Author:
Powers, William, 1961-
Edition Statement:1st Harper Perennial ed.
Imprint:New York : Harper Perennial, 2011, c2010.
Descriptionxv, 267 p. ; 22 cm.
Note:Originally published: New York : Harper, c2010.
Note:Prologue : The room -- PART I. WHAT LARKS? : THE CONUNDRUM OF THE CONNECTED LIFE. Busy, very busy: in a digital world, where's the depth? ; Hello, Mother: the magic of screens ; Gone overboard: falling out with the connected life ; Solutions that aren't: the trouble with not really meaning it -- PART II. BEYOND THE CROWD : TEACHINGS OF THE SEVEN PHILOSOPHERS OF SCREENS. Walking to heaven: Plato discovers distance ; The spa of the mind: Seneca on inner space ; Little mirrors: Gutenberg and the business of inwardness ; Hamlet's BlackBerry: Shakespeare on the beauty of old tools ; Inventing your life: Ben Franklin on positive rituals ; The Walden zone: Thoreau on making the home a refuge ; A cooler self: McLuhan and the thermostat of happiness -- PART III.IN SEARCH OF DEPTH : IDEAS IN PRACTICE. Not so busy: practical philosophies for every day ; Disconnectopia: the Internet sabbath -- Afterword : Back to the room.
Bibliography Note:Includes bibliographical references (p. [245]-267).
Note:Draws upon ideas from Socrates, Shakespeare, and Benjamin Franklin to describe a new philosophy to manage digital addictions to BlackBerries and the Internet and strike a healthy balance between connectedness and disconnectedness.
Note:"A soulful polemic that challenges the sacred dogma of the digital age--that the more we connect with others, the happier we are--arguing that as our electronic connectedness grows, we are pulled away from the relationships and experiences that give life texture, depth, and meaning".-- Provided by publisher
