DOCSLIB.ORG

Masaryk University, Faculty of Social Science

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Masaryk University, Faculty of Social Science Masaryk University, Faculty of Social Science Concept of Time in the Work of Thomas Hylland Eriksen (Master Thesis) Pavol Fabuš Brno 2008 Declaration of authorship I hereby declare that I have written this thesis without any help from others and without the use of documents and aids other than those stated in literature. In Brno, 29. 5. 2008. Acknowledgements I thank my supervisor, Mgr. Jakub Macek, for many insightful conversations during the development of the ideas in this thesis, and for helpful comments on the text. Some people cry out against the acceleration of time, others cry out against stagnation. They’re both right. Henri Lefebvre CONTENT 1. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………7 2. ACCELERATING PACE OF LIFE IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY AS A SUBJECT OF INQUIRY……………………………………………………………… 9 2.1 Laymen’s Point of View as a Starting Point……………………………………..9 2.2 Methodology……………………………………………………………………10 3. THOMAS HYLLAND ERIKSEN: TYRANNY OF THE MOMENT……………….12 3.1 Norwegian Social Anthropologist T. H. Eriksen……………………………….12 3.2 Tyranny of the Moment. Fast and Slow Time in the Information Age………...12 3.2.1 The Problem of Growth in the Information Society……………………...13 3.2.2 Acceleration as the Historical Process……………………………………16 3.2.3 Tyranny of the Moment and Its Consequences......................……......…...16 3.3 The Role of Media in Tyranny of the Moment……………………….………...19 4. ACCOUNT OF ACCELERATING PACE OF LIFE IN WRITINGS OF OTHER AUTHORS……………………………………………………………………………...23 4.1 James Gleick: Faster. The Acceleration of Just About Everything……….……23 4.2 Heather Menzies: No Time. Stress and the Crisis of Modern Life……….……25 5. TIME AND SOCIAL THEORY……………………………………………………...28 5.1 All Time is Social Time…………………………………………….………….28 5.2 What is Time?.....................................................................................................29 5.3 Time as a Medium of Social Interactions………………………….…………..31 5.3.1 Ordering and Repetition………………………………….……………....32 5.3.2 Time as a Scarce Resource……………………………………………….34 5.3.3 Modernity and Time-space Distanciation………………………………..35 5.3.4 Impact of Time-space Distanciation on Social Formations……………...37 5.3.5 Complexity and Fragmentation………………………………………….38 5.4 Speed and Accelerating Pace of Change………………………………………40 5.4.1 Accelerating Pace of Life Is Nothing New……………………………....42 6. THE ROLE OF MEDIA IN CONSTRUCTION OF TIME………………………..44 6.1 The Media as Inhibitors or Accelerators………………………………………46 6.2 Time and ICT……………………………………………………………….…48 6.2.1 Flexibility and Attention………………………………………………...49 6.2.2 Fragmentation and Inequalities…………………………………………52 7. EVALUATION OF ERIKSEN’S NOTION OF TIME………………………….…54 8. CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………….…....60 9. NAME INDEX………………………………………………………………………..62 10. SUBJECT INDEX……………………………………………………………………63 11. LITERATURE……………………………………………………………………….64 10.1 Other Internet Sources………………………………………………………70 12. SUMMARY, KEYWORDS…………………………………………………………72 11.1 Summary…………………………………………………………………….72 11.2 Keywords……………………………………………………………………72 13. APPENDIX…………………………………………………………………………..73 1. INTRODUCTION We are living in quick times. So they say. But asking ourselves what is the reason and nature of the speed, we come to a battery of interpretations and every one of them should be taken as an invitation to its scrutiny. A special position among them is held by the concept of time perception. Speeding of time is truly a commonsensical consequence of times saturated with information – the times we live in. “Time is flying”, “hours have changed into minutes” and other similar phrases are used on daily basis, when we experience a discrepancy between our subjective notion of time and its clock measure. There are many reasons why to study the phenomenon of speed and acceleration. Among the most crucial is ever-present question why do we have less and less, when we are using technologies, which ought to save it. Poses acceleration a threat to our coherent relation to the world and to its understanding? Aren’ we driving up to the situation when we won’t have a time for our close friends and relatives, for ourselves? Aren’t we victims of our pursuit for greater effectiveness? Or is it so, that we are actually gaining more from the life, which is going to end one day? All these question are really hard to answer but we should at least try to understand this situation better. Writings like Tyranny of the Moment by Thomas Hylland Eriksen are addressing this anxiety and are too often disconcerted about the point of history we are situated in and the future in front of us. Therefore, in this thesis we would like to analyse the Eriksen’s account together with writings by other authors in order to find out how relavant and on what basis are they criticizing the value of speed we are ascribing to speed since the 19th century. In chapter 3 we will look closely into Eriksen’s book Tyranny of the Moment and pinpoint his main arguments, warnings and suggestions. A special section will deal with media and their role in acceleration according to Eriksen. Chapter 5 will then serve as an addition to the analysis of Eriksen’s account regarding what both of these authors share and what do they add up to the subject. In the next chapter entitled Time and Social Theory we will look into how has the social theory dealt with time so far, what are the main concepts of time and what role does it play in the social world according to various authors. We will see that time itself has been for a long time neglected in social sciences but in recent decades gained its meaning and now is a part of vast research efforts both theoretical and empirical. With the help of time-space 7 distanciation concept by Anthony Giddens we will see how the current society came to the state analysed by Eriksen and others and in what relation is speed and acceleration with fragmentation and complexity. Finally, we will go through a set of notions on accelerated pace of life and valorization of speed throughout the history. In chapter on the role of media in acceleration we will show how media function as “sources of time” (Zeitgebers) and present a comparation of their slowing and accelerating effects. Both chapters 5 and 6 will serve as a theoretical framework for the final evaluation of Eriksen’s account in chapter 7. There we will use Eriksen’s own summary of the most crucial aspect of accelerated society and allocate them in the theoretical framework. This will help us to decide to what extent do we have to take Eriksen’s warning seriously or refuse them in the light of their insufficient grounding. 8 2. ACCELERATING PACE OF LIFE IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY AS A SUBJECT OF INQUIRY The experience of acceleration in its general understanding is no doubt a persistent part of our day-to-day life. We feel that our days are more and more filled with impulses of steadily growing variety. Moreover, it seems the more sophisticated technologies designed to be ever more effective if not downright time-saving we use the more we feel the scarcity of time we dispose of.1 In the time of writing this thesis the American alternative rock band R.E.M. released an album titled Accelerate. And this is just a drop in a vast ocean of speed-soaked culture we live in. “(…) fast ovens, quick playback, quick freezing, and fast credit,” laments James Gleick in his book Faster. The Acceleration of Just About Everything. Speed is power. Speed is blessing. And “before it meant velocity, Old English spede or spēd meant something more like success and prosperity.” (Gleick 2000: 51) Thus English phrase “God speed” refers to wishing a good luck. But speed is also a potential threat to deep engagement either in thought or in politics. We will argue later that speed can’t be dealt with as a single thing for it bears different meanings in different contexts. As we will see, speed or acceleration is to inconsiderable extent associated with superficiality, fragmentation, health issues and general insecurity. Moreover, we ourselves, know from our day-to-day experience what does it mean “to keep pace”, “to have a lack of time” or “to be engulfed by a multitude of information”, which is incoming faster and faster. It is necessary then to look closer into this subject and find out whether the warnings about increasing speed we are witnessing are based on solid ground or they are touching a mere surface of the complex issue. 2.1 Laymen’s Point of View as a Starting Point Speed is a status-marker and those, who nowadays want to be successful, must be fast and flexible. But is accelerated society a beneficial one? Are its members prospering and living healthy lives? Isn’t the accelerated pace of life putting us under too much strain? These are 1 Moore (1963: 31) refers to the study by William Goode and Sebastian de Grazia, who demur that labor-saving machines designed for households are time demanding both when they are operating and when they are not and waiting for repairs. 9 legitimate questions, because a day-to-day impression of such culture yields mixed feelings about it. One day we complain about the haste and the other we are enjoying the fast pace of problem-solving. However I dare to say, the remarks on accelerated culture comes mostly within critical rhetoric, which even corresponds with its commonsensical understanding. And exactly this common-sense, the knowledge of the laymen, is going to be an ever- present background of the following analysis. Because not just that the knowledge of laymen is partially composed of results of scientific inquiries, but “as a series of factual beliefs, it is in principle open to confirmation or otherwise in the light of social scientific analysis.” (Giddens 1976: 166) Last but not least it is important to note, that common-sense is not just a set of practical knowledge, to the contrary, it is in some substantial degree derived from, and responsive, to the knowledge and activities of experts, which directly contribute to the rationalization of culture (Giddens 1976: 115).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Proquest Dissertations
    INFORM ATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly fi'om the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quali^ of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North2^eeb Road, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 OPENING TECHNOLOGY DISCOURSES TO DIFFERENCE: A RHIZOANALYSIS DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Patricia Ann O'Riley, B.Ed., M.A.
    [Show full text]
  • The Police Response to Homelessness
    CRITICAL ISSUES IN POLICING SERIES The Police Response to Homelessness CRITICAL ISSUES IN POLICING SERIES The Police Response to Homelessness June 2018 This publication was supported by the Motorola Solutions Foundation. The points of view expressed herein are the authors’ and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Motorola Solutions Foundation or all Police Executive Research Forum members. Police Executive Research Forum, Washington, D.C. 20036 Copyright © 2018 by Police Executive Research Forum All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-934485-43-9 Graphic design by Dave Williams. Text photos by Sarah Mostyn, PERF. Cover photo credits, from upper left, clockwise: • NYPD Officer Lawrence DePrimo offers a new pair of boots he purchased for a homeless man. Photo by Jennifer Foster. • Hillsborough County, FL Sheriff’s Deputy Linda Ruggerio shares her lunch with a young homeless man. Photo by Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. • Miami Beach, FL police officers deliver mosquito repellent to community members. Photo by Valerie Navarrete. • Santa Cruz, CA police officers conducting a survey of homeless persons in order to gather information and direct individuals to services. Photo by Santa Cruz Police Dept. • Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office deputies and employees of Safe Harbor, a homeless shelter and jail diversion created by the Sheriff’s Office. See pp. 12-13 of this report. Photo by PCSO. Contents Acknowledgments .....................................................................................................1 The Police Response to Homelessness: Problem-Solving, Innovation, and Partnerships ....................... 3 By Chuck Wexler Sidebar: Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office Opens a $2.3 Million Facility to Help Homeless Persons ...................................................................................12 What We Know About Homelessness .....................................
    [Show full text]
  • 2010 Better Newspaper Contest
    Winners’C ircle 2010 Better Newspaper Contest Sponsored by TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION 2 2010 Better Newspaper Contest Winners’ Circle Winners’ C ircle Contents TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION 718 West Fifth St., Ste. 100 Community Service.........................................................................3 Austin, Texas 78701 512-477-6755 FAX 512-477-6759 Special Sections.........................................................................3, 33 www.texaspress.com General Excellence.........................................................................4 TPA CONTEST COMMITTEE Chairman Russel Skiles, News Writing.....................................................................................6 Lamesa Press-Reporter Bill Crist, Advertising..........................................................................................8 The Cameron Herald Wanda Brooks, Feature Story....................................................................................11 Moore County News-Press Terry Collier, Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post Headline Writing.................................................................................14 Tania French, Port Lavaca Wave Editorials...............................................................................................16 Roy Robinson, The Graham Leader Feature Photo...................................................................................18 Chad Ferguson, Banner Press News-Columbus News Photo......................................................................................21 Ken
    [Show full text]
  • 2021 Edition Alzheimer’S Disease
    2021 EDITION ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE QUALITY HEALTH RELATED INFORMATION CAREFULLY SELECTED BY YOUR LIBRARIES 2 ABOUT COORDINATION – QUEBEC PUBLIC Biblio-Santé is a program of the Quebec Public Library LIBRARY ASSOCIATION Association. The ABPQ is made up of more than 179 member Clémence Tremblay-Lebeau, Project manager municipalities and corporations, for a total of over BIBLIOGRAPHIC RESEARCH 317 autonomous libraries. Biblio-Aidants is available in more than 780 participating public libraries as well as Gabrielle C. Beaulieu, Project manager Audrey Scott, Intern librarian associated health libraries throughout Quebec. Visit our Clémence Tremblay-Lebeau, Project manager website to see if your library participates in the program. CONTENT REVIEW AND EDITING ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Sandra Cliche-Galarza, Intern librarian Biblio-Santé is an initiative of the Charlemagne, L’Assomption Fannie Labonté, Member services and events coordinator and Repentigny libraries that was started under the name Clémence Tremblay-Lebeau, Project manager Biblio-Aidants. The Quebec Public Library Association would like to thank these three cities for allowing it to extend the LAYOUT AND DESIGN program to the rest of Quebec by transferring the copyright. Steve Poutré DGA VISIT OUR WEBSITE You will find all of the Biblio-Santé booklets and additional information. bibliosante.ca The information provided does not replace a diagnosis or medical examination by a physician or qualified health professional. The content of this booklet was verified in the spring of 2021 and will be
    [Show full text]
  • Working Time and the Future of Work in Canada a Nova Scotia Gpi Case Study
    M E A S U R I N G S U S T A I N A B L E D E V E L O P M E N T A P P L I C A T I O N O F T H E G E N U I N E P R O G R E S S I N D E X T O N O V A S C O T I A WORKING TIME AND THE FUTURE OF WORK IN CANADA A NOVA SCOTIA GPI CASE STUDY Prepared by: Linda Pannozzo BSc, BEd, BJ and Ronald Colman, Ph.D April, 2004 GENUINE PROGRESS INDEX 2 Measuring Sustainable Development ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS GPI Atlantic is grateful to Health Canada for providing funding support for research on major sections of this report as part of a research program on the health impacts of economic change. The author wishes to thank all those who directly helped with this report by providing detailed information upon request. This includes Anders Hayden, Juliet Schor, Andrew Harvey, Mike McCracken, Larry Haiven, Frank Reid, Andrew Heisz, Colin Dodds, and Laura Landon. Thanks also go out to Mary MacInnis, a Certified Accountant in Chester, Nova Scotia, who provided income tax simulations free of charge at her busiest time of year. The reviewers of this report, who generously offered their time, patience, and expertise were Anders Hayden, Andrew Harvey, Juliet Schor, Mike McCracken, Andrew Heisz, and Arthur Donner. Their help and input has been invaluable. During the research stage of this report the pioneering work of many individuals provided the inspiration needed to continue.
    [Show full text]
  • AA-Postscript 2.Qxp:Layout 1
    LIFESTYLE36 THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2015 Music & Movies Yemen film fans find calm in British-era cinema den’s Hurricane offers just one screening a day, but a devoted band of Yemeni film Alovers has kept the British colonial-era cine- ma going through communism, civil war and Al- Qaeda. A handful of ageing cinema buffs files qui- etly into the fading yellow building in Aden’s Crater district at the same time six days a week, just as the sun slips behind the volcanic hills encir- cling the city. This routine-every evening except Saturday-has withstood years of upheaval in vio- lence-wracked Yemen, and most recently weath- ered the political crisis that saw the president flee his residence to sanctuary in Aden. A former British protectorate and prosperous port city, Aden was exposed to foreign arts and culture in a way that set it apart from much of conservative Yemen. It retained its diversity in stark contrast to the austerity of the capital Sanaa, 430 kilometers (260 miles) to the north. When South Yemen gained independence in 1967, its socialist rulers encouraged Aden’s openness. But unification with the north in 1990, fol- A picture in the southern Yemeni city of Aden shows the screen of the Hurricane People sitting on benches before a screening at the Hurricane cinema. lowed by the 1994 crushing of a secession cinema, the city’s only functioning cinema. —AFP photos attempt, replaced the city’s liberalism with a more conservative Islamic climate. Aref Naji Ali, who taneously in Aden. increasing Al-Qaeda attacks, the cinema offers heads the cultural organisation Al-Waddah But the Hurricane’s success ended abruptly punters a rare escape of calm and culture.
    [Show full text]
  • The Janus Project Workshop
    THE JANUS PROJECT WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS MARCH 21-22, 1997 MONTREAL, QUEBEC CCLOW CCPEF 47 Main Street Canadian Congress for Congrès canadien pour la Toronto. Ontario Learning Opportunities promotion des études chez la M4E 2V6 for Women femme Tel: (416)699-1909 Fax: (416)699-2145 email: [email protected] Registered charity no.! N° d'enregistrement de la charité 0615- 179-13 CCLOW'S JANUS PROJECT Conference Proceedings The Janus Project: New Learning Technologies & Women March 21-22, 1997 Hotel du Fort, Montreal, Canada Proceedings prepared by Christina Starr _______________________________________ A national voice for women's education and training in Canada Un porte-parole national de l'éducation et de la formation des femmes au Canada Also available from CCLOW's Janus Project: New Learning Technologies: Promises and Prospects for Women, A Discussion Paper prepared for CCLOW by Jennifer O'Rourke and Linda Schachter, March 1997 edited for CCLOW by Christina Starr, May 1997 Available for $14.95 + $2.50 (postage and handling) +$1.22 (GST) = $18.67 Orders can be sent by fax, e-mail or mail, or by calling the CCLOW office. ToII free: 1 -800-858- 7 558 What is CCLOW? The Canadian Congress for Learning Opportunities for Women is a national, feminist organization dedicated to addressing education and training issues for girls and women. Our goal is to achieve social, political and economic equality for women through improved and expanded learning opportunities. Key focus areas are literacy, educational equity - with special emphasis on young women and violence as a barrier to women's education - and job training.
    [Show full text]
  • Made with Creative Commons MADE with CREATIVE COMMONS
    ii Made With Creative Commons MADE WITH CREATIVE COMMONS PAUL STACEY AND SARAH HINCHLIFF PEARSON Made With Creative Commons iii Made With Creative Commons by Paul Stacey & Sarah Hinchliff Pearson © 2017, by Creative Commons. Published under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license (CC BY-SA), version 4.0. ISBN 978-87-998733-3-3 Cover and interior design by Klaus Nielsen, vinterstille.dk Content editing by Grace Yaginuma Illustrations by Bryan Mathers, bryanmathers.com Downloadable e-book available at madewith.cc Publisher: Ctrl+Alt+Delete Books Husumgade 10, 5. 2200 Copenhagen N Denmark www.cadb.dk [email protected] Printer: Drukarnia POZKAL Spółka z o.o. Spółka komandytowa 88-100 Inowrocław, ul. Cegielna 10/12, Poland This book is published under a CC BY-SA license, which means that you can copy, redistribute, remix, transform, and build upon the content for any purpose, even commercially, as long as you give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original. License details: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Made With Creative Commons is published with the kind support of Creative Commons and backers of our crowdfunding-campaign on the Kickstarter.com platform. iv Made With Creative Commons “I don’t know a whole lot about non- fiction journalism. The way that I think about these things, and in terms of what I can do is. essays like this are occasions to watch somebody reason- ably bright but also reasonably average pay far closer attention and think at far more length about all sorts of different stuff than most of us have a chance to in our daily lives.” - DAVID FOSTER WALLACE Made With Creative Commons v vi Made With Creative Commons CONTENTS Foreword xi Introduction xv PART 1: THE BIG PICTURE 1 The New World of Digital Commons by Paul Stacey 3 The Commons, the Market, and the State .
    [Show full text]
  • An Environmental History of the Ontario Cheese Industry
    AN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF THE ONTARIO CHEESE INDUSTRY BUILDING ‘A NATURAL INDUSTRY OF THIS COUNTRY’: AN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF THE ONTARIO CHEESE INDUSTRY FROM THE 1860S TO THE 1930S By HAYLEY GOODCHILD, B.A. (HONS), M.A. A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy McMaster University Copyright by Hayley Goodchild, 2017 McMaster University DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (2017) Hamilton, Ontario (History) TITLE: Building ‘a natural industry of this country’: an environmental history of the Ontario cheese industry from the 1860s to the 1930s AUTHOR: Hayley Goodchild, B.A. HONS (Trent University), M.A. (McMaster University) SUPERVISOR: Associate Professor Michael Egan NUMBER OF PAGES: xi, 351 ii Lay Abstract This dissertation examines the origins and development of the factory cheese industry in rural Ontario between the 1860s and 1930s. I challenge the belief that cheese manufacturing was a “natural industry of this country” whose development was cooperative and inevitable. Instead I argue that the industry was a deliberate project of rural reform encouraged by elite ‘dairy reformers’ who believed cheese factories could sustain the social, economic, and environmental progress of rural society indefinitely. The industry failed to deliver all the reformers promised, even though it became one of the province’s most significant export-oriented industries by the early-twentieth century and transformed the environment and rural society in the process. Rural people and the environment behaved in more complicated ways than reformers anticipated, and the changing capitalist economy made the industry’s long-term success untenable. This study also contextualizes the twenty-first century resurgence of craft production in Ontario.
    [Show full text]
  • On This Date the Game Is Afoot! Happy Birthday! Quote of The
    THE TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2020 On This Date 1535 – Jacques Cartier’s men Quote of the Day experienced the effects of scurvy, due to lack of vitamin C in their diet. The “There’s a thin line between to Iroquois showed them how to make laugh with and to laugh at.” cedar tea as a cure. ~ Richard Pryor, comedian 1887 – The very first Sherlock Holmes mystery appeared when the story “A Study in Scarlet” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was published. Happy Birthday! Richard Pryor (1940–2005) was a class clown in high school—a perfect beginning for someone who would become one of comedy’s most influential stars. His home life was 1929 – Edwin Lowe, a toy salesman, was attending a carnival in Jackson, far from perfect, and comedy and Alabama, when he noticed a popular acting were natural outlets for him. game called Beano. He made a few He did stand-up in New York City modifications, and bingo was born. and even opened for Bobby Darin in Las Vegas. Pryor The Game Is Afoot! was unafraid to push Which of these bad guys is not a the envelope, using nemesis of Sherlock Holmes? wit to explore race in America. He found A. Professor Moriarty stardom in the 1970s B. Irene Adler and ’80s. Although C. John Clay he was diagnosed with multiple D. Ernst Stavro Blofeld sclerosis in 1986, he continued to James Bond. James entertain and influenced an entire ANSWER: Ernst Stavro Blofeld is a nemesis of of nemesis a is Blofeld Stavro Ernst ANSWER: generation of young comedians.
    [Show full text]
  • Continuous Partial Attention and Online Learning
    Continuous Partial Attention: Reconsidering the Role of Online Learning in the Age of Interruption* Ellen Rose Abstract: “Continuous partial attention” is a term that was coined in the late1990s, to describe the increasingly dispersed nature of attention in online environments. The purpose of this paper is to describe the concept, discuss its implications for online learning, and propose a new agenda for research in what has been called “the Age of Interruption.” We live in a time that is often called “the Age of Information,” a time when we are surrounded by seemingly endless repositories of data. Writing in 1997, Jennifer Tanaka observed that, “A single weekday edition of The New York Times today contains more information than an average person in the 17th century would have encountered in a lifetime” (n.p.). Over a decade later, the information to which we are exposed on a daily basis has increased exponentially, and most of it now resides on the Internet. But the Internet brings us more than information. With the advent of high-speed transmission, mobile devices, and Web 2.0, it also offers the possibility of constant connectivity, which means that the Internet is now not only a source of endless information but a perpetual source of distraction. For this reason, Thomas Friedman (2006) insists that we have moved from the Age of Information to the Age of Interruption. “All we do now,” he says, “is interrupt each other or ourselves with instant messages, e-mail, spam or cellphone rings” (n.p.). In the Age of Interruption, there is an overabundance of information, but attention has become a correspondingly scarce resource—so scarce that, according to commentators such as Michael Goldhaber (1997) and Richard Lanham (2006), what we see emerging is an attention economy: By definition, economics is the study of how a society uses its scarce resources.
    [Show full text]
  • Literary Review of Canada a JOURNAL of IDEAS How Will the Next Indie Book Inspire You?
    $7.95 1 2 MARLO ALEXANDRA BURKS Democracy Now KRZYSZTOF PELC Information Overload 0 2 H SHANNON HENGEN MARK LOVEWELL Atwood the Poet London, We Have a Problem C R A M Literary Review of Canada A JOURNAL OF IDEAS How will the next indie book inspire you? Expand your world. Immerse yourself. Discover new stories crafted by some of Canada’s most provocative and passionate writers. Read up. Canadian Indie Literary Publishers. AllLitUp.ca/lpg MARCH 2021 ◆ VOLUME 29 ◆ NUMBER 2 A JOURNAL OF IDEAS FIRST WORD BYGONE DAYS THIS AND THAT A Pronounced Problem The History Books Pack Together, Pack Apart Kyle Wyatt On the Cundill Prize short list Down at the dog park 3 Christopher Moore Dan Dunsky 15 FURTHERMORE 28 Robert A. Stairs, Lawrence Wardroper, At Daggers Drawn HEALTH AND WELLNESS Antanas Sileika, Joel Henderson, Margaret MacMillan soldiers on J. L. Granatstein Fragments Ian Waddell When your mother can’t 17 5 remember your name THE PUBLIC SQUARE Jigging for Answers Katherine Leyton Scratched records of 29 Slouching toward Democracy a Métis family Where have all the wise men gone? Heather Menzies LITERATURE Marlo Alexandra Burks 19 The Prophet 6 OUR NATURAL WORLD Atwood’s poetic voice Royal Descent Shannon Hengen Rideau Hall is brought down to earth Thereby Hangs a Tail 31 Mark Lovewell With the ghosts of Madagascar Alexander Sallas On the Rocks 7 Peter Unwin’s new novel 20 RULES AND REGULATIONS Larry Krotz Around the Bend 34 Wait, Wait. Don’t Tell Me The many ways rivers run through it The pros and cons of disclosure Robert Girvan Home Sweet Unhomely The latest from André Alexis Krzysztof Pelc 21 8 Spencer Morrison CLIMATE CRISIS 35 POLITICKING Whatever the Cost May Be BACKSTORY Share and Share Alike Preparing for the fight of our life How Ottawa slices the pie John Baglow Trash Talk Murray Campbell 24 Myra J.
    [Show full text]