Progression to Analog
exploring a more human everyday
Reduced
screen time by 65%
Since 5 September 2022 and without exception, I begin each day reading nonfiction before any cell phone or computer use.
Purchased a landline
(and use it)
81+ hours in NYC with
no phone (on purpose)
dérives
72 weeks shooting film
of the everyday
About the Podcast
In Progression to Analog, Caitlin Begg, founder of Authentic Social and sociological researcher, speaks with practitioners and academics across Europe about ways to explore a more human everyday amidst technological modernity. Progression to Analog aims for listeners to emerge from each episode with practical strategies for a more human-centered and technologically balanced personal and professional life as well as with a nuanced comprehension of the underlying structures shaping the broader aspects of technological modernity.
About Caitlin Begg
Caitlin Begg is the founder of Authentic Social and a sociological researcher, focused on conversation, sociotechnical systems, human-computer interaction, and AI. She founded Authentic Social in 2016 after writing her undergraduate Harvard sociology honors thesis on virtual impressions and digital communication's effect on social interaction. About Authentic Social Authentic Social (offices in New York and Amsterdam) brings an education-forward approach to sociotechnical systems strategy.
Caitlin presents her research around the U.S. and Europe, most recently at the Responsible Artificial Intelligence Forum in Munich (13 September 2023). Her professional and philanthropic efforts have been featured in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur, i Paper, Mashable UK, and more.
In her free time, some of Caitlin’s other interests include film photography, dérives, vintage collecting (including out-of-print technology and history of the internet magazines), rowing, and editing Wikipedia. Since 5 September 2022 and without exception, Caitlin has begun each day reading nonfiction before any cell phone or computer use.
About Authentic Social
Authentic Social (offices in New York and Amsterdam) brings an education-forward approach to sociotechnical systems strategy.
CAITLIN BEGG
film "REAL"
digital HYPERREAL
digital HYPERREAL
film "REAL"
film "REAL"
PROJECTS IN PROGRESSION TO ANALOG HAVE DRASTICALLY IMPACTED MY LIFE SINCE
5 SEPTEMBER 2022.
(IN ADDITION TO POSITIVELY IMPACTING FOCUS AND REDUCING BRAIN FOG)
The transformation of everyday life toward a more human daily existence filled with unmediated experiences begins with a
PROGRESSION TO ANALOG.
To rid daily life of the temporal discontinuities which techno-capitalism and the neoliberal regime have normalized, we must deconstruct everyday life and our "phone brain" era.
To move with our bodies, it begins with constructing situations in which we can free our minds from the chokehold of pseudo-cyclical time and return spontaneity and creativity to daily life.
The body is a movement,
the mind is not a machine...
we must nourish it with unmediated experiences and a
PROGRESSION TO ANALOG.
From "Everyday Conversation: The Effect of Asynchronous Communication and Hypercommunication on Daily Interaction and Sociotechnical Systems", which I have presented at major academic conferences around the United States and Europe as part of my ongoing independent sociological research following my 2016 undergraduate Harvard sociology thesis, "Virtual Impressions: The Effect of Digital Communication on Millennial Social Interaction" (see more in resume).
Since September 5, 2022, I read every morning (without exception) before going on my phone. This looks different each day - some mornings an hour or so of reading, on crazy days sometimes just a page or two. This often involves a lot of margin scribbles. Every time I read I date the page, and note where I am and the general time of day.
As a result of this habit, I decreased my screen time by over 65%.
The Revolution of Everyday Life by Raoul Vaneigem
Before September 5 2022, I read ~2-3 full books per year. As of today, I'm at 37 (honestly have lost count since I wrote 37...) full books for the year (and 14+ half-read), all of which is non-fiction and most of which is dense critical theory.
See below for some of my favorites. I have also sourced advertisements from over seven decades of out-of-print technology magazines, tracing the route of the deliberate manipulation of consumers to accept technological determinism as an everyday reality. (See the next section for some examples - the first four are scans, the next photographs are more low-quality photos of the frames in current exhibit.)
BOOKS AND ONLINE ARTICLES (~1.5x more since last updated this list)
MAGAZINE ARTICLES AND ADVERTISMENTS
(PREVIEW - SOURCED OVER 65 SO FAR ACROSS SEVEN DECADES)
WHY CAN LIFE BE SO DEEPLY UNFULFILLING? SOME OF THIS ENNUI MUST BE ATTRIBUTED TO THE DEARTH OF CREATIVITY AND SPONTANEITY IN EVERYDAY LIFE. WE MUST MOVE AGAINST THE SUBVERSIVE FORCES THAT STRIP EVERYDAY LIFE OF ITS JOY. TO RECLAIM OUR BODIES, MOVE TO A FOCUS ON LIVED EXPERIENCE VERSUS MEDIATED REALITIES. ENGAGE IN SPIRITED DISCUSSION WITHOUT PRESUPPOSED NOTIONS; CONVERSATIONAL DÉRIVES. WE MUST SEEK TO DEVELOP THE SELF AND OUR RELATIONSHIPS OUTSIDE THE CHOKEHOLD OF TECHNOCAPITALISM. SEEK TRANSCENDENCE.
I currently have a “PROGRESSION TO ANALOG” exhibit on display in my lower Manhattan apartment. I covered the walls with over 572 film photographs of everyday life. This exercise initially began after obsessing over my disappointment with the digital photography from my 2022 birthday (THE SPECTACULAR). I had happened to bring a film camera on the trip for the first time in years. When the film photos came back, I was struck with how natural and happy everyone looked, and how the inherent lack of immediacy and emphasis on duration enables film to serve as a starting point for PROGRESSION TO ANALOG.
Since September 2022, I have spent 50 weeks shooting film of the everyday, everything from the banalities and beauty in daily meals an unmade bed to the spectacular. Subconsciously and consciously inspired by exhibits like The Stedelijk's "Everyday, Someday and Other Stories" and The MoMA's "Frédéric Bruly Bouabré: World Unbound" (see below), in a future exhibit I would like to construct an interactive situation for people regain a sense of calm in their everyday. Film serves as a wonderful starting point for this, as I have seen with my 19 year old cousins Caroline and Ella who have followed suit in their PROGRESSION TO ANALOG.
One of the bookshelves in my lower Manhattan apartment with my working analog phone
THE SPECTACULAR WILL NEVER SURPASS THE BEAUTY OF THE EVERYDAY.
Get in touch
caitlin@everydayconversation.com
Research
Learn more about Caitlin Begg's independent sociological research at