Tag: Technology

The Price of Belonging: Exploring Selfhood in the Digital Age

‘Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age’ is the new book by Vauhini Vara. Photo: Barnes & Noble

Books that explore the human condition in the digital age offer profound insight into how technology reshapes identity, connection, and meaning. Some examine AI’s emotional entanglement with humans, blurring the lines between empathy and programming, while others critique our obsession with surveillance and digital transparency. These narratives question what it means to be human when algorithms influence choices, relationships, and self-worth. As artificial intelligence grows more integrated into daily life, literature becomes a crucial mirror, reflecting both our fears and hopes for the future.

New this month, from the author of “The Immortal King Rao,”finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, is “Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age,” a personal exploration of how technology companies have both fulfilled and exploited the human desire for understanding and connection. (Penguin Random House, 2025)

“Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age” by Vauhini Vara

When it was released to the public in November 2022, ChatGPT awakened the world to a secretive project: teaching AI-powered machines to write. Its creators had a sweeping ambition—to build machines that could not only communicate, but could do all kinds of other activities, better than humans ever could. But was this goal actually achievable? And if reached, would it lead to our liberation or our subjugation?

Vauhini Vara, an award-winning tech journalist and editor, had long been grappling with these questions. In 2021, she asked a predecessor of ChatGPT to write about her sister’s death, resulting in an essay that was both more moving and more disturbing than she could have imagined. It quickly went viral.

The experience, revealing both the power and the danger of corporate-owned technologies, forced Vara to interrogate how these technologies have influenced her understanding of her self and the world around her, from discovering online chat rooms as a preteen, to using social media as the Wall Street Journal’s first Facebook reporter, to asking ChatGPT for writing advice—while compelling her to add to the trove of human-created material exploited for corporations’ financial gain.

Interspersed throughout this investigation are her own Google searches, Amazon reviews, and the other raw material of internet life—including the viral AI experiment that started it all. “Searches” illuminates how technological capitalism is both shaping and exploiting human existence, while proposing that by harnessing the collective creativity that makes humans unique, we might imagine a freer, more empowered relationship with our machines and, ultimately, with one another.

Vauhini Vara has been a reporter and editor for The Atlantic, The New Yorker, and the New York Times Magazine, and is the prize-winning author of “The Immortal King Rao” and“This is Salvaged.”

“Vara humanizes the influence of technology in highly personal terms [and] projects what the future holds as tech oligarchs gain political influence. . . . Provocative, challenging, and concerning, Vara’s clever, eye-opening approach brings home the often uneasy confluence of individual desire, social benefits, and corporate ambition.”—Booklist, starred review

“Tragic, funny, and relatable[, SEARCHES] is by turns absurd and insightful, engaging with the ethics of algorithms, surveillance, and privacy in a meaningful way. . . . A must read.” —Library Journal, starred review

“Readers will be profoundly moved by this remarkable meditation.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

Wisdom in Action: How ‘The Potentialist: The Pursuit of Wisdom’ Inspires Personal Growth

‘The Pursuit of Wisdom’ is book 2 in The Potentialist series by Ben Lytle. Photo: Amazon

Books about personal transformation and growth offer profound insights and strategies for individuals seeking to change their lives. These books often explore themes like self-discovery, resilience, and growth, providing readers with tools to overcome obstacles and achieve their goals. Authors share personal stories, research findings, and practical exercises that inspire action and reflection. By engaging with these texts, individuals can gain clarity, motivation, and a renewed sense of purpose, ultimately leading to a more fulfilling and authentic life.

There’s a new one out this month by Ben Lytle, author of The Potentialist series. In his second book, “The Pursuit of Wisdom,” he writes about wisdom, how to attain it, and the potential that exists in everyone, just waiting to be released.

Ben Lytle is a serial entrepreneur and health-care innovator known for being ahead of the curve. He launched five successful companies, including two on the New York Stock Exchange. The best known is Anthem, one of three leading U.S. health plans with a market capitalization placing it in the top 30 of the Fortune 500. He also founded Acordia, Inc., which became the world’s 7th largest insurance broker. (Meryl Moss Media, 2024)

Lytle’s devotion to individual and collective human potential through accelerated wisdom guides his writing, speaking, entrepreneurial energy, and investments. He believes people and organizations today underestimate the extent and speed with which the world will change. Time to adapt and prepare is being compressed, opportunities are being missed, and there will be unnecessary suffering unless prompt action is taken.

He is the author of the series The Potentialist, which includes Your Future in the New Reality of the Next Thirty Years, The Pursuit of Wisdom, and a third installment to come. The series is intended as a guidebook for success during the fast-changing, turbulent, and opportunity-rich times ahead — named The Fourth Industrial Revolution by the World Economic Forum. The newest one, “The Pursuit of Wisdom” is available now.

“The Potentialist: The Pursuit of Wisdom” –
Wisdom and potential are our ideal adaptive responses for these challenging times. Five converging forces are creating a new twenty-first century reality defined by unavoidable life-altering changes and unprecedented decisions. We are anxious and overwhelmed as the world and our lives change faster than we can comprehend and adapt. The old ways of adapting aren’t working because complex changes and decisions are coming at us too fast. In this New Reality, the wise will thrive, and the unprepared will be left frightened and confused.

This groundbreaking book by Ben Lytle—Fortune 500 CEO, entrepreneur, and author—demystifies human potential and wisdom to make them attainable to all who seek their best. He predicts that technological advances and changes in social norms will make wisdom development urgent, but easier. His practical knowledge and straightforward language provide clarity, fresh perspectives, and proven practices that seamlessly integrate with daily life.

This highly anticipated second installment of The Potentialist series takes you on an uplifting journey to unleash your potential and accelerate decision-making wisdom during this period of the greatest change in human history.

Will you seize your potential and become wise to adapt and succeed in these turbulent, opportunity-rich times? If not, what’s your plan?