Author: Theodore Roszak Publisher: Univ of California Press ISBN: 0520085841 Category : Computers Languages : en Pages : 316
Book Description
"It is obvious that we can no longer proceed developing technologies with our eyes closed to its effects on our psychic habits, social relations and even political ideas. The best eye-opening book on the subject of the implications of a computerized culture is The Cult of Information. It is nothing short of a basic book for anyone interested in knowing about the ecology of technology."—Neil Postman, author of Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology "This thoughtful, sensitive, and sane book heralds a coming new evaluation of the role of science and technology in the affairs of the human species."—Joseph Weizenbaum, Professor of Computer Science, MIT
Author: Theodore Roszak Publisher: ISBN: 9780718895266 Category : Artificial intelligence Languages : en Pages : 256
Book Description
When the word 'computer' entered the general vocabulary in the 1950s, the most advanced example filled a reasonable sized room. Three decades of rapid technological revolution have resulted in the acceptance of computers in nearly every office, school and home. A corresponding dramatic rise in the status of 'information' has promoted the people who manipulate it from the status of office clerks to information scientists. Despite the wonderful claims for the abilities of the computer and the hallowed tones of 'computerese', Theodore Roszak dares to suggest that perhaps, like the unfortunate emperor, the computer has been overdressed with false claims made by those with something to gain by it - elements in our society that are making some of the most morally questionable uses of computer power. Roszak challenges the reader to ask: "Is our capacity to think creatively being undermined by the very 'information' that is supposed to help us? Is information processing being confused with science or even beginning to replace thought? And are we in danger of blurring the distinction between what machines do when they process information and what minds do when they think?" He explains why humankind's primary beliefs, in equality, justice and in God are not computable; why great scientific theories and fundamental 'master ideas' cannot be developed by computers; and why bad ideas cannot even be refuted by them. Roszak is no contemporary Luddite - this book was written on a word processor - but he is deeply concerned that we have all been sold a misleading and potentially harmful vision of the computerised society.
Author: Fredrik deBoer Publisher: All Points Books ISBN: 1250200385 Category : Education Languages : en Pages : 272
Book Description
Named one of Vulture’s Top 10 Best Books of 2020! Leftist firebrand Fredrik deBoer exposes the lie at the heart of our educational system and demands top-to-bottom reform. Everyone agrees that education is the key to creating a more just and equal world, and that our schools are broken and failing. Proposed reforms variously target incompetent teachers, corrupt union practices, or outdated curricula, but no one acknowledges a scientifically-proven fact that we all understand intuitively: Academic potential varies between individuals, and cannot be dramatically improved. In The Cult of Smart, educator and outspoken leftist Fredrik deBoer exposes this omission as the central flaw of our entire society, which has created and perpetuated an unjust class structure based on intellectual ability. Since cognitive talent varies from person to person, our education system can never create equal opportunity for all. Instead, it teaches our children that hierarchy and competition are natural, and that human value should be based on intelligence. These ideas are counter to everything that the left believes, but until they acknowledge the existence of individual cognitive differences, progressives remain complicit in keeping the status quo in place. This passionate, voice-driven manifesto demands that we embrace a new goal for education: equality of outcomes. We must create a world that has a place for everyone, not just the academically talented. But we’ll never achieve this dream until the Cult of Smart is destroyed.
Author: Andrew Keen Publisher: Currency ISBN: 0385520816 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 258
Book Description
Amateur hour has arrived, and the audience is running the show In a hard-hitting and provocative polemic, Silicon Valley insider and pundit Andrew Keen exposes the grave consequences of today’s new participatory Web 2.0 and reveals how it threatens our values, economy, and ultimately the very innovation and creativity that forms the fabric of American achievement. Our most valued cultural institutions, Keen warns—our professional newspapers, magazines, music, and movies—are being overtaken by an avalanche of amateur, user-generated free content. Advertising revenue is being siphoned off by free classified ads on sites like Craigslist; television networks are under attack from free user-generated programming on YouTube and the like; file-sharing and digital piracy have devastated the multibillion-dollar music business and threaten to undermine our movie industry. Worse, Keen claims, our “cut-and-paste” online culture—in which intellectual property is freely swapped, downloaded, remashed, and aggregated—threatens over 200 years of copyright protection and intellectual property rights, robbing artists, authors, journalists, musicians, editors, and producers of the fruits of their creative labors. In today’s self-broadcasting culture, where amateurism is celebrated and anyone with an opinion, however ill-informed, can publish a blog, post a video on YouTube, or change an entry on Wikipedia, the distinction between trained expert and uninformed amateur becomes dangerously blurred. When anonymous bloggers and videographers, unconstrained by professional standards or editorial filters, can alter the public debate and manipulate public opinion, truth becomes a commodity to be bought, sold, packaged, and reinvented. The very anonymity that the Web 2.0 offers calls into question the reliability of the information we receive and creates an environment in which sexual predators and identity thieves can roam free. While no Luddite—Keen pioneered several Internet startups himself—he urges us to consider the consequences of blindly supporting a culture that endorses plagiarism and piracy and that fundamentally weakens traditional media and creative institutions. Offering concrete solutions on how we can reign in the free-wheeling, narcissistic atmosphere that pervades the Web, THE CULT OF THE AMATEUR is a wake-up call to each and every one of us.
Author: with Raimo Blom Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1000082768 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 466
Book Description
There has been much debate over the idea of 'the information society'. Some thinkers have argued that information is becoming the key ordering principle in society, whereas others suggest that the rise of information has been overstated. Whatever the case, it cannot be denied that 'informization' has produced vast changes in advanced societies. The Information Society Reader pulls together the main contributions to this debate from some of the key figures in the field. Major topics addressed include: * post-industrialism * surveillance * transformations * the network society * democracy * digital divisions * virtual relations. With a comprehensive introduction from Frank Webster, selections from Manuel Castells, Anthony Giddens, Michel Foucault and Christopher Lasch amongst others, and section introductions contextualising the readings, this book will be an invaluable resource for students and academics studying contemporary society and all things cyber.
Author: Mary Anne Franks Publisher: Stanford University Press ISBN: 1503609103 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 310
Book Description
“A powerful challenge to the prevailing constitutional orthodoxy of the right and the left . . . A deeply troubling and absolutely vital book” (Mark Joseph Stern, Slate). In this provocative book, Mary Anne Franks examines the thin line between constitutional fidelity and constitutional fundamentalism. The Cult of the Constitution reveals how deep fundamentalist strains in both conservative and liberal American thought keep the Constitution in the service of white male supremacy. Franks demonstrates how constitutional fundamentalists read the Constitution selectively and self-servingly, thus undermining the integrity of the document as a whole. She goes on to argue that economic and civil libertarianism have merged to produce a deregulatory, “free-market” approach to constitutional rights that achieves fullest expression in the idealization of the Internet. The fetishization of the first and second amendments has blurred the boundaries between conduct and speech and between veneration and violence. But the Constitution itself contains the antidote to fundamentalism. The Cult of the Constitution lays bare the dark, antidemocratic consequences of constitutional fundamentalism and urges readers to take the Constitution seriously, not selectively.
Author: Margaret Thaler Singer Publisher: John Wiley & Sons ISBN: 0787967416 Category : Psychology Languages : en Pages : 438
Book Description
Cults today are bigger than ever, with broad ramifications for national and international terrorism. In this newly revised edition of her definitive work on cults, Singer reveals what cults really are and how they work, focusing specifically on the coercive persuasion techniques of charismatic leaders seeking money and power. The book contains fascinating updates on Heaven's Gate, Falun Gong, Aum Shinrikyo, Hare Krishna, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, and the connection between cults and terrorism in Al Queda and the PLO.
Author: Theodore Roszak
Author: Theodore Roszak
Author: Fredrik deBoer
Author: Andrew Keen
Author: with Raimo Blom
Author: Mary Anne Franks
Author: 
Author: Stephen Thomas Ziliak
Author: Margaret Thaler Singer
Author: Theodore Roszak