What Technology Takes From Us – and How to Take It Back
By Rebecca Solnit | The Guardian | January 29, 2026
The Quiet Loss Behind Technology’s Convenience
In a world increasingly shaped by the promise of artificial intelligence and streamlined digital experiences, many have begun to notice what these advances quietly take from us — not just in time, but in the richness of lived experience and human connection.
Rebecca Solnit’s recent essay in The Guardian delves into the subtle yet profound ways technology, particularly Silicon Valley’s offerings, has altered our engagement with the world, ourselves, and one another. Beyond just a commentary on AI, her piece is a deeper meditation on what is lost when we surrender too readily to the allure of efficiency and convenience.
The Tyranny of the Quantifiable
Solnit reflects on childhood summers spent wading into shaded creeks, picking blackberries by touch and taste, and the sensory, immersive pleasure of making homemade jam. Such experiences, seemingly simple, resist quantification — the “tyranny of the quantifiable” as author Chip Ward calls it. These moments offer more than a product; they provide richness through the process, connecting us to place, time, and growth.
Similarly, Solnit references a gardener who deliberately calculated the cost of homegrown tomatoes—revealing the folly of measuring worth solely by output. The true value lies in the smell of leaves, the observation of pollinators, and the satisfaction of nurturing life, underscoring a fundamental clash between doing and having.
Silicon Valley’s Impact on Human Connection
At the heart of Solnit’s argument is the way Silicon Valley ideology prioritizes productivity, efficiency, and profit over presence, experience, and relational depth. She points out that tech companies promote withdrawing from the world and maximizing time spent online or working, often portraying face-to-face interactions as risky, inefficient, or undesirable.
This shift manifests in everyday life. Traditional public spaces and routines—like leisurely errands, buying a newspaper, or chatting with shopkeepers—have declined, eroding casual social interactions that weave the fabric of community and democracy. The resulting isolation diminishes our resilience to handle genuine human contact, leaving many with unrealistic expectations or even aversions to interpersonal engagement.
The Mechanization of Interaction
Solnit shares personal anecdotes capturing this alienation. In San Francisco, an increasingly digital cityscape, she encounters the replacement of human cashiers with digital kiosks, even in casual eateries where ordering once meant a brief warm human exchange. Such changes not only slow down interactions but reduce opportunities for spontaneous connection—for both customers and service workers.
A visit to a local bookstore further illustrates the trend. The clerk notes that many young people, particularly those immersed in tech culture, avoid eye contact and minimalize real conversation. These small social rituals are vanishing, and with them, a sense of belonging.
The Erosion of Solitude and Independent Thought
Beyond human-to-human connection, there’s a growing tendency to outsource personal thinking, creativity, and communication to AI tools. Advertising for AI products suggests people no longer want to — or should — think alone, casting natural human cognition as too difficult or outdated.
Solnit echoes the concerns of psychologist Sherry Turkle, who warns that screen time undermines our ability to be alone with our thoughts — an essential prerequisite for empathy and self-understanding. Without cultivated solitude, our capacity for deep reflection and emotional growth weakens.
Reclaiming What Is Lost
While Solnit does not offer simple fixes, her essay is a call to collective action and awareness. She urges recognition of what “getting things done” at the speed of technology costs us in subtle but vital ways. It invites readers to defend and reclaim embodied, sensory, and social experiences—whether through gardening, walking outdoors, or simply sharing unmediated moments with others.
In an era dominated by AI and screens, the challenge is to retain the messy, imperfect, and deeply human elements of life that technology cannot replicate — the quiet joys of presence, the resilience forged through real human contact, and the irreplaceable serenity found in nature.
Conclusion
What technology takes from us can be profound, but it is not irreversible. Awareness and intentional choice to engage deeply with the physical world and each other form a vital resistance. As Solnit’s reflections suggest, reconnecting with these lost rhythms and relationships may well be the antidote to the sterile convenience promised by Silicon Valley’s algorithms, reminding us that to truly live is to do as well as to have.
For further reading, see Karen Hao’s “Empire of AI” and the writings of Sherry Turkle on technology and solitude.
