`How not to be alone` by Jonathan Safran Foer – Comment: Our society in 25 years

“How not to be alone“ by Jonathan Safran Foer– Comment: Our society in 25 years

“Technology celebrates connectedness, but encourages retreat.“

In his text „How not to be alone“ published in the “New York Times“ on june 8 in 2013, Jonathan Safran Foer criticizes the impact of modern-day technology on our society.

He describes how the digitalisation is the major factor of a huge communication problem in our modern world, mainly achieved through the increasing loss of empathy and humanity and caused by “disminished substitutes“ that we call our cell phones and computers.

Foer raises awareness of what our future society will possibly be looking like - a cold, narcissistic world without access to old values such as charity, empathy and cordiality.

But how should we imagine our society in 25 years? Is it the gloomy, dark coexistence that Foer predicts? Or are there other, more gratifying results of the digitalisation?

The important things first: No, to the disappointment od many conspiracy theorists and hobby psychologists, our future society will not contain emotionless, like- addicted zombie robots. Do not worry – the human evolution has not planned to eradicate all parts of our brain that make us feel love, friendship our compassion.

Although Foer has explicitly opposed the term “anti-technology“, he basically does exactly that. He writes about „balance“ as if the balance of the homo sapiens is not the steady progress and improvement of the quality of life.

With his dark prophecies, Foer stirs up fear and fright towards the future - a true dystopian horror scenario.

“All this technology is making us antisocial!”

The truth is that the digital progress enables more th.....[Volltext lesen]