This is a great article. I relate to Jonathan Franzen in his mission to get others to seek out the one-to-one relationship he had with Kraus. I believe this relationship is really what the whole piece is about.
In many of his points he is true. The conventional means of seeking this same fulfillment are sinking away.
But he overestimates how much people are nullified by technology. And he is blind to the other possible means of access to these feelings technology can provide. Technophobes can't see behind the veil of pixels. They believe that all experiences on a computer are fake, and that the internet is a superficial control panel onto a (boring) machine of cogs and wires. A computer is no more than a stone to throw in a river.
The problem is these people rarely look. And when they do their self fulfilling prophesy dirties their own great experiences (they believe the computer in its wisdom has tricked their emotions). Anyone who has spend years on a forum, or late nights on IRC talking to people they've known for decades, knows these experiences are real.
To engage with technology is the only way to re-find these experiences in the modern world. It isn't really anything to do with technology. It embodies all aspects of life. To anyone growing with hate about the world I give the same advice _engage_ and you will find what you're looking for.
Mostly I agree with you. I guess I also want to agree, but, here's what happens with me: no matter how much I try, the interactions I have with people through email and IM are never, never, as interesting and as deep as the conversations I have with the remaining three people that I still correspond with letters (yes, I mean snailmail, paper letters). It's unfortunate, I guess, and I wish it wasn't so, but as one writer said once, a long time ago when he didn't even know about email, "the letter has always been the most sophisticated means of conversation".
I have found it mostly has to do with the care letters are written with. An e-mail is like talking in real life, in many cases someone responds to it right away and if there is any misunderstanding you can correct it right there with another e-mail. In many cases a letter is much more formal, you have to take a little bit of care to make sure the message is getting across right the first time.
Plus, since letters take quite some time to arrive at their destination, and double that for you to receive an answer, they tend to be much longer (I think that is why they tend to be; not 100% sure). I've never received an email that was longer than three pages. Whereas with letters, I've both sent and received some very, very long letters, and almost all were a joy to read and to write.
To engage with technology is the only way to re-find these experiences in the modern world.
Technology is neutral, and in essence is a metho od illusion. And like all illusions, some are useful abstractions, whilst others are merely distractions. Both things in life are neccessary, I'm affraid. Its life by another means, no different to the use of other media. Other than at a tactical level, it requires new skills and sensibilies (perhaps).
In many of his points he is true. The conventional means of seeking this same fulfillment are sinking away.
But he overestimates how much people are nullified by technology. And he is blind to the other possible means of access to these feelings technology can provide. Technophobes can't see behind the veil of pixels. They believe that all experiences on a computer are fake, and that the internet is a superficial control panel onto a (boring) machine of cogs and wires. A computer is no more than a stone to throw in a river.
The problem is these people rarely look. And when they do their self fulfilling prophesy dirties their own great experiences (they believe the computer in its wisdom has tricked their emotions). Anyone who has spend years on a forum, or late nights on IRC talking to people they've known for decades, knows these experiences are real.
To engage with technology is the only way to re-find these experiences in the modern world. It isn't really anything to do with technology. It embodies all aspects of life. To anyone growing with hate about the world I give the same advice _engage_ and you will find what you're looking for.