• Themes of techonology
  • As communication students you may have come across James Carey's argument that communications should be conceived as a ritual which "is directed not toward the extension of messages in space but toward the maintenance of society in time; not the act of imparting information but the representation of shared beliefs." (Carey 1989:18) The argument between communication as a conduit versus as a ritual is an example of how our understanding of media and technology -- and their societal implications -- is affected by metaphors. Interestingly, the *frame* of opposition (i.e., "A versus B") employed by Carey, other scholars, politicians, and each of us in our everyday thinking is another way in which our understanding of technology is shaped (e.g., technology is progressive, ruinous, and/or a double edged sword). So much so, that technology is frequently conceived of in terms of narratives, sometimes becoming "mythic" (Lawler 1999:4). An example of a technology metaphor is the computer as a a machine, tool, or workplace.
  • One of the approaches we will take in this class to understanding the relationships between media, technology, and society is to understand how our thinking is dominated by metaphor and narrative. As we go through the course be mindful of the following sort of themes in our readings and discussion.
  • Themes seen directly in the readings, or arising from our discussion.
    • relationship to social: recursive, emergent, shaping, injection (embedded, inscribed values)
    • audience: relevant social group, wider context
    • movement: stabilization, momentum, replacement, incremental, extension, organic
      • propagation: massive (car), limited (cockpit design)
      • speed: fast, slow
      • uniform v. uneven (development)
    • scope: micro/macro
    • consequences: intended/unintended
    • stability of meaning by audience: interpretive flexibility, closure
    • causality: singular/multiple; direct/indirect
    • temporal
      • the "transition effect"
      • out-of-phase changes in technology and society
      • "The more things change, the more they stay the same" (e.g., bullies in real life, bullies online)
      • perspective: hindsight, those born to it, those seeing the change
    • Specific narratives and tropes of technology
      • ascent
        • the "sleeper" "blows up"
        • the new displaces the old (e.g., iPod over Walkman)
        • the old sustains (e.g., silicon)
      • descent
        • fade/die
        • the hype bubble bursts
      • prediction
        • "20-20 hindsight"
      • double-edge sword
      • Faustian bargain
      • utopian v. dystopain
        • media portrayal as savior or devil
    • categorization
      • false dichotomies
      • the iceberg: confusing the tip for the rest, and vice-versa