Delete

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Delete explores the phenomenon of perfect remembering in the digital age and emphasizes the need to reintroduce our capacity to forget. While digital technology empowers us, it also has unforeseen consequences. Humiliating content on social media can haunt individuals, and search engines retain records of our inquiries indefinitely. This relentless memory can have profound implications for everyone. The author, Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, highlights the historical significance of forgetting, which has allowed for sound decision-making and second chances. Although the written word enabled intergenerational memory, digital technology now threatens our natural ability to forget, making the past perpetually accessible with a simple click. Mayer-Schönberger analyzes the technologies that contribute to this loss of forgetting—such as digitization, cheap storage, and powerful software—and discusses the dangers of eternal digital memory, including outdated information and compromising images. He argues that traditional solutions like information privacy rights are insufficient and proposes a straightforward remedy: implementing expiration dates on information. This thought-provoking book aims to help us reclaim the ability to forget in an era dominated by digital permanence.