who turns out to be a part of a mediocre multi-level marketing scheme which they reveal over lunch at Luby's
Interesting piece—I had seen both books and hadn’t read them, so I appreciate your glosses. My question with your piece and ones like it are the specifics. Yes, we are distracted. But distracted from what? Our bodies, yes, as you suggest. But then what? More sex? Sure. But what else? Implicit in some of the Lawrence’s language is a much darker political project, and you rightfully avoid that. But what instead? Pessimistically, I sometimes see phones as the greatest gift because they are a distraction from distraction—splinters in our eyes so that we do not have to face the void of a disenchanted life.
Great article...about the rising tide of mobile phones and their use...
How quickly we all forget what we were doing before the Puter and phone arrived...
When we were children at play did we stop to gaze at LCD screens?!
Great piece Emma - beautifully written and thought-provoking.
I just want to supplement it with a quote by photographer Yousuf Karsh (frequently, if mistakenly, attributed to Jung).
'Character, like a photograph, develops in darkness'.
Ambitious essay. I’m a little surprised Simone Weil didn’t get a mention, however. If you haven’t read her I wouldn’t be surprised if she ends up in your pantheon once you do.
No matter where you look away from electronic distractions, no matter how far you travel to escape from the internet, no matter how much you "put down your phone" (old people logic), what will be a guarantee, and absolute truth is there will always be an exhausting amount of abrahamic evangelists whom go through great lengths to sell you their god weirdly similar to an intruding friend from high-school reaching out to you from the past's abyss who turns out to be a part of a mediocre multi-level marketing scheme which they reveal over lunch at Luby's