The internet has changed our understanding of information and communication forever. What do we lose in the face of the digital era and where lies the future of scientific knowledge?
\nNo matter what your goal is, digital solutions always seem to be the most efficient and cost-effective answer. No other channel gives us quicker access to information. Social media provides the most convenient way to network. Smartphones allow for an unrestricted access to images, videos, words, and services \u2013 at all times, with minimal effort.<\/p>\n
The false promise of the digital<\/strong><\/p>\n It seems like the internet and our smartphones leave nothing to be desired. Yet we rarely talk about the price we\u2019re paying for all this comfort. That\u2019s probably because most of us aren\u2019t even aware of it. Enlightenment and the analogue experience<\/strong><\/p>\n The analog invites us \u2013 or even forces us \u2013 to experience and to pause and think. As opposed to the digital, the analog is not a mere copy or a representation. To accept the digital and its implications as an end in itself, on the other hand, would dissolve all experience in favor of endless loops of pointless interaction. That\u2019s the price we pay for digital media. And it\u2019s a price that is rarely included in cost-benefit analyses.<\/p>\n The analog can interrupt the endless loop of the digital, but only if analog phenomena remain our goal. The internet can lead us there. Think of the sciences and libraries as an example. The key experience of science is enlightenment. Enlightenment is a moment that we want to dwell upon. Enlightenment is curated in words that are made available to us in books and journals. These books remain in libraries while science advances.<\/p>\n In the case of scientific knowledge, the internet initiates and leads us towards new insights and discoveries that are then made available to us as publications in libraries. Knowledge, manifested in publications, consequently, stands for an inherently analogue experience \u2013 an experience that could be jeopardized if we continue to focus on the digital in the area of science and the production of knowledge.<\/p>\n
\nGiven all the obvious advantages that digital technology offers it\u2019s hardly surprising that people spend more and more time glued to their smartphones. The search for new information and the desire for unlimited communication keep users engaged with their phones. They also blur the lines between curiosity, dependency and addiction. Many of the expectations we have towards the digital world \u2013 reliable contacts, the ultimate discovery, more likes and notifications \u2013 seem to be disappointed in the end.
\nIt would be too easy to claim that digital natives can no longer experience the physical world. According to this argument, virtual phenomena are only a surrogate of the real world. But the real problem does not lie with physical tangibility.
\nThe real problem is this: The digital and the internet cannot provide any real experiences. An experience is a moment that we want to dwell upon. An experience is an end in itself. But the internet and the digital are only means to some other end. That\u2019s why the internet, despite making information and communication so easily accessible, does not allow us to participate in any experiences. And this is where the analog comes into play.<\/p>\n