Before we close out
the year, it seems appropriate to add some reviews about a couple of books
related to communication and technology.
Alan Jacobs’ HOW TO THINK has been recommended by David Brooks and Jacobs was interviewed in The Atlantic magazine where he summarized his argument about how “in a
pluralistic society, people struggle to deal with difference;” he continued by
bemoaning our tendency to label others as belonging or not belonging and
arguing that is “the number-one impediment to thinking.” The text itself is
rather short, with some chapters titled “Attractions,” “Repulsions,” and “Beginning
to Think” where he quotes Henry James and then says “we just need to learn how
to be more aware, how to act more responsibly.” McKibben raises some of the
same points (“I think you’re wrong, but you may be right”) in a more fanciful
way in Radio Free Vermont.
Subtitled: “How Technology
Brought Us Together and Why It Might Drive Us Apart,” WHO CAN YOU
TRUST? by Rachel Botsman is a very intriguing look at what the
publishers describe as a paradigm shift.
Botsman notes that we have lost faith in our leadership, in institutions
and organizations, but at the same time we are willing to trust strangers,
riding in Uber vehicles, renting from Airbnb, and investing in digital
currencies. Botsman argues that this “distributed trust” is enabled by networks
and systems and she goes on in a conversational tone to explore others’
research and examples like shopping online, consulting Wikipedia, and providing
Kickstarter funds. Roughly twenty
percent of the text is devoted to a glossary of terms, notes with further
reading suggestions, and a detailed index, all of which – along with Botsman’s Ted Talks - will be if interest to students who are
definitely intrigued by the impact of technology on society. WHO CAN YOU
TRUST? received a starred review from Kirkus.
