The perks of the library and physical books for me, a recovering digital brainsick, are numerous. The library is a strange reflection of social media: an open, free market of information, entertainment, and community. While topicality and connectivity are solid cases for modern platforms, the ease the library offers to find obscure thought trapped in time is appealing. It is ironic how such an outdated delivery of media like a book can instill a focus no e-book, BuzzFeed article, or TikTok ever could. I do not oppose every new frontier of tech consumption, yet I believe in a balanced information diet. Books are just one of the information food groups consisting of diverse thoughts not bound by social companies’ profit goals, metrics, or feeds. This neatly reflects a recent topic on the Deep Questions podcast. Cal Newport says (16:28-58):

If you come out and say [you should avoid] ultra-processed food for all these reasons … nobody says, “Woah, you’re anti-food.” … no one will say, “Hey, Luddite, this the inevitable progress of food technology, don’t get in the way of it.”

Cal Newport then continues to link that sentiment with the “ultra-processed” form of digital content. Here’s my takeaway: ask what goal the product has and if those goals align with yours. For example, the product goal of a book is to provide an isolated experience with the story. On the other hand, the product goal of most free advertiser-backed services is to take up as much of your time, providing only enough value to become a habitual thing you must check. Overall, look at the underlying foundation of the platform, questioning if the goals of the creator align with the goals of the consumer.