Delete Part II

Chapter 4: Of Power and Time—Consequences of the Demise of Forgetting

Chapter 4 of Mayer-Schonberger’s work delves into the consequences of the demise of forgetting. In the pre-technological age, forgetting was the norm, while remembering was the exception. The change we seen over the past few decades has both positives and negatives. On the positive end, Mayer-Schonberger mentions comprehensive digital medical files, accountability in health and hygiene audits, and eBay’s transactional reputation rating. However, he notes that each of these positives come with drawbacks or misconceptions. For instance, the eBay reputation rating proved to be inaccurate as buyers and sellers would only rate each other positively so the other person would reciprocate. In essence, Mayer-Schonberger concludes that comprehensive digital memory fails to realize all its envisioned benefits (96).

The bulk of the chapter breaks down a world without forgetting. Mayer-Schonberger breaks it down to two terms that characterize what is at stake in this world: power and time. Part of the power aspect involves people formerly being able to control what information gets out about you. At the very worst, Mayer-Schonberger describes how people used to be able to remove themselves from their current residence or friends circle if negative information gets too overwhelming. He coins this concept “information bankruptcy” (99). With digital information, filing information bankruptcy becomes almost impossible. Mayer-Schonberger postulates that digital information “deepens the already existing chasm between the information rich and the information poor, empowering the former and to the detriment of the latter” (127). He cites three features of digital memory that make this possible: accessibility, durability, and comprehensiveness.

One of the interesting points raised was the concept of “living with a historical record.” Google CEO Eric Schmidt said that people will have to become “much more careful how they talk, how they interact, what they offer” of themselves. He describes that the way to avoid exposure is to not criticize, which as we discussed in class, seems next to impossible.

Mayer-Schonberger refers back to the previous story’s of Stacy and Andrew to discuss two types of Bentham’s panopticon (which, if you’re not familiar, is summed up nicely here). Stacy’s story displays an example of the spatial version of Bentham’s panopticon, “in which she does not know who watches her but must assume she is watched by everybody. On the other hand, Andrew’s story shows an even more distressful temporal pantopticon which is a fear of being looked at in the future by people.

In describing the time implication of digital memory, Mayer-Schonberger expands on the idea of how more comprehensive digital memory alters our judgment and our capacity to act in time. He describes how “it denies us humans the chance to evolve, develop, and learn, leaving us helplessly oscillating between two equally trouble options: a permanent past and an ignorant present.” He references how George Orwell’s novel 1984 warned of a central authority being able to alter history, and in our technological day and age, everyone now has the power to do so. Lastly, Mayer-Schonberger talks about the problem with context digital memory presents. He argues that snapshots or random facts can distort one’s overall perception of a person or even that moment in time.