Christine Rosen, author of The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World
7 p.m.
Christine Rosen is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where she focuses on American history, society and culture, technology and culture, and feminism. Concurrently she is a columnist for Commentary magazine and one of the cohosts of The Commentary Magazine Podcast. She is also a fellow at the University of Virginia’s Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture and a senior editor in an advisory position at the New Atlantis.
The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World
An Esquire Best Book of 2024
“An extremely important book.” —Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation
We embraced the mediated life—from Facetune and Venmo to meme culture and the Metaverse—because these technologies offer novelty and convenience. But they also transform our sense of self and warp the boundaries between virtual and real. What are the costs? Who are we in a disembodied world?
In The Extinction of Experience, Christine Rosen investigates the cultural and emotional shifts that accompany our embrace of technology. In warm, philosophical prose, Rosen reveals key human experiences at risk of going extinct, including face-to-face communication, sense of place, authentic emotion, and even boredom. Considering cultural trends, like TikTok challenges and mukbang, and politically unsettling phenomena, like sociometric trackers and online conspiracy culture, Rosen exposes an unprecedented shift in the human condition, one that habituates us to alienation and control. To recover our humanity and come back to the real world, we must reclaim serendipity, community, patience, and risk.
Views expressed in Tanner Humanities Center events do not represent the official position of the Center or the University of Utah.
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About the Sterling M. McMurrin Lectures on Religion and Culture
Named for the renowned Utah-born teacher, scholar, administrator, and advisor to major corporations, foundations, and federal agencies—the Sterling M. McMurrin Lectures on Religion and Culture advance academic inquiry into the role of religion in people’s lives. It was founded in 1992 by McMurrin, Lowell M. Durham Jr. (Director of the Tanner Humanities Center from 1992–1997), and friends Richard Smoot, Peter Appleby, Jack Newell, Brigham Madsen, and Boyer Jarvis. McMurrin (1914–1996) was a prolific lecturer and writer on the history and philosophy of religion.
McMurrin’s career at the University of Utah was wide-ranging: he taught in the Departments of Philosophy, History, and Educational Administration, and he went on to serve as Dean of the College of Letters and Science, Academic Vice President, Provost, Dean of the Graduate School, and a founding member of the Tanner Lectures on Human Values. He was also the University’s first Distinguished Professor and the first recipient of the prestigious Rosenblatt Prize.
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