Dedicated: The Case for Commitment in an Age of Infinite Browsing

Susan Clark and Woden Teachout have proposed Slow Democracy—the local, community-based form of politics that runs counter to the spectatorial mass politics of cable news debate shows and presidential campaign ads. There’s even Slow Gaming—a call for video games that are more humane, more reflective, and more personal.

Thirty years later, a wave of “Slow” movements have spread to dozens of other areas of life. Architect John Brown has proposed Slow Home—an antidote to cheap and easy suburban sprawl. Psychologist David Tresemer has proposed Slow Counseling—an antidote to “one pill fits all”

Infinite Browsing Mode comes with a cost: When we spend our time frantically seeking out new experiences, we miss out on the deeper experiences that can only arise from sticking with something for a long time.

Thomas Merton

The Polish philosopher Zygmunt Bauman has a great phrase for what I’m talking about: liquid modernity. We never want to commit to any one identity or place or community, Bauman explains, so we remain like liquid, in a state that can adapt to fit any future shape. And it’s not just us—the world around us remains like liquid, too. We can’t rely on an

We have difficulty making meaning out of life without outside help.

I wrote this book because I believe whether we resolve this tension—whether more people click out of Infinite Browsing Mode and join up with the Counterculture of Commitment—matters. The stakes are high. On a personal level, they’re high because browsing forever can lead to great despair, while dedication can lead to great joy. But the stakes are h

“What the son wishes to forget the grandson wishes to remember.”

The liberatory spirit of our age has helped us tear down bad institutions, but it hasn’t helped build up new ones. It has helped avoid some tragedies, but it hasn’t built global peace. It has helped diagnose the maladies of our time, but it hasn’t figured out a cure.