Digital Disconnect: The Limits of a Virtual Life

In 2016, David Sax wrote a book called The Revenge of Analog, which made the case that even as we marched towards an ever more digital future, we were increasingly returning to real, tangible things — choosing vinyl records over streaming, brick and mortar bookstores over Amazon, and in-person conversations over Skype.

In the intervening years, the pandemic hit, and, David argues, truly reaffirmed his case, which he lays out in his latest book: The Future Is Analog.

Today on the show, David explains how the pandemic gave us a trial run of an entirely digital future, and made us realize we really don't want it, or at least, we don't want all of it. We discuss the drawbacks that came from going virtual with work, school, shopping, socializing, and religious worship, and discuss how we're not as smart when we don't use our embodied cognition, how information is different from education, and why there are few things quite as awful as a Zoom cocktail party.

Resources Related to the Episode

• David’s previous appearance on the AoM Podcast: Episode #289 — Revenge of the Analog
• AoM Podcast #796: The Life We’re Looking For
• Sonic Boom music store in Toronto
• Native Summit outdoor store in Edmond, OK

Connect With David Sax

• David on Twitter
• David’s Website