Will digital media sweep us into a new era of prosperity?
What new advances in entertainment, culture, education, and knowledge can we expect?
Will we get stuck in Cyberland only to be saved by digital detox?
The Digital Rabbit Hole reveals that we are becoming captive in the digital universe. The portals are smartphones and the world is the Internet. We immerse ourselves in social media; we learn through packaged feel-good information; and we will leave the hard work to robots and AI. The book details digital media and discusses smartphone addiction problems. It proposes solutions to stimulate creativity and education and to recapture our humanity.
Paperback: 144 Pages
Genre: Social Science/Non Fiction
Publisher: FutureBooks.info; 1 edition (January 1, 2016)
ASIN: B01A3MTVBS
ISBN-10: 1533307075
ISBN-13: 78-1533307071
The Digital Rabbit Hole is available in ebook and in print at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and IndieBound.
About the Author:
Larry Kilham has traveled extensively overseas for over twenty years. He worked in several large international companies and started and sold two high-tech ventures. He received a B.S. in engineering from the University of Colorado and an M.S. in management from MIT. Larry has written books about creativity and invention, artificial intelligence and digital media, travel overseas, and three novels with an AI theme. Currently, he is writing a novel about free will.
Larry can be found online at:
Website: www.larrykilham.net
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Larry-Kilham/e/B003UPNVNK/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4352387.Larry_Kilham
Follow this link to participate in the giveaway - get your own copy of "The Digital Rabbit Hole"!! http://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com/2017/07/larry-kilham-launches-book-blog-tour.html
Review by Crystal J. Casavant-Otto:
Let's start by saying I love this book and have now read it 3 times. The first time I devoured each and every page very quickly and was in awe with not only Kilhan's observations but also his vast knowledge and insight into the digital world. I was reading The Digital Rabbit Hole as someone who uses social media and their smartphone to stay connected and earn a living. The second time through, I read as a mother who is definitely on a conservative side when it comes to the rabbit hole and allowing her children to potentially fall into it. The third time through, I read as a reviewer. Let me just say The Digital Rabbit Hole is a book I will be reading again, referencing often, and one I can recommend to anyone involved with children and the daily struggle of Cyberland and technology.
My bookmark is nestled at the end of chapter 11 going into chapter 12 because I want to share some of Kilhan's brilliant words with you:
To avoid such a dystopia, people will have to do whatever is necessary to remain intellectually stimulated. They will have to exercise their curiosity and imagination just as they now work out in a gym to improve their physical health. If people connect or reconnect with nature they will find that it is their environment and ultimate support system. It is where we see analogs to human organizations and the human condition.
Doesn't this statement almost seem profound in a day and age when we can intellectually stimulate ourselves from the comfort of our own home with the aid of smart phones, tablets, and televisions? Why would we want to travel to the jungles of Africa and risk poisonous snakes, yellow fever, and dangerous animals when we can watch a video and learn about them whilst in our pajamas? Kilhan points out that in our digital world, "if computer trends continue, what it means to be human will change". My fear is, we will no longer do our own research, we will use google or a similar user-driven interface where it is hard to discern what is truth and what is fiction. Thinking independently from our technology is going to get more difficult as we move forward.
Reading The Digital Rabbit Hole has really helped me do quite a bit of soul-searching if you will. I've always kept my children away from technology. I've been the mother who offers crayons instead of a smart phone while waiting in the Doctor's office or a busy restaurant. We do not play video games, we play board games. We go on hikes and explore nature with all of our senses. However, as our children enter middle school, it is becoming more and more difficult to maintain our technology free lifestyle - especially given how much I rely on social media in my professional life. I stopped in my tracks on page 52 as I thought "will my children ever find jobs if they aren't as proficient as others when it comes to Cyberland?"
I learned so much about myself while reading The Digital Rabbit Hole and the experience has sparked a lot of great conversations with friends, educators, and family members. There are many take-aways, but the most important is the importance of getting out (without my smart phone) and enjoying nature, real life conversations that are spoken and not typed, and that my smart phone is not my escape hatch from reality but may in fact be leading me down the rabbit hole.
If you are looking for a good book to read or possibly a good book for your book club, I certainly recommend The Digital Rabbit Hole and can safely give it a strong 5 star rating.
Thank you to WOW! Women on Writing for allowing me an opportunity to participate in this book
blog tour!
Be sure to check out some of the future blog stops on this tour:
Monday, July 17th @ Beverley Baird
Writer, Reader, and Book Enthusiast Beverley A Baird reviews Larry Kilham's The Digital Rabbit Hole and shares her experiences with her readers.
https://beverleyabaird.wordpress.com/
Tuesday, July 18th @ Bring on Lemons with Troy Pflum
Midwestern father and avid reader Troy Pflum reads and reviews Larry Kilham's The Digital Rabbit Hole and shares his ideas and afterthoughts with readers at Bring on Lemons.
http://bringonlemons.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, July 19th @ Constant Story
Fellow author David Berner reads and reviews Larry Kilham's The Digital Rabbit Hole.
http://davidwberner.blogspot.com/
Thursday, July 20th @ Book Santa Fe
Reader and book enthusiast Tange Dudt reviews Larry Kilham’s The Digital Rabbit Hole and shares her thoughts with readers at Book Santa Fe.
http://www.booksantafe.info/
Friday, July 21st @ Eric Trant
Fellow author Eric Trant shares his thoughts after reading and reviewing The Digital Rabbit Hole by Larry Kilham.
http://diggingwiththeworms.blogspot.com/
Sunday, July 23rd @ Hott Books
Today's author spotlight at Hott Books is none other than Larry Kilham. Find out more about this accomplished author and The Digital Rabbit Hole.
http://www.hottbooks.com/
Monday, July 24th @ Lisa Haselton Reviews and Interviews
Lisa Haselton interviews Larry Kilham about The Digital Rabbit Hole.
http://lisahaseltonsreviewsandinterviews.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, July 25th @ Bring on Lemons with Tess Fallier
Tess Fallier is today's guest blogger with a review and insight into Larry Kilham's The Digital Rabbit Hole. Don't miss this blog stop!
http://bringonlemons.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, August 9th @ The Muffin
Angela Mackintosh reviews Larry Kilham's The Digital Rabbit Hole.
http://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com/
Crystal is a secretary and musician at her church, birth mother, babywearing cloth diapering mama (aka crunchy mama), business owner, active journaler, writer and blogger, Blog Tour Manager with WOW! Women on Writing, Publicist with Dream of Things Publishing, Press Corp teammate for the DairyGirl Network, Unicorn Mom Ambassador, as well as a dairy farmer. She lives in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin with her husband, four young children (Carmen 10, Andre 9, Breccan 3, Delphine 2, and baby Eudora due this fall), two dogs, two rabbits, four little piggies, a handful of cats and kittens, and over 230 Holsteins.
You can find Crystal riding unicorns, taking the ordinary and giving it a little extra (making it extraordinary), blogging and reviewing books, baby carriers, cloth diapers, and all sorts of other stuff here, and at her personal blog dedicated to turning life's lemons into lemonade!
This is a top-notch review, Crystal. The best yet.
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