The Safety Net: Surviving Pandemics and Other Disasters by David Eagleman

The Safety Net: Surviving Pandemics and Other Disasters Reviews

• 
  Shhhhh Ahhhhh

  This is going to be crass. If you don't enjoy strong language, please stop reading here.
  
  There is no way that anyone that spends an appreciable amount of time on any parts of the internet other than old forums, wikipedia, or purely in the stacks of digital library analogues, think that spending 91 pages performing full-on fellatio on the internet is a good thing. Don't get me wrong. I appreciate the arguments the author lays out. Yes, rapid, nigh-instantaneous information transfer saves lives (and he can even be forgiven for the presumption that that is a good thing by default rather than questioning the inherent wisdom in continuing to build homes and cities where these things keep happening). Yep, even allows us to continue 'working' (at a much reduced capacity) during a pandemic. Yep. But.. reduces rework? Really? Does the author really think parallel discovery has slowed down? Really? So, magically, because the internet exists, suddenly choice architecture doesn't? Suddenly near-infinite information supply but limited processing bandwidth and limited lifespan don't matter? This is to say nothing of language barriers. You're telling me parallel discoveries aren't happening when we effectively have segmented data universes in the scientific community and massive distrust (with accusations of certain countries being 'paper farms') across hemispheres and national borders.
  
  This is before I even mention social media. Where has the author been? Has he been under a rock? He touts the internet as the great problem solver. The great panacea. Is he kidding? We're coming up against the hard limits of the value of widely distributed information in a societal context not built to withstand it. Everything we're seeing in America (but also in Canada, in the phillipines, in France, in Greece, in Germany even) is the result of what happens when humans have to make choice in the infinite candy store, and, oh, did I neglect to mention? Some of the candy is poison. Social contagion abound, conspiracy theorists and digital cults on the rise and the segmentation of social media by algorithms designed to make people money are threatening the fabric of several large nations. Oh, he mentions the India-Pakistan digital warfare. What the hell about the nations waging digital war on themselves? Bot attacks? Doxxing leading directly to SWATing and the murder of political rivals by any other name? That just doesn't factor into the discussion right?
  
  Dave, if you wanted to suck the internet's dick this hard, why even couch your argument as rational? If you weren't going to take an honest look at things, why bother? What use is infinite information if your society fosters a culture that outright disregards experts and shuns knowledge in favor of favorable emotive conjugations regardless of truth value? How can you not see that, for all the potential benefits, the risks are overwhelming? What are we gonna do bro? Crowdsource a solution to fascism? That seems to be working out GREAT for reddit.
  
  I appreciate the points on having analog storage of how to reboot not only society but the internet from scratch. I just think that wielding this 'go-go-go' neomania argument is irresponsible as shit. Qanon should be evidence enough of that.
• 
  LUCAS H. GOLDING

  The Safety Net is on par with Steven Pinker’s Enlightenment Now as one of the most optimistic books of the last few years. Just as Pinker writes in Enlightenment Now about human progress and how there’s never been a better time to be alive, Eagleman does the same about the in internet and it’s many positive benefits.
  From a conservationists point of view, the internet is probably the greatest technology ever invented. Think about the digitization of all your favorite media. By converting that media from whatever archaic form it was originally conceived in to ones and zeros, we have essentially saved millions upon millions of precious resources that otherwise would contribute to climate change and pollution. So the next time you opt for the paper version of that book you just bought, or the Blue Ray disc instead of the digital download you may want to think twice. And that’s coming from someone who has been very late to the digital revolution, especially when it comes to books, but that’s what makes this book so great. It has opened up a new way of thinking about the benefits of the internet that I had previously never really thought about. For that reason alone it gets the highest marks on my subjective rating system. That, and it’s a fun quick read!!
  
• 
  Roxann

  So this book was released in June, 2020. A pretty quick turnaround since the Pandemic started in December, 2019 or about then. But actually this is a re-working of a book Eagleman wrote some years ago called "Why the Net Matters." It has been updated, though, with current information. And, basically his theory is that the internet and the many creative ways it is being used to solve problems and help us deal with disasters throughout the world. And, could be the salvation of our civilization. The fear we now must have is the vulnerability of the internet and how dependent we are on it.
  
  I find David Eagleman's writing compelling and accessible, so at 91 pages there is no reason not to read this book if you have any interest in the topic at all.
• 
  Elisabeth

  A brief but enjoyable book about the pandemic and how we are now in a much better place to survive the pandemic due to the development of the Internet to allow worldwide communication within seconds. It compared natural disasters over time, where the locals had a warning by someone, to get to safety, vs no heads up. Also covered the pathophysiology of viruses and their spreads, and how some communities lacked the understanding which led to the spread of the viruses when they gathered to send off the dead (with the virus) as an example. In the end discussed more about how we can back up our existing knowledge so in case anything does happen with the Internet, the basic knowledge is preserved for the future generations to rebuild.
• 
  Avi Roy

  This book summarizes how the world wide interconnected network is humanity's greatest creation. The author acknowledges that today's internet has many foibles, but insists that "the internet greatly reduces the potency of six major existential threats...: epidemics, natural disasters, poor information flow, political corruption, resource depletion, and economic meltdown."
  
  Alas, most of the examples used to elaborate his ideasin are cherry picked and overly optimistic, but I like the author's general theme.
• 
  Sora

  It is a re-worked book but it is just in time. I am the one that always complain about the internet addiction and insecurities, specially those ones related to privacy. After read this book my respective changed a little but enough to be agree that the internet is a single invention that could save us from us, ironically.
• 
  Nadine

  Maybe I'm just Eagleman'd out but this one is yet another example of a long form essay that burst it's seams and became a book.
  It's ok, but nothing special, a bit of a rushed job to get in early on the covid-bandwagon before there really is enough perspective on the matter to even begin to write with any authority on this topic.
• 
  Anthony Brandt

  Brilliant, compact, beautifully written, and very timely.
• 
  Chloe

  Very informative!
• 
  Allyson

  Interesting premise but the author spends quite a bit of time on how great the internet is without focusing on its very serious drawbacks. I would have liked to see a more balanced approach.