Was interested to see the other day in the Chronicle of Higher Education (6/30/09) an article titled “The End of Solitude: As everyone seeks more and broader connectivity, the still, small voice speaks only in silence,” by William Deresiewicz. The article, which is very well-written and thoughtful, talks about solitude and the need to preserve integrity of self that solitude brings. Says the author, when he asked his students about solitude in their lives, he got answers like “I’m never alone more than 10 minutes,” or “why would anyone want to be alone.” This all reminds me of David Levy’s talk at the Charleston Conference, was it in 2003. Levy talked passionately about the need to take time to contemplate. David is at the University of Washington iSchool and his current research focuses on information and the quality of life. His book, "Scrolling Forward: Making Sense of Documents in the Digital Age," was published by Arcade Publishing. We need to get him back to Charleston. And be sure and read Walt Crawford’s Sites and Insights (December 2003) about Levy and the Charleston Conference as well as the Chronicle article. It will get you thinking.
http://chronicle.com/free/v55/i21/21b00601.htm
http://www.ischool.washington.edu/people/facdirectory.aspx
http://citesandinsights.info/