The Internet vs. the Private Self

Sven Birkerts is extremely wary of the effects that modern technology is having on our lives.  He has opened up a little bit over the years but as technology continues to become ever more integral to our everyday existence his old worries surely remain intact.  One of the central points Birkets raised in "Into the Electronic Millennium" is that technology causes a "waning of the private self."

The notion of losing one's private identity due to technology is probably even more true today than it was when Birkets first wrote his piece.  This is likely what Birkets would criticize the most about our current use of the internet.  The internet is so pervasive that it causes us to be connected to each other almost constantly.

We not only access the internet on our computers but also on our phones, ipods and other portable devices.  The most popular websites tend to be ones like facebook and twitter which make communication quick and easy.  At any given moment there are likely a multitude of different devices surrounding us that will connect us to anyone we know.

Birkets believes that so much technology means that we lose time to reflect on ourselves; a crucial aspect of the meaningful individual.  He described the danger of a growing technological world when he stated that "the expansion of electronic options is always at the cost of contractions in the private sphere."  The aspect of technology is our lives has definitely grown exponentially since Birkets wrote that.  The private self may have already diminished far more than Birkets could have imagined at the time.

Our constant, sometimes addictive use of the internet and communications devices probably frightens Birkets most of all.