This is CBS I and the World. I'm John Battler. I welcome my colleague Peter Berkowitz of the

Hoover Institution commenting on a new book, The Extinction of Experience, Being Human in

a Disembodied World, the author Christine Rosen.

I welcome Peter, he's writing at Real Clear clear politics because this is the challenging question

how much technology is too much technology how much online is unhelpful in order to maintain social contacts.

Peter, a very good evening to you.

It occurs to me while reading your excellent essay

that one of the vulnerabilities identified by psychologists, psychiatrists, geriatric

practitioners is that older people become isolated from social circles,

especially older males, become isolated.

And that leads not only to a shrinking quality of life, but health problems that would not be there was their sociability.

Now, Christine Rosen is writing about a world somewhere in between a lack of social experience and

using online as a social experience.

Where are you in this spectrum, Peter? good evening to you.

Good evening, John.

Where am I in the spectrum?

I guess I'm, I like to think that I'm in the majority

who recognize that modern technology in general,

general, and our online experience in particular have bestowed great blessings on us, but like with all good things come costs.

And in many cases, and we've been able to see this over the last decade or two, we can take our use of the internet, of smartphones, smart TVs, smart

virtual assistance, smart virtual assistance, way too far so that perfectly healthy people who could get up and walk to the next office or walk next door or walk down the street to talk with a

flesh and blood human being are declining to do so in order to reside ever more in an online world.

...