The Extinction of Experience

Reclaiming Our Humanity in a Digital World

Christine Rosen

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Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Bodleian Library
21 January 2025

Society & Social Sciences; Sociology; Impact of science & technology on society

A philosophical defence of what makes us human - and a powerful argument for reclaiming ourselves in a digital world

Drawing on decades of research, The Extinction of Experience is a philosophical defence of what makes us human - and a powerful, urgent call to reclaim ourselves in a digital world.

Human experiences are disappearing.

Social media, gaming and dating apps have usurped in-person interaction; handwriting is no longer prioritised in schools; and emotion is sooner expressed through likes and emojis than face-to-face conversations. With headphones in and eyes trained on our phones, even boredom has been obliterated. But, as Christine Rosen expertly shows, when we embrace this mediated life and conform to the demands of the machine, we risk becoming disconnected and machine-like ourselves.

There is another way. For too long, under the influence of corporate giants and tech enthusiasts, we've accepted the idea that change always means better. But rapidly developing technology isn't neutral - it's ambivalent, and capable of enormous harm. To improve our well-being, help future generations flourish and recover our shared humanity, we must become more critical, mindful users of technology, and more discerning of how it uses us.

From TikTok challenges and algorithms to surveillance devices and conspiracy culture, The Extinction of Experience reveals the human crisis of our digital age - and urges us to return to the real world, while we still can.

By: Christine Rosen
Imprint: Bodleian Library
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 154mm, Spine: 20mm
Weight: 336g
ISBN: 9781847922090
ISBN 10: 1847922090
Pages: 272
Publication Date: 21 January 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Christine Rosen is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a columnist for Commentary magazine, senior editor at the New Atlantis and fellow at the University of Virginia's Institute for Advance Studies in Culture. She is the author of six books, including My Fundamentalist Education, which was chosen as a Washington Post Nonfiction Book of the Year. Her writing has been published in the New York Times, Slate, Los Angeles Times, Politico and more. She lives in Washington, DC.

Reviews for The Extinction of Experience: Reclaiming Our Humanity in a Digital World

Important ... an urgent interrogation of our increasing reliance on digitally mediated experience * Lit Hub *Most anticipated books of 2024* * Engaging and impeccably researched, this book serves as an important reminder that survival during this time of accelerated global change will depend on humanity’s willingness to impose intelligent, self-preserving limitations. Timely, well-informed reading * Kirkus * The Extinction of Experience is a beautifully expressed ode to the vanishing components of life that remain unplanned, unresearched, and unrecorded. Rosen is an excellent guide, explaining why there's no substitute for seeing, feeling, and touching the world directly -- Adam Alter, New York Times bestselling author of Irresistible A timely and insightful call to reclaim our humanity -- Evan Selinger, Professor of Philosophy, Rochester Institute of Technology Wonderful ... Not merely a warning against algorithmic control of our lives, but, more essentially, an encouraging guidebook to the recovery of personal experience in all its manifold forms. The Extinction of Experience reconnects us with our own lives in marvellous ways -- Alan Jacobs, author of Breaking Bread with the Dead