DOCSLIB.ORG

Mapping Notions of Cyberspace

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Mapping Notions of Cyberspace MAPPING NOTIONS OF CYBERSPACE: OPTIMISM, SKEPTICISM, AND THE ISSUES OF IDENTITY AND SPIRITUALITY A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Communication of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts Putut Widjanarko June 2005 This thesis entitled MAPPING NOTIONS OF CYBERSPACE: OPTIMISM, SKEPTICISM, AND THE ISSUES OF IDENTITY AND SPIRITUALITY BY PUTUT WIDJANARKO has been approved for the School of Telecommunications and the College of Communication by Drew McDaniel Professor of Telecommunications Greg Shepherd Interim Dean, College of Communication WIDJANARKO, PUTUT. M.A. June 2005. Telecommunications Mapping Notions of Cyberspace: Optimism, Skepticism, and the Issues of Identities and Spirituality (151 pp.) Director of Thesis: Drew McDaniel This is a literature survey on concepts of the Internet and cyberspace and their influence, both on society at large and at the individual level. On society, it discusses the optimistic and skeptic views on the impact of the Internet. At the personal level, it discusses issues of self and identity, and spirituality and religiosity. Except for spirituality and religiosity issues of the Internet, this work chose one author to represent each category: Howard Rheingold for the optimistic view, Clifford Stoll for the skeptic view, and Sherry Turkle for the issues of self and identity. The author’s critiques on those notions are offered in the last chapter. The author argues that the diversity of notions on the Internet can be put in a broader historical and social context. These notions reflect the ever-present questions about the relationship between human and its technologies. Approved: Drew McDaniel Professor of Telecommunications To Elin, Faikar, Hanum and Ranti ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds. Without His blessing, I would not have been able to finish this thesis. I would like to convey my deepest thanks and sincere appreciation to my academic advisor, Dr. Drew McDaniel, for his guidance, cooperation, expertise, and understanding throughout my study at Ohio University. His encouragement throughout the writing of this thesis has forced me to keep moving forward. I would also like to express my gratitude to the members of my committee, Dr. Don Flournoy and Dr. William Frederick. Dr. Flournoy has inspired me with his insights on the role of new technologies, one of factors that encouraged me to explore this topic. Dr. Frederick’s historical perspectives on Southeast Asia have forever changed my understanding on the history of the region, and history as a field of knowledge in general. I would like to thank the Fulbright Scholarship for funding my studies in the United States. Studying in the United States has broadened my perspectives and horizons. In particular, I would like to thank Mas Piet Hendrardjo (AMINEF) and Brenda Simmons (IIE) for their help and support during the course of my study. Special thanks to Karla Schneider for editing and proof-reading this manuscript. I also owe my thanks to all my Indonesian friends in Athens--you are all like my family to me back in Indonesia. My heartfelt gratitude to my patrons at Mizan Publishing, Pak Abdillah Toha, Pak Anis Hadi, and Mas Haidar Bagir, who have given me the opportunity to study in the United States. Especially to Mas Haidar Bagir, my sincere appreciations for taking over my jobs while I am “on-exile.” I also would like to thank my colleagues at Mizan Publishing for their support. I am greatly indebt to my parents for their love and who kept my family and I, in their prayers. May Allah reward them with the best of rewards and grant them mercy. Also, I would like to thank to my parents in-law whose support have been another source of strength for me and my family. Special thanks to each one of my brothers and sister, as well as my in-laws. There is no doubt that my work would not have been possible without the unconditional love, patience, support, sacrifice and deep understanding of my wife, Elin Driana, and my children, Muhammad Faikar Widjanarko, Thahira Hanum Sekarmewangi, and Tasnima Ranti Weningtyas. They have given me continuous comfort, joy, and happiness. For them I dedicate this thesis. vii Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introduction …………………………………………………………… 1 Background ………………………………………………………………. 1 Literature Review ………………………………………………………… 6 Objectives ………………………………………………………………… 9 Method of Study ………………………………………………………….. 9 Outline of Discussion……………………………………………………… 11 Chapter 2 Cyberspace and the New Society? The Optimists and the Skeptics …… 15 The Optimist: From the Virtual Community to the Smart Mobs …………. 15 Background …………………………………………………………16 The Virtual Community: Internet and the New Social Engagement . 19 Arguments for Virtual Community ………………………… 22 Disinformocracy: The Dark Side of Virtual Community ……25 Rethinking Virtual Community …………………………….. 27 Smart Mobs: Mobile Internet and the Future of Society……………. 32 Smart Mob Technologies …………………………………….33 Cooperation and Reputation: Smart Mobs Institution ……….39 The Dark Sides of Smart Mob ……………………………..…41 The Skeptic: From the Cuckoo’s Egg to the High-Tech Heretic …………… 44 Background ………………………………………………………….. 43 False Promises of Over-hyped Internet ……………………………… 49 viii Internet, Computers, Classroom and Education …………………….. 57 Chapter 3 Cyberspace, Identity, and Religiosity …………………………………….. 60 Identity: From the Second Self to the Life on the Screen ……………………. 60 Background …………………………………………………………… 61 Computers and the Second Self ………………………………………. 65 Identity and the Life on the Screen …………………………………… 69 Cyber-Spirituality: The Latest Expression of Eternal Yearnings of Human Soul? …………………………………………………………………. 77 The Divinity and the Technology: Historical Context ……………...... 79 The Metaphysics of Cyberspace ……………………………………… 81 New Spirituality on the Net ………………………………………....... 86 Religious Cyber-Experience of the Devotees ………………………… 95 Judaism ……………………………………………………….. 95 Islam ………………………………………………………….. 97 Christianity …………………………………………………… 98 Chapter 4 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………… 100 On the Optimists ………………………………………………………………102 On the Skeptics ………………………………………………………………. 105 Utopian and Dystopian Views on Technology ………………………………. 109 On Self and Identity ………………………………………………………….. 113 On Spirituality ……………………………………………………………….. 115 ix Two Other Approaches to Cyberspace ………………………………………. 121 Cyberspace in the Perspectives of the Other ………………………………… 127 Final Remarks ………………………………………………………………... 129 List of References ……………………………………………………………………. 131 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Background The Internet has quickly become a communication technology used by many people in the world, illustrated by the fact that the number of Internet users worldwide has grown tremendously since it was introduced to the public. Nielsen/NetRating has estimated that that the worldwide Internet population in 2002 was about 580 million people; meanwhile the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) estimated 655 million Internet users worldwide in 2002, 27% of whom live in the USA. By 2004, eMarketer estimates that there will be 709 million Internet users; and the Computer Industry Almanac estimation for the same year is 945 million users (Population Explosion, 2003). Some 45% of Internet users in the U.S. say that the Internet has played a crucial or important role in at least one of the major events, moments, or decisions in their lives, such as choosing a school or college, changing jobs, getting more education or training for their careers, helping a loved one deal with an illness, or making major financial or investment decisions (Kommers and Rainie, 2002). Furthermore, the late 1990s and the beginning of 2000s have been characterized by the domestication of the Internet, or a shift from using personal computers and Internet in a work setting to that in a more domestic settings, for more personal and household purposes (Cummings and Kraut, 2001). This is because the number of Internet users has grown so significantly that people can use the Internet to keep in touch with a larger proportion of their friends and family they otherwise are not able to reach. 2 Moreover, new services and content, like instant messaging and Internet telephony, make the Internet increasingly attractive for personal users. In sum, the Internet has further abolished and de-coupled the time and space, something that has been started by another previous telecommunication technologies such as telegraph, telephone, radio and television. Unsurprisingly, the potency of the Internet in changing the nature of the society has encouraged many scholars and commentators to figure out and elucidate these new circumstances in a variety of different angles and aspects. Many scholarly publications have been published on this subject, as well as popular books that have been on the bestseller lists and widely read. In the growingly extensive, burgeoning and, in many cases, divergent and oppositional literature on this topic, scholars and commentators acknowledge that there is something different, for better or worse, in the current society as a result of Internet use. The Internet has become a fabric of life in modern society, which is vastly different from the pre-Internet society. Scholars and commentators are remarkably diverse in the interpretations of many aspect of the influence of the Internet on society. However, explicitly or implicitly, they agree with McLuhan’s (1964) contention that media is the extension of man, the Internet
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Tactical Biopolitics: Art, Activism, and Technoscience (Leonardo Books)
    Tactical Biopolitics Art, Activism, and Technoscience edited by Beatriz da Costa and Kavita Philip Popular culture in this “biological century” seems to feed on proliferating representations of the fears, anxieties, and hopes around the life sciences, at a time when such basic concepts as scientific truth, race and da Costa and Philip, Tactical Biopolitics gender identity, and the human itself are destabilized Beatriz da Costa does interventionist art using new media/biology/art in the public eye. Public and expert discourses have computing and biotechnologies, and Kavita Philip converged to grapple with the ethical and creative studies colonialism, neoliberalism, and technoscience “Scientists and engineers, if they care for a better world, must more fully understand Tactical Biopolitics challenges that lie at the intersections of life, science, using history and critical theory. Both are Associate the consequences of their actions. Artists must learn more about science and take up and art. What do inquiring, curious, or anxious publics Professors at the University of California, Irvine. the challenge of illuminating our technological world to those who are shaping it. Both need to understand about biology and its current communities, in making their work more accessible to the other, will benefit. Not everyone Art, Activism, and Technoscience research frontiers? How might scientists assess myriad A Leonardo Book will agree with the politics argued here—but that is fine. The need for dialogue has now and often contradictory concerns about
    [Show full text]
  • Training FLES Teachersinclude
    DOCUMENT RESUME RD 077 302 ,FL 004 378 AUTHOR Lipton, Gladys C., Ed.;.Spaar-Rauch,Virginia, Ed. TITLE FLES: Patterns for Change. A Reportby the FLES Committee of the American Associationof Teachers of French. INSTITUTION American Association of Teachers ofFrench. PUB DATE 28 Dec 70 NOTE 129p.; Report presented in NewOrleans, Louisiana, December 28, 1970 AVAILABLE_ FROMMLA Materials Center, 62 FifthAve., New York, N.Y. ($4.00) EDRS PRICE MF-$0.65 HC-$6.58 DESCRIPTORS Anthropology; Audiolingual Methods;Audiovisual Aids; Audiovisual Instruction; EducationalInnovation; Educational Theories; ElementaryEducation; *Fles; *Fles Programs; *Iles Teachers;Inservice leacher Education; Instructional Innovation;*Language Instruction; Language Programs; ModernLanguages; *Teacher Education; Teaching Methods ABSTRACT This annual report considersmajor changes in education in general and offersnumerous suggestions to FLES teachers, supervisors, and administratorsfor revamping current FLES programs in the light of current socioeconomicpressures. Articles pertaining to two broadareas -- alternatives in FLESprograms and in training FLES teachersinclude:(1) "FLES in Louisiana- -Progressand Promise,"(2) "Suggested Application ofInnovations to FLES Programs," (3) "Innovations, andChanging Goals of Education and FLES," (4) "Common Goals of FLESand Anthropology," (5) "In theFLES Classzoom-A Change in Approach,"(6) "The Preparation of FLES Teachers," (7) "The FLES Teacherand Audio-Visual Equipment and Materials," and (8) "In-Service Trainingfor the FLES Teacher." The names and addresses of members of theFLES Committee of the American Association of Teachers of Frenchfor 197 0 are listed. (This document previously announced as ED 051 687.)pu4 FLES: PATTERNS FOR CHANGE A REPORT BY XH8 FLES COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS OF FRENCH P Co-Chairmen Dr. Gladys C.
    [Show full text]
  • The Disappearing Human: Gnostic Dreams in a Transhumanist World
    religions Article The Disappearing Human: Gnostic Dreams in a Transhumanist World Jeffrey C. Pugh Department of Religious Studies, Elon University, Elon, NC 27244-2020, USA; [email protected] Academic Editor: Noreen Herzfeld Received: 25 January 2017; Accepted: 18 April 2017; Published: 3 May 2017 Abstract: Transhumanism is dedicated to freeing humankind from the limitations of biological life, creating new bodies that will carry us into the future. In seeking freedom from the constraints of nature, it resembles ancient Gnosticism, but complicates the question of what the human being is. In contrast to the perspective that we are our brains, I argue that human consciousness and subjectivity originate from complex interactions between the body and the surrounding environment. These qualities emerge from a distinct set of structural couplings embodied within multiple organ systems and the multiplicity of connections within the brain. These connections take on different forms, including structural, chemical, and electrical manifestations within the totality of the human body. This embodiment suggests that human consciousness, and the intricate levels of experience that accompany it, cannot be replicated in non-organic forms such as computers or synaptic implants without a significant loss to human identity. The Gnostic desire to escape our embodiment found in transhumanism carries the danger of dissolving the human being. Keywords: Singularity; transhumanism; Merleau-Ponty; Kurzweil; Gnosticism; AI; emergence; technology 1. Introduction In 1993, the mathematician and science fiction writer Vernor Vinge gave a talk at the Vision 21 symposium sponsored by NASA introducing the idea of the Singularity, an evolutionary moment when we would create the capacity for superhuman intelligence that would transcend the human and take us into the posthuman world (Vinge 1993).
    [Show full text]
  • Escapism and the Ideological Stance in Naomi Novik's
    B R U M A L Revista de Investigación sobre lo Fantástico DOI: https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/brumal.606 Research Journal on the Fantastic Vol. VII, n.º 2 (otoño/autumn 2019), pp. 111-131, ISSN: 2014-7910 «I DIDN’T OFFER TO SHAKE HANDS; NO ONE WOULD SHAKE HANDS WITH A JEW»: ESCAPISM AND THE IDEOLOGICAL STANCE IN NAOMI NOVIK’S SPINNING SILVER SARA GONZÁLEZ BERNÁRDEZ Universidade de Santiago de Compostela [email protected] Recibido: 12-06-2019 Aceptado: 11-09-2019 AbsTRACT Naomi Novik, an American writer of Lithuanian-Polish ascendency, is one of the most acclaimed voices in contemporary young-adult fantasy fiction. Her fantasies are heav- ily influenced by her cultural heritage, as well as by the fairy tale tradition, which be- comes most obvious in her two standalone novels, Uprooted and the subject of this es- say, Spinning Silver. As the quote chosen for this essay’s title demonstrates, Novik’s second standalone work constitutes one of the most obvious outward statements of an ideological stance as expressed within fantasy literature, as well as an example of what Jack Zipes (2006) called transfiguration: the rewriting and reworking of traditional tales in order to convey a different, more subversive message. This paper considers how Novik’s retelling takes advantage of traditional fairy-tale elements to create an implicit critique of gender-based oppression, while at the same time, and much more overtly, denouncing racial and religious prejudice. The ideological stance thus conveyed is shown to be intended to have consequences for the reader and the world outside of the fiction.
    [Show full text]
  • Digital Activism in Asia: Good, Bad, and Banal Politics Online
    Asiascape: Digital Asia 7 (2020) 5-19 brill.com/dias Digital Activism in Asia: Good, Bad, and Banal Politics Online Bart Barendregt Leiden Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Sociology, Leiden, the Netherlands [email protected] Florian Schneider Leiden University Institute for Area Studies, Leiden, the Netherlands [email protected] Abstract This article introduces the special issue on ‘Digital Activism’ by exploring some of the trends in social media activism and scholarship thereof. The authors ask to what extent this literature helps us understand Asian forms of online activism, which forms of activism have relatively done well, and whether Asian activism requires its own the- orizing. Most of all, it is a plea for a careful and ethnographically informed approach to digital activism. Although outwardly they look similar and use the same templates, manuals, or even similar media strategies, not all forms of online activism promote democratic values. Furthermore, we argue that much of what happens under the ban- ner of digital activism is not necessarily politics with a capital P but, rather, consists of everyday forms of engagement, with sometimes seemingly vulgar contents and often familiar routines and natural forms, yet in their impact such ‘banal activism’ may have political implications. Keywords Asia – civic engagement – digital activism – mediatization – online community – social media © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/22142312-bja10004Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2021 02:48:27AM via free access 6 Barendregt and Schneider 1 Hopes and Hoaxes New media have always held not just the promise of compressing space/time but also, and inherently, of spreading the values of transparency and democ- racy and of serving as a potential means of better and just governance.
    [Show full text]
  • Read-Alike Catalog
    2 0 2 0 • alike Catalog This catalog contains our recommendations for books that might appeal to readers who enjoyed Naomi Novik’s Spinning Silver. Spinning Silver (2018) by Naomi Novik Miryem is the daughter and grand- daughter of moneylenders, but her father’s inability to collect his debts has left his family on the edge of poverty— until Miryem takes matters into her own hands. Hardening her heart, the young woman sets out to claim what is owed and soon gains a reputation for being able to turn silver into gold. When an ill- advised boast draws the attention of the king of the Staryk—grim fey creatures who seem more ice than flesh—Miryem’s fate, and that of two kingdoms, will be forever altered. “A perfect tale . rich in both ideas and people, with the vastness of Tolkien and the empathy and joy in daily life of Le Guin.” — NY Times Book Review Uprooted (2015) by Naomi Novik “Moving, heartbreaking, and thoroughly satisfying, Uprooted is the fantasy novel I feel I've been waiting a lifetime for. Clear your schedule before picking it up, because you won't want to put it down.” — NPR “Uprooted is also part of the modern fairy-tale retelling tradition, because it is very much concerned with which stories get told, why and how they are told, and what truths might underlie them. That focus makes the novel not just exciting, but emotionally satisfying, and very much worthy of reading.” — TOR.com The Bear and the Nightingale (2017) by Katherine Arden “Arden’s supple, sumptuous first novel transports the reader to a version of medieval Russia where history and myth coexist.
    [Show full text]
  • Larry Diamond Ukraine: Democracy in Danger? Henry Hale Gwendolyn Sasse
    July 2010, Volume 21, Number 3 $12.00 Afghanistan & Iraq: Taking Stock Zalmay Khalilzad Scott Worden Adeed Dawisha Liberation Technology Larry Diamond Ukraine: Democracy in Danger? Henry Hale Gwendolyn Sasse S.B. Yudhoyono on the Indonesian Experience Mvemba Phezo Dizolele on the DRC Juan Pablo Luna & Rodrigo Mardones on Chile Ephraim Ya’ar & Yasmin Alkalay on Muslim Attitudes Jacques Rupnik on Václav Havel Judith Kelley on Election Observation The Rise of the “State-Nation” Alfred Stepan, Juan Linz & Yogendra Yadav liberation technology Larry Diamond Larry Diamond is senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and the Free- man Spogli Institute for International Studies, director of Stanford Uni- versity’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, and founding coeditor of the Journal of Democracy. In March 2003, police in Guangzhou (Canton), China, stopped 27-year- old Sun Zhigang and demanded to see his temporary living permit and identification. When he could not produce these, he was sent to a deten- tion center. Three days later, he died in its infirmary. The cause of death was recorded as a heart attack, but the autopsy authorized by his parents showed that he had been subjected to a brutal beating. Sun’s parents took his story to the liberal newspaper Nanfang Dushi Bao (Southern Metropolis Daily), and its investigation confirmed that Sun had been beaten to death in custody. As soon as its report appeared on April 25, “newspapers and Web sites throughout China republished the account, [Internet] chat rooms and bulletin boards exploded with out- rage,” and it quickly became a national story.1 The central government was forced to launch its own investigation and on June 27, it found twelve people guilty of Sun’s death.
    [Show full text]
  • Transracial Parenting in Foster Care and Adoption
    Transracial Parenting in Foster Care & Adoption - Strengthening Your Bicultural Family This guidebook was created to help parents and children in transracial homes learn how to thrive in and celebrate their bicultural family; and for children to gain a strong sense of racial identity and cultural connections. 1 Transracial Parenting in Foster Care & Adoption - Strengthening Your Bicultural Family 2 Transracial Parenting in Foster Care & Adoption - Strengthening Your Bicultural Family Table of Contents: Page # INTRODUCTION 4 A TRANSRACIALLY-ADOPTED CHILD’S BILL OF RIGHTS 5 TRANSRACIAL PARENTING PLEDGE 6 WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A TRANSRACIAL FAMILY? 7 HOW FAR HAVE WE COME? THE HISTORY OF TRANSRACIAL FAMILIES 8 - 10 GENERAL PARENTING TASKS FOR TRANSRACIAL PARENTS 11 - 14 HOW TO CONNECT YOUR CHILD TO THEIR CULTURE - 15 - 16 AND HOW TO BECOME A BICULTURAL FAMILY THE VOICES OF ADULT TRANSRACIAL ADOPTEES 17 - 24 RACISM AND DISCRIMINATION – FOSTERING RACIAL COPING SKILLS 25 - 28 ANSWERING TOUGH QUESTIONS 28 - 29 SKIN CARE & HAIR CARE 30 - 32 RESOURCES 33 - 46 General Transracial Resources Online Help, Books, Videos, Toys & Dolls Organizations & Internet Resources Cultural Camps African American Resources Asian American Resources Native American Resources Hispanic Resources European American Resources Arab American Resources Language & Self-assessment tools 3 Transracial Parenting in Foster Care & Adoption - Strengthening Your Bicultural Family INTRODUCTION According to transracial adoption expert Joseph Crumbley, all foster children, whether in a transracial placement or not, worry “Will I be accepted in this home, even if I am from a different (biological) family?” Children in transracial homes also worry “Will I be accepted even if I’m from a different race?” This booklet will help you understand the importance of race and culture for your family; and share helpful hints, parenting tips and resources for you on the culturally rich journey of transracial parenting.
    [Show full text]
  • A Slice of Life in My Virtual Community Howard Rheingold
    A Slice of Life in My Virtual Community Howard Rheingold I'm a writer, so I spend a lot of time alone in a room with my words and my thoughts. On occasion, I venture outside to interview people or to find information. After work, I reenter the human community, via my family, my neighborhood, my circle of acquaintances. But that regime left me feeling isolated and lonely during the working day, with few opportunities to expand my circle of friends. For the past seven years, however, I have participated in a wide-ranging, intellectually stimulating, professionally rewarding, sometimes painful, and often intensely emotional ongoing interchange with dozens of new friends, hundreds of colleagues, thousands of acquaintances. And I still spend many of my days in a room, physically isolated. My mind, however, is linked with a worldwide collection of like-minded (and not so like-minded) souls: My virtual community. Virtual communities emerged from a surprising intersection of humanity and technology. When the ubiquity of the world telecommunications network is combined with the information-structuring and storing capabilities of computers, a new communication medium becomes possible. As we've learned from the history of the telephone, radio, television, people can adopt new communication media and redesign their way of life with surprising rapidity. Computers, modems, and communication networks furnish the technological infrastructure of computer-mediated communication (CMC); cyberspace is the conceptual space where words and human relationships, data and wealth and power are manifested by people using CMC technology; virtual communities are cultural aggregations that emerge when enough people bump into each other often enough in cyberspace.
    [Show full text]
  • The Virtual Worlds of Japanese Cyberpunk
    arts Article New Spaces for Old Motifs? The Virtual Worlds of Japanese Cyberpunk Denis Taillandier College of International Relations, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto 603-8577, Japan; aelfi[email protected] Received: 3 July 2018; Accepted: 2 October 2018; Published: 5 October 2018 Abstract: North-American cyberpunk’s recurrent use of high-tech Japan as “the default setting for the future,” has generated a Japonism reframed in technological terms. While the renewed representations of techno-Orientalism have received scholarly attention, little has been said about literary Japanese science fiction. This paper attempts to discuss the transnational construction of Japanese cyberpunk through Masaki Goro’s¯ Venus City (V¯ınasu Shiti, 1992) and Tobi Hirotaka’s Angels of the Forsaken Garden series (Haien no tenshi, 2002–). Elaborating on Tatsumi’s concept of synchronicity, it focuses on the intertextual dynamics that underlie the shaping of those texts to shed light on Japanese cyberpunk’s (dis)connections to techno-Orientalism as well as on the relationships between literary works, virtual worlds and reality. Keywords: Japanese science fiction; cyberpunk; techno-Orientalism; Masaki Goro;¯ Tobi Hirotaka; virtual worlds; intertextuality 1. Introduction: Cyberpunk and Techno-Orientalism While the inversion is not a very original one, looking into Japanese cyberpunk in a transnational context first calls for a brief dive into cyberpunk Japan. Anglo-American pioneers of the genre, quite evidently William Gibson, but also Pat Cadigan or Bruce Sterling, have extensively used high-tech, hyper-consumerist Japan as a motif or a setting for their works, so that Japan became in the mid 1980s the very exemplification of the future, or to borrow Gibson’s (2001, p.
    [Show full text]
  • Rethinking the Participatory Web: a History of Hotwired's “New Publishing Paradigm,” 1994–1997
    University of Groningen Rethinking the participatory web Stevenson, Michael Published in: New Media and Society DOI: 10.1177/1461444814555950 IMPORTANT NOTE: You are advised to consult the publisher's version (publisher's PDF) if you wish to cite from it. Please check the document version below. Document Version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Publication date: 2016 Link to publication in University of Groningen/UMCG research database Citation for published version (APA): Stevenson, M. (2016). Rethinking the participatory web: A history of HotWired's 'new publishing paradigm,' 1994-1997. New Media and Society, 18(7), 1331-1346. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444814555950 Copyright Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). The publication may also be distributed here under the terms of Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act, indicated by the “Taverne” license. More information can be found on the University of Groningen website: https://www.rug.nl/library/open-access/self-archiving-pure/taverne- amendment. Take-down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Downloaded from the University of Groningen/UMCG research database (Pure): http://www.rug.nl/research/portal. For technical reasons the number of authors shown on this cover page is limited to 10 maximum.
    [Show full text]
  • Electronic Zen
    ELECTRONIC ZEN: The Alternate Video Generation By Jud Yalkut Copyright, 1984, Jud Yalkut. "The light-flower of heaven and earth fills all the thousand spaces. But also the light-flower of the individual body passes through heaven and covers the earth. Therefore, as soon as the light is circulating, heaven and earth, mountains and rivers, are all circulating with it at the same time. To concentrate the seed-flower of the human body above in the eyes, that is the great key of the human body." - THE SECRET OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER. "Zen Meditation is purely a subjective experience completed by a concentration which holds the inner mind calm, pure and serene. And yet Zen meditation produces a special psychological state based on the changes in the electroencephalogram. Therefore, Zen meditation influences not only the psychic life but also the physiology of the brain." - AKIRA KASAMATSU AND TOMIO HIRAI ("An Electroen- cephalographic Study on the Zen Meditation (Zazen)") in ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS (Charles Tart, editor). "We are not yet aware that telepathy is conveyed through the resonance factors of the mind... The electromagnetic vibration of the head might lead the way to Electronic Zen." - NAM JUNE PAIK. ELECTRONIC ZEN: THE ALTERNATE VIDEO GENERATION PREFACE Although the medium of television has existed in the American home since the post-war period, it has only been since the advent of portable video recorders in the late sixties that a meaningful dissemination of electronics communication technology has permitted the two-way interf low of information and vision exchange. This predominantly half-inch video technology engendered the emergence of alternate video innovators who have gradually mastered the parameters and circuitry of equipment woefully unstable as com pared to the hardware used daily by the vast television broadcasting networks.
    [Show full text]