The hazards of perfect memory in the digital age
Delete looks at the surprising phenomenon of perfect remembering in
the digital age, and reveals why we must reintroduce our capacity to
forget. Digital technology empowers us as never before, yet it has
unforeseen consequences as well. Potentially humiliating content on
Facebook is enshrined in cyberspace for future employers to see. Google
remembers everything we've searched for and when. The digital realm
remembers what is sometimes better forgotten, and this has profound
implications for us all.
In Delete, Viktor Mayer-Schönberger traces the important role that
forgetting has played throughout human history, from the ability to make
sound decisions unencumbered by the past to the possibility of second
chances. The written word made it possible for humans to remember across
generations and time, yet now digital technology and global networks are
overriding our natural ability to forget--the past is ever present,
ready to be called up at the click of a mouse. Mayer-Schönberger
examines the technology that's facilitating the end of
forgetting--digitization, cheap storage and easy retrieval, global
access, and increasingly powerful software--and describes the dangers of
everlasting digital memory, whether it's outdated information taken out
of context or compromising photos the Web won't let us forget. He
explains why information privacy rights and other fixes can't help us,
and proposes an ingeniously simple solution--expiration dates on
information--that may.
Delete is an eye-opening book that will help us remember how to forget
in the digital age.
