Opinion: An age of extinction is coming. Here’s how to survive.

Every great technological change has a destructive shadow.

View in browser|nytimes.com April 28, 2025 The new digital era is killing us softly, by distracting us from the activities that sustain ordinary life and by making existence at a human scale seem obsolete, Ross Douthat writes. Photo illustration by Tyler Comrie. (Georges Seurat, "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884," via the Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection/The Art Institute of Chicago) Opinion Here's how to survive. → Sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter Get expert analysis of the news and a guide to the big ideas shaping the world every weekday morning. Get it in your inbox Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this message because you signed up for updates from The New York Times. To stop receiving From The Times, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request. Subscribe to The TimesGet The New York Times app Connect with us on: Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018