How to Disappear: Notes on Invisibility in a Time of Transparency

I agree with the saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover." But after a lifetime of reading, I know that a book usually can be judged by the Introduction. So even though that's all I've read of How to Disappear, plus some browsing through the rest of the book, I'm confident that my 5-star review is entirely justified.Busch is an elegant writer. As befits the subtlety of her subject, invisibility, she melds solid facts with a poetic sensibility. I loved this passage:"Perhaps, too, our interest in invisibility stems from how we hide from ourselves -- how our desires, fears, hopes, and motives are concealed so deeply beneath our conscious lives and actions. Just as we have come to understand that the light visible to us is only one small section of the electromagnetic spectrum, we know that immense segments of human knowledge and experience remain unseen. The world around us is an encyclopedia of the discreet."Busch notes that dark matter (27%) and dark energy (68%) are estimated by scientists to make up 95% of the known universe, leaving the visible world with just 5%.Likewise, as reflected in the quotation above, modern neuroscience and psychology are aware that we human beings aren't aware of the deep dark unconscious sea that lies beneath the light bright waves of conscious awareness -- and in truth is those waves, since everything arises from the brain's hugely complex goings-on, virtually all of which we're clueless about.Thus my already-strong interest in this book was given a boost by the early-on mention by the author that we are largely invisible even to ourselves. Frequently we say, "I can't believe I did that." Which raises the question: who are those two "I's" that inhabit our cranium? One, and maybe both, are invisible to us though seemingly existent.If this wasn't the case, I wouldn't return to my car so often after parking it. Almost always I've pressed the lock button on the door handle, as evidenced by a flashing light inside, but whoever did that isn't the same person who wonders, "Did I lock the car?"Here's another passage from the Introduction that makes me eager to read the rest of the book:"At times it seemed possible that my expedition into invisibility had two parts. The invisible world contains all those things, people, and actions that are not apparent to us. But our own capacities for going unseen may be a different matter altogether. I increasingly began to see that the borders between these realms of experience are inexact, converging easily and often. The unseen world is all around us. It also is us."

There are some fascinating riffs on aspects of visibility and invisibility in this book. But not enough thought given to the psychological benefits for some people or some circumstances of being invisible. Also the author didn't discuss the phenomenon of people who can make themselves energetically invisible - that is, seen but unnoticeable. So, interesting as far as it went - and a bit disappointing.

This book attracted me because of conflicting feelings I have toward visibility & invisibility. In terms of facebook, for example, I've only in recent years succumbed to its 'charms'. It's a vehicle used to stay in touch with other people who find life too hectic to meet with others as often as we'd like - hence the appeal. On the flip side of that, it lacks the intimacy & depth of a meeting and/or a phone call. It's a pocketful of two-sided coins (for every plus a minus). The information about scientific/design methods for invoking invisibility were fascinating & gives one cause to pause about how perception can be manipulated. I love this book and plan to read it again. There are a few books I read every year - this book has its spot on that shelf.

How to Disappear: Notes on Invisibility in a Time of Transparency by Akiko Busch, is an odd, meandering book about an interesting topic — what it means to go unnoticed in today’s digital world of selfies and status updates. It’s a very personal meditation on what it means to the author to go unnoticed in a series of essays examining the topic from a variety of unexpected angles. It’s a great concept, but for me, it failed to deliver on the promise of the title or have much of a lasting impact.The book reminded me a bit of Walden, by Thoreau, and like that book, it’s maddeningly personal and feels a bit self-indulgent. And while Walden at least brought to life (possibly unintentionally) the transcendental philosophy, How to Disappear never seems to rise above the descriptive, poetic musings of the author.I almost didn’t finish, but Busch is a talented, lyrical writer, so I stuck with it. And I found power, though fleeting, in lines such as:“…finding some genuine alternative to a life of perpetual display.”“I can tell you what invisibility is not. It is not loneliness, solitude, secrecy, or silence.”“We are, each one of us, less important than we think.”“Becoming invisible is not the equivalent of being nonexistent.”“In lessening one’s sense of self, awe enables us to find membership in some broader coalition of human enterprise. It realigns our frame of human reference.”In an age where we all battle against the siren call of being too visible, of sharing—and over-sharing—our lives with strangers, of struggling to limit the reach of the surveillance economy, and thrilling in the almost guilty pleasure of escaping notice, there is a much more powerful work still to come on this topic. And I hope Busch writes it.

Clearly "How to Disappear" is not meant to be an actual self-help guide to disappearing in the digital age, but based on the marketing and the introduction, I was at least expecting a meditation on the value of a "hidden life" in this very on-display world. Instead, what it IS is a series of reflections on various aspects of the general concept of invisibility. Sigh.I accepted this a few chapters in, and even found myself liking the essays, but midway through I became very, very bored. I was listening to the audiobook, so I sped it up to get through it and sometimes just spaced out for minutes at a time. Beautiful writing, but not very engaging. If I'd been reading the text, I probably wouldn't have finished.For someone more patient, it will probably come off as a lovely book-length prose poem on the topic of invisibility. If that sounds like your thing, go for it.

No pude acabarlo. Pensé que iba a ser un libro más interesante con ideas sobre ser invisible en un mundo donde todo es público, pero solo repite historias o películas que vio que trataban sobre la invisibilidad. Nunca habla de nada práctico ni concreto. Solo le da vueltas a la idea de ser invisible.

What it lacks in depth it makes up in breadth - touching on many corners of hi and lo culture.

Extremely enlightening.