Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series

For years, consumers have been promised a simple, carefree digital future. We could live, work, learn, and play from the comforts of our homes, and have whatever we desire brought to our door with the flick of a finger. Instant communication would bring us together. All this technological convenience would give us more time to focus on what really mattered. When the pandemic hit, for many, that future transformed into the present almost overnight. But the reviews aren’t great. It turns out that people like leaving the house, instant communication can spread more anger than joy, and convenience seems to take away time rather than giving it to us. Oops. But as David Sax argues in his new book The Future is Analog, we’ve also had our eyes opened. There is nothing about the future that has to be digital, and embracing the reality of human experience doesn’t mean resisting change. Sax explores work, school, leisure, and more, asking perceptive and pointed questions: what happens to struggling students when they’re