The Cult of Information: A Neo-Luddite Treatise on High-Tech, Artificial Intelligence, and the True Art of Thinking

by Theodore Roszak

Paperback, 1994

Status

Available

Call number

004

Collection

Publication

University of California Press (1994), Edition: First, 267 pages

Description

As we devote ever-increasing resources to providing, or prohibiting, access to information via computer, Theodore Roszak reminds us that voluminous information does not necessarily lead to sound thinking. "Data glut" obscures basic questions of justice and purpose and may even hinder rather than enhance our productivity. In this revised and updated edition of The Cult of Information, Roszak reviews the disruptive role the computer has come to play in international finance and the way in which "edutainment" software and computer games degrade the literacy of children. At the same time, he finds hopeful new ways in which the library and free citizens' access to the Internet and the national data-highway can turn computer technology into a democratic and liberating force. Roszak's examination of the place of computer technology in our culture is essential reading for all those who use computers, who are intimidated by computers, or who are concerned with the appropriate role of computers in the education of our children.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Lady_Lazarus
Mostly still relevant, although first published in 1986. Maybe it was because of Herbert Marcuse I was reading at the same time, but the confrontation between "liberal arts" and "natural sciences" didn't work too well and I tended to read them as "communism" and "capitalism", respectively. The main
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point was, however, that machines (=capitalism) make us forget how to be humans, but it includes the whole society, even the ones dedicated to liberal arts.

Another thing bothering me were the conspiracy theories - and the "liberal arts" view point only strengthened the paranoiac feeling as it didn't only consider society or ideology as threat to the humankind, but suspected humans themselves, those working in the field of science.
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Awards

Language

Original language

English

Physical description

267 p.; 8.25 inches

ISBN

9780520085848
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