On the right to disconnect

The Internet news portal rue89.com reflects on people's need to disconnect from the digital world: "A growing number of initiatives are aimed at getting us away from our monitors. These may seem silly in an era when so many people are demanding the right to Internet access. ... Is disconnecting a luxury for geeks, for lovers or for the privileged classes? Disconnecting is akin to shutting yourself off and disobeying, as Thomas Baumgartner, moderator of the radio programme 'Place de la Toile', says. I would add the following caveat: it is not the case that those who disconnect are no longer connected, or do not use technology. Rather they decline to make use of it of their own free will. Pierre Mounier, professor of social sciences, maintains that behind this radical call to disconnect lies the desire to shut off the computer and to enter zones still undiscovered by the Internet. But for Mounier this shows primarily that we still do not make good enough use of the tools at our disposal. If we had better control over our interaction with these machines, nothing would prevent them from remaining connected at all times. In the physical world we have erected barriers to delimit ourselves and construct our private sphere. This is not yet the case in the realm of new technologies."

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