The Search for Solitude in an internet of things

The internet is already a threat to quiet contemplation - but could the internet of things herald a return to solitude?

Solitude has long been the condition for inspiration. John the Baptist fled to the desert; Descartes retreated to his fireside; Mahler took refuge in his lakeside cabin. Through solitude, religious, intellectual or creative enlightenment can be reached. As Nietzsche said: "How can anyone become a thinker if he does not spend at least a third of the day without passions, people and books?"

Solitude involves some degree of social withdrawal, but it is not necessarily a state of loneliness. "I have never found a companion that was so companionable as solitude," declared Thoreau; the philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer describes it as friendship with oneself. Solitude may be enjoyed "in the midst of cities and the courts of kings", as French philosopher Montaigne observed in the 16th century - but, he said, "it is enjoyed more handily alone".