"Non-things, Upheaval in the Lifeworld", a book by Byung-Chul Han

A review by Cristina Morozzi

"Non-things, Upheaval in the Lifeworld", the book written by Byung-Chul Han reflects on the role of digital in our lives. Read the whole review.

 

A reflection about digital and real world

The book Non-things, Upheaval in the Lifeworld by Byung-Chul Han is a reflection on the digital world in its various forms and announces its prevalence. The author writes that our intoxication and dependence on information and communication is making things disappear, and that information, or non-things, is put before things, causing things to fade away.

Until February 20, 2014, this seemed an irrefutable truth. But the reality of the world has unfortunately overwhelmed us. The war in Ukraine with its deaths, rubble, and cruelty continues in Europe. Besieged and bombarded Lviv is only 600 kilometers away from the Italian city of Trieste, which means the same distance that separates Milan and Rome. Wounded and frightened people are human beings and not avatars, yet their photographs are taken and their emotions are placed in the foreground. A report from inside the Azov steel mill in Kiev by a combatant photographer is the legacy of a hero who fought to save democracy through raw reality.

Words have also regained their importance: appeals for peace are multiplying. The testimony of an Italian RAI 1 correspondent who was urged to provide more news from the war front but was forced to cut off communications as the electricity had been cut off in his shelter and his phone was dead, warns us of our dependence on smartphones and reiterates the importance of the written word.