It might seem like smart devices, personalized apps, and social media ushered us into an age of optimization. But Victorian-era diarists, writing about and responding to a time of rapid change, were already practicing a form of self-monitoring and performative self-improvement. This era of progress was equally an age of anxiety, however, and diaries also became records of failure. In her enlightening Aeon essay, historian Elena Mary examines this “golden age” of diary-keeping and draws astute parallels to our own heavily documented, anxiety-filled lives today.
Nineteenth-century diaries show a growing middle class engaged in a constant quest for self-mastery and productivity. With the invention of printed commercial diaries came a new way of looking at life and new organisational possibilities. The future could be mapped out, goal-oriented, solution-focused. The Victorians were great innovators, but progress was Janus-faced. For every leap forward, a renewed pressure to go further, and faster, to do better, be better.
More picks from Aeon
Toadstools and Toxins
“When I found the mushroom Amanita muscaria being sold in candy wrappers, I uncovered legal loopholes, dangerous dosages and more.”
More Nothing Now
“We are most human when we play freely, imaginatively, pointlessly. Gamification risks atrophying that most precious capacity.”
Dolphins and Other Lovers
“The Andoque of the Amazon know what we have forgotten: the forest’s most beautiful creatures are also its most dangerous.”
Worm Munch Matters
“The lives that slither and scurry beneath the soil’s surface are vital for ecological health: now we can listen in to them.”
Beyond Greece and Rome
“A dramatic shift in perspective is producing a much bigger, broader and more exciting view of ‘the ancient world.’”
The Looting of Science Fiction
“Tech titans claim the genre inspired them. But all they’ve done is graft their politics onto stories of a better future.”
