The Virtue Of Hitting 'Delete,' Permanently : NPR

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The Virtue Of Hitting 'Delete,' Permanently

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October 22, 2009

Evolving digital technology has provided a steady aid for people in their quest to remember virtually everything. Social networking sites remind you of friends' birthdays, digital calendars send you reminders, and photos posted online preserve memories indefinitely.

But Viktor Mayer-Schonberger, author of Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age , argues that now is the time to reintroduce our ability to forget. The indelible digital memory can be as unforgiving as it is helpful. Mayer-Shonberger suggests an expiration date for information.

Mayer-Shonberger talks about his book, Delete , with Neal Conan, and makes his case for why forgetting is essential.

Excerpt: 'Delete'

CHAPTER I

Failing to Forget the "Drunken Pirate"

Stacy Snyder wanted to be a teacher. By spring of 2006, the 25-year-old single mother had completed her coursework and was looking forward to her future career. Then her dream died. Summoned by university officials, she was told she would not be a teacher, although she had earned all the credits, passed all the exams, completed her practical training — many with honors. She was denied her certificate, she was told, because her behavior was unbecoming of a teacher. Her behavior? An online photo showed her in costume wearing a pirate's hat and drinking from a plastic cup. Stacy Snyder had put this photo on her MySpace web page, and captioned it "drunken pirate," for her friends to see and perhaps chuckle over. The university administration, alerted by an overzealous teacher at the school where Stacy was interning, argued that the online photo was unprofessional since it might expose pupils to a photograph of a teacher drinking alcohol. Stacy considered taking the photo offline. But the damage was done. Her page had been catalogued by search engines, ...

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