CMNS 253W Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Neil Postman, Modus Vivendi, Cursus Publicus
17 Jun 2011
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Document Summary
Metamedium - digital, interactive, multimedia delivered by switched networks. The uncontrolled growth of [communications] technology destroys the vital sources of our humanity. It creates a culture without moral foundation undermines certain mental processes and social relations that make human life worth living . Meanings of words do not exist in the words themselves but are a product of creative process of communication: information age. Rene descartes (1596-1650) humans were clockwork machines accessorized by immaterial and inscrutable soul. Smudging of boundary between human and machine of brain. Man is the measure of all things meaning man is centre of values; values are not external to him or in some way given" or predetermined. Newton: a linear world in which equations all plotted in straight lines or regular curves. By dissociating time from human activity, the mechanical clock created a new model of reality -> more efficient, but impoverished. -> able to organize time.
