Digital detox, digital minimalism, and smartphone free schools reveal a desire to reduce or change how we use technologies. However, disconnecting from digital communication like smartphones and social media is not always easy or beneficial. We discuss what digital disconnection is, why people desire less digitally mediated communication, and how disconnecting can be helpful as well as its limits.

Social interaction is a complex phenomenon. When we want to know what our fellow human beings are feeling, we have various sources of information at our disposal. One major source is the human body and body language. By observing another person’s body language, we can infer not only what they are doing but also why they are doing it and even what they are feeling at the time. But how well can we really recognize emotions from movements? How do we manage to deduce other people’s feelings by observing their movements, and how does this ability differ from person to person?