tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post4093572214417990365..comments2024-03-28T10:10:38.940-04:00Comments on Politics and its Discontents: The Digital LifeLornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15741324981120408977noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post-36276940064682689592013-07-07T21:25:31.218-04:002013-07-07T21:25:31.218-04:00You make some excellent points here,Wendell. I did...You make some excellent points here,Wendell. I did feel, as you point out, that Mann really offers very little to support his thesis. As well, the historical reactions to new technologies, etc. that you mention do seem to recur with each generation. I remember reading an article several years ago by Rick Salutin, I believe, in which he examined reactions to those technologies when they were new. For example, radio was predicted to end the reading of books, the television would be the death of movies, etc. etc.<br /><br />Thanks for your insights, Wendell.Lornehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15741324981120408977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post-43042134857785441382013-07-07T20:04:22.880-04:002013-07-07T20:04:22.880-04:00It's my perception that the myth or trope or m...It's my perception that the myth or trope or meme (that wonderful 'internet' word) that today's technology will undermine our culture and cognition is a subset of an older suspicion of the politics, economics and morality of new technologies in general. The three versions of this trope or meme I see most often are:<br /><br />- the cell phone / car accident connection (even though the explosion of cell phone use between 2000 and 2010 did not result in a matching increase in car accidents);<br /><br />- the texting / bad-spelling connection (even though the telegraph and British word games encouraged similar brevity and creativity a century before, as Cambridge professor David Crystal frequently points out);<br /><br />- the audio-visual / death of print connection (which typically confuses book sale numbers with incidents of reading, and recasts business decisions that limit consumer choice as consumer choices which drive business decisions).<br /><br />These last two, of course (and as noted in the post above), fit nicely with the "today's schools are no good" and the "kids today are ignorant and lazy" tropes.<br /><br />Anyway, my point is, Doug Mann is just reporting on and running with a popular and mostly unsubstantiated trope.<br /><br />By the way, it may be true that Harry Potter books aren't Moby Dick. But, then, neither were Michener novels or those terrible things Alister Maclean and Louis L'Amour used to crank out. What's interesting is the *hunger* with which, say, The Half-blood Prince was received. Maybe everybody would read more print if they only had more print to read?<br />Wendell Drydenhttp://about.me/wendelldrydennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post-47922917191825658472013-07-07T15:35:55.153-04:002013-07-07T15:35:55.153-04:00I tend to agree, Anon, that the written word will ...I tend to agree, Anon, that the written word will always have currency; I have never really joined in the sky-is-falling hysteria that some people express over new technology. Such dire predictions are perhaps more a manifestation of absolutist thinking. Hopefully, old and new methods can co-exist and perhaps even be synergistic. Lornehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15741324981120408977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post-5682327555953383002013-07-07T15:27:22.540-04:002013-07-07T15:27:22.540-04:00I agree with Mr. Mann in the sense that a transiti...I agree with Mr. Mann in the sense that a transition in communication is taking place. We are moving from the world of the written world to a world based on icons and sound. We are 'evolving', as McLuhan said, back to a pre-literate world. But I think there will always be a Druid class that will keep the written word alive and relevant to some extent.<br /><br />I disagree with Mr. Mann's idea that the new technology represents a 'sinister cultural darkening'. The new technology represents a cultural change, that is all. New complex ideas, I think, will evolve with the 'new' icon and oral-aural based communication. In fact, the new ways may represent an improvement for human civilization. The rise of the written word during the industrial revolution has, after all, brought us to a precarious place.<br /> <br />Will the new communication methods and technology make us any happier? I doubt it. As the publisher Alfred Knopf once said, people were no more happier after the invention of the light bulb than they were before it.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post-71004092145949622652013-07-07T14:10:10.589-04:002013-07-07T14:10:10.589-04:00Both my son and daughter were raised with print, O...Both my son and daughter were raised with print, Owen, and avid readers as youngsters, I would say my son is far more reliant on electronic communication than my daughter, who is still quite a reader and quite involved with the arts. I suspect the differences between them may have more to do with their personalities, but then again, their approach to technology only differs by degree. Neither would want to be without it.Lornehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15741324981120408977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post-68730949719071755172013-07-07T12:45:26.231-04:002013-07-07T12:45:26.231-04:00We have three sons, Lorne. The first two were thor...We have three sons, Lorne. The first two were thoroughly immersed in print. But our third son is much more comfortable with electronic communication. His cell phone is always within reach. He seems more impatient for his brothers and he demands immediate answers. Unfortunately, life does not always provide them on the spot.<br /><br />He's much more comfortable with this brave new world than I am. However, I continue to hope that one day he will read Moby Dick.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post-38051823727576163872013-07-07T11:35:54.898-04:002013-07-07T11:35:54.898-04:00Linda, I was raised on the imperial system, and wa...Linda, I was raised on the imperial system, and was able to make the transition, especially with regard to Celius in place of Fahrenheit; I do still use a converter, however, whenever I want to figure out my fuel economy in miles per gallon. <br /><br />The ability to see both sides is in many ways, I think, invaluable, and one that perhaps gives an edge to older people who now embrace technology, as context is so important in so many areas. I guess that is the big question about the digital impact on young people, Without that context, do they have the necessary evaluative skills?Lornehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15741324981120408977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post-27669454764170472582013-07-07T10:20:22.947-04:002013-07-07T10:20:22.947-04:00Lorne, I'm from the in-between generation, goi...Lorne, I'm from the in-between generation, going metric for example, for which I am grateful because it gives me the ability to 'see both sides'.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com