The Internet Is Not What You Think It Is

A History, a Philosophy, a Warning

By: Justin E. H. Smith

Narrated by: Tim Fannon

An original deep history of the internet that tells the story of the centuries-old utopian dreams behind it - and explains why they have died today

Many think of the internet as an unprecedented and overwhelmingly positive achievement of modern human technology. But is it? In The Internet Is Not What You Think It Is, Justin Smith offers an original deep history of the internet, from the ancient to the modern world - uncovering its surprising origins in nature and centuries-old dreams of radically improving human life by outsourcing thinking to machines and communicating across vast distances. Yet, despite the internet’s continuing potential, Smith argues, the utopian hopes behind it have finally died today, killed by the harsh realities of social media, the global information economy, and the attention-destroying nature of networked technology.

Ranging over centuries of the history and philosophy of science and technology, Smith shows how the “internet” has been with us much longer than we usually think. He draws fascinating connections between internet user experience, artificial intelligence, the invention of the printing press, communication between trees, and the origins of computing in the machine-driven looms of the silk industry. At the same time, he reveals how the internet’s organic structure and development root it in the natural world in unexpected ways that challenge efforts to draw an easy line between technology and nature.

Combining the sweep of intellectual history with the incisiveness of philosophy, The Internet Is Not What You Think It Is cuts through our daily digital lives to give a clear-sighted picture of what the internet is, where it came from, and where it might be taking us in the coming decades.

©2022 Justin E. H. Smith (P)2022 Recorded Books

Heady stuff!

Justin’s expansive brain and brilliant word choices make my mind thrill to the notion of someday being able to understand the world and express myself in a reasonable facsimile to what he does.

A Never Ending Jacob's Ladder of Ideas to Nowhere

After hearing a very strong quote from this book, I immediately downloaded it, thinking it would be a thought-provoking read/listen. No. I now believe the speaker I heard the quote from used lots of brackets and ellipses to create a point where there isn't one.
If you are Gen X or older, this book might appeal to you more, with its wandering fearmongering ideals about the internet. As for me, I think I was hoping for an educated deep dive into the internet's impact on the world and the way we operate as a society because of it, how it's affected us not only socially, but in every other aspect of our lives as well. This book....well, it looked in those directions. The book keeps saying, "This is a thing that's happening!!!" And then moves on to the next "thing that is happening" without expanding upon the first "thing" or even linking the "things" together to create a larger picture point. Sorry if you enjoyed it. I really wanted to like this book, but after listening 1 ½ times, I really want to find Justin and beg for an explanation with an idea at the center, instead of this pinboard of loose shower thoughts he thinks might match up.

A better read than listen

Very difficult to listen to on a drive in the car. The language is very dry and sounds more like a Phd thesis paper so it would probably be better to read so one can take time to really think about the subject.