Picnic Comma Lightning, Laurence Scott
Picnic Comma Lightning, Laurence Scott
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Picnic Comma Lightning
The Experience of Reality in the Twenty-First Century

Author: Laurence Scott

Narrator: Laurence Scott

Unabridged: 8 hr 48 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/12/2019


Synopsis

A lively and accessible existentialism for our times.

What does it mean to be human in the twenty-first century? How do we be real people in a world of online personas and "authentic" simulated experiences? In this innovative examination of our present reality, award-winning writer Laurence Scott charts the ways our traditional mental models of the world have started to fray.

Effortlessly applying philosophy to the quotidian, Scott "makes banal things shimmer with meaning" (Guardian). He ponders how ubiquitous cameras reframe our private lives (an event only exists once someone posts the video), how mysterious algorithms undermine our attempts at self-definition through their own data-driven portraits, and what happens in those moments when our illusions of reality are ruptured by incontrovertible facts (like the death of a parent or a bolt of lightning).

Virtuosic and intellectually delightful, Picnic Comma Lightning is an astounding account of how we have started to make sense of our strange new world.

About Laurence Scott

Laurence Scott's essays and criticism have appeared on NewYorker.com and in the Guardian, the Financial Times, and the London Review of Books, among other publications. He is a lecturer in writing at New York University in London, and lives in London.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Tom

The premise was that more detail results in more truth. (84) Since life can now be so readily turned into film, what will become of that which is left out? (98) Fascinating findings to prompt renewed reflection, blending evolutionary psychology with political alarmism and shot through with a near-sacc......more

Goodreads review by Miranda

This book is a linguistically brilliant exploration of what it means to experience reality in the 21 century. The passing of Scott's parents catalyzes his exploration into defining the post modern relationship between the physical and metaphysical realms as they relate to social [media] and politica......more

The description of this book caught my attention: "What does it mean to be human in the twenty- first century? How do we be real people in a world of online personas and 'authentic' simulated experiences?" I'm always game for an exploration on reality, perception, post-truth, and digital life. This......more