Machine is Changing Us

8/13/2019 Machine is Changing Us

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byby Michael WeschMichael WeschKansas State UniversityKansas State University

mediatedcultures.netmediatedcultures.net


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1984 A.D.


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Media Ecology


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Media are not just tools.


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Media are not just means of communication.


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Media mediate our conversations


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Mediachange


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Media our conversationschange change


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We shape our tools,

and thereafter our tools shape us.- Marshall McLuhan


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the conversationsthe conversationsof our cultureof our culturehappen herehappen here


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the conversationsthe conversationsare controlled by feware controlled by few


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the conversationsthe conversationsare controlled by feware controlled by few

and designedand designedfor the massesfor the masses


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the conversationsthe conversationsare always entertainingare always entertaining


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the conversationsthe conversationsare always entertainingare always entertaining(even the serious ones)(even the serious ones)


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the conversationsthe conversationsare punctuated byare punctuated by

30 second commercials30 second commercials


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the conversationsthe conversationscreate our culturecreate our culture


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the conversationsthe conversationscreate our culturecreate our culture

of irrelevanceof irrelevanceincoherenceincoherence

and impotenceand impotence


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What steps do you plan to taketo reduce the conflict in the

Middle East?


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Or the rates of inflation,crime, or unemployment?


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What do you plan to do aboutNATO, OPEC, the CIA, etc.?


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I shall take the liberty ofanswering for you: ...


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You plan to do nothing.


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You plan to do nothing.

- Neil Postman 1984


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The public has adjusted to incoherenceand been amused into indifference.

- Neil Postman 1984


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25 years later ...


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What we are encountering is a


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What we are encountering is apanicky, an almost hysterical,

attempt to escape from thedeadly anonymity of modernlife ... and the prime cause isnot vanity ... but the craving ofpeople who feel theirpersonality sinking lower andlower into the whirl ofindistinguishable atoms to belost in a mass civilization."

What we are encountering is a


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What we are encountering is apanicky, an almost hysterical,

attempt to escape from thedeadly anonymity of modernlife ... and the prime cause isnot vanity ... but the craving ofpeople who feel theirpersonality sinking lower andlower into the whirl ofindistinguishable atoms to belost in a mass civilization."

- Henry Seidel Canby 1926


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Assembly line


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It's a oneIt's a one--wayway

conversationconversation


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You have to be on TVYou have to be on TV

to have a voiceto have a voice


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You have to be on TVYou have to be on TV

to be significantto be significant


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The MTV Generation


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The MTV Generation

Short attention spans

Materialistic

Narcissistic

Not easily impressed


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in the midst of a fabulous array of

historically unprecedented andutterly mind-boggling stimuli ...


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whatever.


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whatever.

- Thomas de Zengotita

A brief history of Whatever


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pre-1960s: "Whatever. That's what I meant." Late 60s: "I don't care. Whatever."

1990s: MTV Generation the indifferent "Meh."


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I find it hard.

It's hard to find,oh well, whatever,nevermind.

I f l id


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I feel stupid,

and contagious.Here we are now.Entertain us.


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flattering


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y





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y



Late 90s - present: "Whatever. I'll do what I want."


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the search for identity and recognitionthe search for identity and recognition


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the search for the authentic selfthe search for the authentic self


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the search for the authentic selfthe search for the authentic self

Charles Taylor's Ethics of Authenticity (Charles Taylor's Ethics of Authenticity (19911991))


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Two Slides:Two Slides:



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Two Slides:Two Slides: towards ...towards ...



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1. self1. self--centered modes of selfcentered modes of self--fulfilmentfulfilment



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1. self1. self--centered modes of selfcentered modes of self--fulfilmentfulfilment

2. negation of all horizons of2. negation of all horizons of

significancesignificance



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1. self1. self--centered modes of selfcentered modes of self--fulfilmentfulfilmentdisengagementdisengagement


significancesignificance



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significancesignificancefragmentationfragmentationCharles Taylor's Ethics of Authenticity (Charles Taylor's Ethics of Authenticity (19911991))


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significancesignificancefragmentationfragmentationspecial interest sound bite politicsspecial interest sound bite politicsCharles Taylor's Ethics of Authenticity (Charles Taylor's Ethics of Authenticity (19911991))

If the conversations of our cultureIf the conversations of our culturenow happen here ...now happen here ...


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Why this matters ...Why this matters ...

not controlled by the fewnot controlled by the few


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not controlled by the fewnot controlled by the few

not onenot one--wayway created by, for, and around networks, not massescreated by, for, and around networks, not masses

transform individual pursuits into collective actiontransform individual pursuits into collective action

makes group formation ridiculously easymakes group formation ridiculously easy(Paquet/Shirky)(Paquet/Shirky)

Why this mightWhy this might deeplydeeply matter ...matter ...

We know ourselvesWe know ourselves


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We know ourselvesWe know ourselves

through our relations with others.through our relations with others. New media create new ways of relating to others.New media create new ways of relating to others.

New media create new ways of knowing ourselves.New media create new ways of knowing ourselves.


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1,728,000 minutes/day


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Over1,000x faster than you can watch


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493,714 videos/day


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493,714 videos/day(just on YouTube)


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1,000,000+ online videos per day


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over 99.9% irrelevant to you(estimated)

Who is on YouTube

(percentage of videos featuring people of different ages)


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(percentage of videos featuring people of different ages)


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viewed by less than 1% of Americansviewed by less than 1% of Americans


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Toward a new future of whateverToward a new future of whatever


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6060s: I don't care. Whatever (you think).s: I don't care. Whatever (you think).

9090s: Whatever. (I don't care what you think).s: Whatever. (I don't care what you think).

Future: I care. Let's do whatever it takes ... byFuture: I care. Let's do whatever it takes ... by

whatever means necessary.whatever means necessary.


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by michael weschassistant professor of cultural anthropology

Kansas State University

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and translated in over 15 languages ...

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Machine is Changing Us

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