Categories: Articles

The End Of Absence With Michael Harris

Episode #430 of Six Pixels of Separation – The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

"Every revolution in communication technology – from papyrus to the printing press to Twitter – is as much an opportunity to be drawn away from something as it is to be drawn toward something. And yet, as we embrace a technology’s gifts, we usually fail to consider what we’re giving up in the process. Why would we bother to register the end of solitude, of ignorance, of lack? Why would we care than an absence had disappeared?"

This is the question that award-winning journalist at Western Living and Vancouver magazines, Michael Harris, began thinking about. If everything is always ringing, buzzing and vibrating in our pockets with some kind of alert, update or signal, are we able – as a society – to figure out what is a true signal and what is noise? Are we losing something special in a world where the is no absence because we’re constantly connected to something? He wrote a book about it titled, The End Of Absence. Harris believes that we are, indeed, losing something as technology connects us more and more to information and one another. What do you think? Enjoy the conversation…

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation – The Twist Image Podcast #430.

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.