The Storage of Meaning and How We Disappear

A review of Thomas S. Mullaney’s *How We Disappear* links digital preservation, family archives, and information theory to the human struggle against loss.

Using Claude Shannon’s ideas, it argues that information and identity decay unless they are actively maintained.

The piece is shaped by the author’s experience of losing both parents, making memory and inheritance deeply personal.

It frames preservation as more than storage: the challenge is keeping meaning intact as lives, records, and relationships fade.