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Papers, articles, books, videos and tools on technology, art and consciousness, collected and summarised.
Amazon.com: The Media Lab: Inventing the Future at M.I.T
Explores the future envisioned by the Media Lab at MIT, focusing on how scientists are reshaping mass media to cater to individual desires and preferences.
Book
Eliott Edge explores virtual reality as a profound metaphor for human civilization, arguing that cultures themselves are forms of virtual realities shaped by language, religion, and societal beliefs. The collection of essays emphasizes that our perceptions and institutions create virtual worlds that influence our identity and existence, presenting an ontological awakening regarding our understanding of reality.
From Counterculture to Cyberculture
Fred Turner shows how the 1960s counterculture and the Whole Earth network influenced digital utopianism, virtual communities, and personal computing, highlighting the cultural link between psychedelic ideas and the rise of networked technology.
Future Presence: How Virtual Reality Is Changing Human Connection, Intimacy, and the Limits of Ordinary Life
Virtual reality is set to revolutionize human connection and intimacy, enabling individuals to experience sensations of closeness and trust independently for the first time. This technology, described as an "intimacy engine," will transform work, entertainment, and emotional experiences, fundamentally altering relationships and societal dynamics. The exploration includes insights from creators and users of VR, showcasing its current capabilities and future implications for empathy, relationships, and human interaction.
Ontological Design: Subject is Project
Ontological design focuses on designing human subjects through a feedback loop, emphasizing the need to adapt to the disruptions of technocapitalism. It frames the subject as a project influenced by social relations, behavior, and beliefs, aiming to engage with our sense of existence and reality while questioning and designing our understanding of it.
The Global Village: Transformations in World Life and Media in the 21st Century
The authors explore the clash between Visual Space, a linear perception typical of the West, and Acoustic Space, a holistic view common in the East, in the context of today's global communications. They argue that technological advancements are pushing users towards a more dynamic understanding of the world, but warn that this transition may be challenging. Using McLuhan's Tetrad framework, they analyze the implications of these competing worldviews and emphasize the importance of understanding both to achieve peace.
The Medium is the Massage
Marshall McLuhan's work emphasizes that media profoundly shape society beyond just their content, influencing personal and social aspects. Despite the enjoyment derived from mainstream media, it masks deeper societal anxieties due to incongruities between technology and society. His insights are increasingly relevant in the context of the digital revolution and the internet's rise.
Virtual Existentialism: Meaning and Subjectivity in Virtual Worlds
Explores existence in virtual worlds through existentialism, emphasizing how technology and practices shape human perception, values, and beliefs. It highlights the potential of virtual environments to offer new perspectives and experiences, making it relevant for scholars in philosophy, anthropology, media studies, and digital game studies.