a curriculum of proper knowledge consumption
TRANSCRIPT
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A Curriculum of Proper
Knowledge Consumptionan elucidation of the design exploration documentedin the accompanying volume, Utopia/Dystopia
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pyright 2013 by abril uval chazin
urriculum rpr nwldg nsumptin
n lucidatin th dsign xplratin dcumntd in thaccmpanying vlum, Utopia/Dystopia
ll ights srvd
h chaptr and sctin titls in this bk ar st in udistaand th bdy cpy is st in imr, bth rm th uitcasyp undry. h lattr is a rvivd vrsin a typacdignd riginally in 1967 by th zch typ dsignr, avlimr. h inunc which his cuntryman, ilm lussr,had n this and th accmpanying vlum inspird thsarch r a typac with zch rts.
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Table of Contents
7 Prologue
11 Seeking A Framework
27 Point, Counterpoint
45 Social Movement Inormation Design
65 Philosophical Basis
73 A Curriculum O Proper Knowledge Consumption
91 Epilogue
95 Acknowledgments
99 Works Cited
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7
Prologue
hn dcidd t g t graduat schl back in th
all 2009, dclard that it was t imprv my
asthtic. had spnt th prvius v yars wrking
n th crativ sid th advrtising businss;
surrundd by dsignrs with dgrs rm schls
lik assrt and SCAD, my undrgraduat businssdgr didnt rally sm s rlvant any mr. O
curs, nc gt t th ynamic dia nstitut, it
was th imprvmnt my asthtic that wuld sn
cm acrss as irrlvant.
hr, was prvidd th pprtunity r th
kind critical thinking had nvr attmptd in any
prvius stting
acadmic r thrwis. acklingundatinal and cntmprary cnsidratins
dynamic mdia in rssr Quacknbushs class
prvidd m with th rmindr ndd hw
much njyd th rigrs schlarship, spcially
whn applid t ths tpics cls t my cr
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A Curriculum of Proper Knowledge Consumption
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intrsts. rking with rssr asha nstanza-hck at th ntr r ivic dia at MIT r tw
smstrs intrducd m t th thrtical and
philsphical apprachs t undrstanding mdias
plac in scity. ll th whil, th making was
ding with rssrs rian ucid, an ubasiwicz,
unta aza, and athrin ughs allwd r th
xprssin my intrsts and cncrns thrughdsign, n my riginal rasns r taking n th
pursuit an MFA in th rst plac.
h dcumnt that llws utlins my bli
that ur currnt mdia-cntric scitys rgard r
brvity and spd is laving us withut th ability
r a discurs that is anything but acil and
sriusly lacking in nuanc. s a rsult, w ls urpprtunity r th kind rctin that maks us
human. his is an bsrvatin was nly abl t cm
t atr th kind rading and writing cmpltd
in my rst tw yars at DMI, but it tk my cncurrnt
cus n making t hlp m tackl th qustin
what d lik t d abut all this.
cnsidratin which lns d lik t us ts th wrld arund m, xampls what that
wrld lks lik, an xplratin dsigns rl in
that wrld, a cnstructin a philsphical basis
r my plan attack, and an xplanatin that
plan all must b llwd up with hw th xcutin
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Gabi Schaffzin
9
that plan culd lk. s such, th accmpanyingvlum, Utopia/Dystopia, ds xactly that, ring
up th thught prcss and prducts my
attmpt at implmnting a curriculum prpr
knwldg cnsumptin. hrughut bth bks,
crss-rrncs ar mad btwn ach dcumnt,
cnncting th thrtical ramwrks and
philsphical argumnts with th dsign dcisinsmad (and vic vrsa).
O curs, whil th narrativ structur ths
tw vlums may imply that this was a lgical
prgrssin thrugh an argumnt and prcss
alrady dvlpd in my had, this culd nt b
much urthr rm th truth. athr, a cnsidrabl
amunt thught was put int making sur thrganizatin and physical rm ths dcumnts
ar in lin with th pillars upn which th argumnts
prsntd ar built. hp yu njy it.
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11
Seeking A Framework
n his 2010New York Times bstsllr, The Shallows:
What The Internet Is Doing To Our Brains, ichlas
arr tracks humanitys transitin rm th spkn
wrd, t th writtn, th printd, and th digitizd.
h wrk is cmplling, tn transitining
samlssly btwn scintic ndings and illustrativancdts. hrughut, h avids prsnting himsl
as a uddit (th wrd appars nly ncin th
prlgu (3)) whil still making th argumnt that
tdays tchnlgy1 is lading t a rquird r-wiring,
srts, ur brains.
s arr lays th grundwrk r his largr
argumnt, h turns t scintic ndings suchas ichal rznichs 1968 wrk xplring and
1 At a public reading o the book at the Harvard Book Store inCambridge, MA on 28 June, 2010, Carr noted that he uses the term
The Internet in the title as a reerence to technology as a whole,calling out the connected nature o most o todays technology.
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mapping th prrntal crtx th brain. arrpints t th xplicit plasticity th rgana quality
lng rjctd by gnratins scintists br (24).
aving n gusswrk rgarding th vntual
dirctin th bk t his radrs, h cncluds
at th cls chaptr n that th pssibility
vntual dcay is inhrnt in th mallability ur
brains (35).Each chaptr thratr tracks th changs that
w ar rcd thrugh as w accpt tchnlgy int
ur livs. ginning with cnturis-ld adjustmnts
t th way w navigatd (th map), th way w
tld tim (th clck), and th way w transrrd
knwldg btwn n anthr (th writtn wrd),
arr thn turns t ur intractins with tdaystchnlgy. nts hw th scrn is rplacing th
printd rm, hw th hard driv and th sarch
ngin ar rplacing mmry, and hw th cmputr
as a whl is rplacing human agncy. pints t
studis that prv that, as ur nw tls allw us t
multi-task, w ar, instad, sprading urslvs t
thin, ctivly missing ut n th salint dtails th inrmatin w cnsum and prduc n a daily
basis. writs that th pric w pay t assum
tchnlgys pwr is alinatin (211).
hrughut, th authr wavs scintic ndings
in with th tachings thrists and philsphrs
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such as arshall cuhan and wis umrd. hisis t rmind his radrs that th way tchnlgy
acts us is nt n t b bsrvd slly in a
labratry. ltrnativly r cncurrntly, his gal
may hav bn t appas bth th radr sking
scintic pr and th n sking thrtical
insight. gardlss his mtiv, arrs wrk was
wll rcivd. n additin t his Times bstsllrstatus, th pic was widly acclaimd by rviwrs
(mazn.cm) and nminatd r a ulitzr in th
gnral nnctin catgry (h ulitzr rizs). n
Slate Magazine, ichal ggr cmpars th bk
t achl arsnsSilent Spring, pinting t th way
arr prsnts his cncrns abut cntmprary
tchnlgy by admirably subjcting his hunch tscrutiny. ggr gs n t xprss sm skpticism
abut arrs mphasis n scinc (brain scinc is
lik th nw rshman quartrback wh shws lts
prmis, h writs), but vntually calls arr a
ralist in pinting ut that th litrary, attntin-
capabl mind, thugh it may nt quit g th way
th chanting rk pts, will n lngr rign.t is this mphasis n th mind th individual
that charactrizs arrs analysis. r th last v
cnturis, vr sinc utnbrgs printing prss
mad bk rading a ppular pursuit, writs arr,
th linar, litrary mind has bn at th cntr
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art, scinc and scity (10). his bsrvatin,mad in th bks pning chaptr, is an ctiv
intrductin t th prspctiv rm which radrs
ar thn guidd thrugh th authrs rmaining
argumnts: hw th mind thindividual, lcatd
at th cntr art, scinc and scity, is bing
changd. arr sms t bypass th institutins
shaping that individuals mind, instad jumpingdirctly int th cntr th imaginary circl.
rtainly, th rlatinship btwn th individual
and scity is by n mans unidirctinal, and arr
ds nt xplicitly st ut t imply that scity as
a whl shuld b xcludd rm cnsidratin in
his critiqu. n act, in his chaptr n th cts
tchnlgy n ur mmry, arr tuchs n hwprsnal mmry shaps and sustains th cllctiv
mmry that undrpins cultur (196). gs n t
assrt that, t rmain vital, cultur must b rnwd
in th minds th mmbrs vry gnratin.
Outsurc mmry, and cultur withrs (197). till,
this analysis th minds rlatinship t cultur
cntinus t cncntrat n th in th quatinand th wrk as a whl rarly tuchs n hw
th cllctiv w acts. hat subtl abstractin ,
hwvrrm t w ds appar in lay hirkys
Here Comes Everybody, particularly in th rm
, as th bks rnt cvr nts, an analysis
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what happns whn society adpts nw bhavirs[mphasis addd].
hirky intrducs us t th issus dalt with
in his 2008 wrk with an ancdta mchanism
that h will us thrughut th rst th bk. n
chaptr n, h tlls th stry vannas phn, lt
in a w rk ity cab in ay 2006, and th pic
battl t rtriv it and sham th individual inwhs pssssin th phn ndd up. tr vannas
rind Evan pstd hr stry t th ntrnt, h
passd th link amng his rinds and amily wh
sprad th link urthr thrugh thir rspctiv
ntwrks. Evntually, atr a hug spik in trafc
t Evans sit, th bradcasting mail addrsss,
thrats physical vilnc against Evan, th arrst th prptratr, th rturn th phn, and
Evans dciddly smart chic t g int th public
rlatins industry, sm srius qustins wr still
lt unanswrd. w want a wrld in which a
wll- grwn-up can us this kind lvrag t
gt a tnagr arrstd? . . . a wrld whr, whnvr
smn with this kind lvrag gts rild up, thycan unilatrally rst all th priritis th lcal
plic dpartmnts? (1314). hs qustins, hirky
nts, ar rhtrical. h ral qustin is, hat
happns nxt? (14).
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n th cas Here Comes Everybody, what llwsis tn mr chaptrs, ach prsntd with anthr
stry rm ppular culturb it hw a wbsit lik
tup.cm cam t b, hw activists shind light n
th athlic hurchs sx abus scandals, hw inux
was cratd by bth n dvlpr and a cmmunity
dvlprs, and s ncmbind with a ramwrk
r tnt ur nw rganizing tls. hrughut,h pints ut that th tls w hav tday (r, at
last, th ns that wr availabl up t and at th
pint th bks publishing) ar rspnsibl r
signicantly lwring th barrirs ntry rlatd t
accssing th nrgy, skills, and attntin grups
disparat individuals. y making it asir t
rganiz, h rs, mr ppl will d s: On th uncntntius tnts cnmics is that ppl
rspnd t incntivs. yu giv thm mr a
rasn t d smthing, thy will d mr it, and i
yu mak it asir t d mr smthing thy ar
alrady inclind t d, thy will als d mr it (18).
s a prminnt thrist himsl, hirky maks
sur t rrnc ths wh hav cm br. uss bth th asan iling and asan lr
t mak his pintsrrncs t nald ass
ssay, h atur h irm. h rmr rrs
t th pint at which th high transactin csts
managing an rganizatin n lngr mak th
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xistnc th rganizatin wrth it. h lattris th pint at which th transactin csts bcm
s lw, that thr is n pay r th rganizatin
t xist t prrm its unctin. Our nw scial
tls, hirky argus, nabl us t brak thrugh th
asan r by crating lsly rganizd grups (h
uss as an xampl phtgraphrs wh happnd t
b at th rmaid arad in ny sland, NY in 2005)whs transactin csts ar s lw, thrs vry littl
incntiv nt t prrm thm (pling phts rm
th vnt n th scial pht sit, lickr.cm).
ncluding th wrk scial thrists such as
as, Ethan Zuckrman (whs lbal ics sit h
calls ut as a challng t th tmpting assrtin
that a jurnalist wuld hav t b anintd by smldr rm mdia (72)), and chai nklr (r his
thris n nn-markt cratin grup valuth
ways ppl ar happy t cprat withut nding
nancial rward (133)) grunds hirkys analysis in
th ramwrks that shap hw many s prsnt
day scity. n th pilgu th 2009 paprback
ditin th bk, hirky tlls th stry (318) ldus anutius, th ntian printr wh invntd
th pckt-sizd bk in 1501an histrical rrnc
mad by arr, as wll (70). alling th invntin n
th small rvlutins xtnding th big rvlutin
mvabl typ, hirky rs that th lssn rm
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anutiuss li is that th utur blngs t ths whtak th prsnt r grantd (319).
ith this mphasis n mving past th
prsnt in rdr t undrstand th utur, hirky
ncurags his radrs t s that ur ntwrks
ar strngr thanks t nw bhavirs nabld by
tchnlgy. nsquntly, h psits that thr is a
shit in th balanc pwr rm th institutinsthat gvrn ur livs t ths tchnlgy nabld
ntwrks. ccrding t hirky, this shit is wrth
clbratingand in many th xampls h rs, it
crtainly is. ut a cnsidratin hwwe act in ur
nw prsnt dsrvs an qually imprtant analysis
hwwe are acted upon. n cnsidring th lattr
prspctiv, hirkys rhtrical qustins abvbcm lss srcing us t qustin th ways in
which th tchnlgy that w bliv w cntrl
bgins t tak cntrl us.
wnty yars ag, il stman raisd such
qustins in Technopoly: The Surrender o Culture
to Technology. y mving his radr thrugh a
cntinuum tchnlgical changs, stmanstablishs a taxnmy phass: rm tl-using
culturs t tchncracis t chnply. uch lik
arr and hirky in thir rspctiv vlums, stman
thrads histrical rrncs with thrtical vrss
t prsnt an argumnt n th nw human cnditin
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that has bgun (and will cntinu) t bcm thnrm in tdays scity. stman, hwvr, taks
a mr cmprhnsiv viw than his succssrs,
prrring t s shits in th w inunc
rsulting in hlistic cultural changs, rathr than
changs bsrvd in th bhavirs th individual
r cllctiv.
n bsrving th dirncs in which arr andstman prtray th vlutin th mchanical
clck and th subsqunt changs du t its us, n
can s quickly th varid mds in which th tw
authrs prsnt thir argumnts. tr utlining th
mchanical clcks mv rm th mnastry as a tl
usd by hristian mnks t signiy prayr tims t
an vr-prsnt and critical tl synchrnizatinin th gnral cmmunity, ichlas arr nts
that h mchanical clck changd th way w saw
urslvs . . . it changd th way w thught . . . ur
minds bgan t strss th mthdical mntal wrk
divisin and masurmnt (43). r w bsrv
arrs armntind mphasis n th whn
dvlping a ramwrk r th valuatin tchnlgical advancmnts.
stman als ss th clck as a majr milstn
in tchnlgically inuncd scital shits.
nts that ing harls rdrd th clck blls
b rung hurly rathr than n prayr tims (as had
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bn th cas with th mnks). his shit, h argus,was indicativ a tl bing mplyd t lsn
th authrity th cntral institutin mdival
li (27). t is this typ shitcultural institutins
yilding t th dvlpmnt ths tls which
wr nc an intgratd part that culturthat
charactrizs a tchncracy. ith sm xcptins,
tls did nt prvnt ppl rm bliving in thirtraditins, in thir d, in thir plitics, in thir
mthds ducatin, r in th lgitimacy thir
scial rganizatin. hs blis, h cntinus,
dirctd th invntin tls and limitd th uss t
which thy wr put (23). s tchncracy tk hld
a pst-mdival wrld, lmnts cultur such as,
cnsqunc, traditin, scial mrs, myth, plitics,ritual, and rligin [had] t ght r thir livs (28).
chncracy, hwvr, still allwd r ths
lmnts t cxist alngsid tchnlgy. h
tchnlgical was th strngr, curs, but th
traditinal was still thrstill unctinal, still
xrting inunc, still t much aliv t ignr (48).
t s, stman gs n t argu, nc chnplytk hld; in chnply, thr is n mr rm
r altrnativs. h pwrs driving advancmnt
tchnlgy thrughut ur cultural institutins
yild t n traditins. hus, whras hirky ss ur
currnt tchnlgical landscap as an nablra
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ramwrk that allws us t rganiz and act in nwways as a cllctivstman ss it as a rc acting
n us.
r instanc, bth hirky and stman rrnc
th cncpt inrmatin vrlad.2 hirky
blivs th bst way t tackl this vrw cntnt
rm varius mdia channls and platrms is t
plac th jb ltring that cntnt int th hands its cnsumrs, rathr than its publishrs. iltr-
thn-publish, h writs, whatvr its advantags,
rstd n a scarcity mdia that is a thing th past.
h xpansin scial mdia mans that th nly
wrking systm is publish-thn-ltr (98). h jb
ltring, thn, is tndd t by individuals drivn
t participat ut mtinal cnnctin (whathirky calls lv), nt mnyth lattr nt bing as
imprtant nw that transactin csts t participat
ar s lw.
hirky, curs, had th bnt having sn
varius scial mdia platrms (ypac, wittr,
ivurnal, t al.) in actin whn h wrtHere
Comes Everybody. t s r stmans Technopoly.gardlss, it is dubtul stman wuld b s
willing t trust th masssr, rathr, ths undr
2 Shirky never uses the term inormation overload specically, thoughhe alludes to the problems associated with it while outlining the newmedia landscape in chapters three and our o Here Comes Everybody.
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th inunc chnplian rcs
with thrl ltring cntnt r gnral cnsumptin.
tr all, in chnply, r rin is grantd t
any tchnlgy (129), including ths usd r
th publishing and ltringvn languag itsl.
stman argus,
h qustin with languag, as with any thrtchniqu r machin, is and always has bn, h is
t b th mastr? ill w cntrl it, r will it cntrl
us? h argumnt, in shrt, is nt with tchniqu.
h argumnt is with th triumph tchniqu, with
tchniqus that bcm sanctid and rul ut th
pssibilitis thr ns (143).
h as with which cmmunitis may ltr thvrw inrmatin bing publishd, thrr,
is n us whn th tls bing usd r publishing
and ltringlanguag, machin, tchniquar
pratd undr th rcs chnply.
t is imprtant t nt th way in which stman
sparats tchnlgy rm chnply. nstad
pinting t hw spcic tls, such as an nlinsarch r txt mssag, may act ur brains r
inspir a scial mvmnt, h rams th cncpt as
a thught-wrld. utlins sm th tnts
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this thught-wrld whn writing th riginatr scintic managmnt, rdrick . aylr:3
. . . aylrs bk The Principles o Scientic
Management, publishd in 1911, cntains th rst
xplicit and rmal utlin th assumptins
th thught-wrld chnply. hs includ
th blis that th primary, i nt th nly, gal
human labr and thught is fcincy; that tchnicalcalculatin is in all rspcts suprir t human
judgmnt; that in act human judgmnt cannt b
trustd, bcaus it is plagud by laxity, ambiguity,
and unncssary cmplxity; that subjctivity is
an bstacl t clar thinking; that what cannt b
masurd ithr ds nt xist r is n valu;
and that th aairs citizns ar bst guidd and
cnductd by xprts (51).
stmans cncrns ar nt with th tls
usdthrwis h wuld nt dlinat tl-using
culturs as a sparat stp in his taxnmy. athr, it
is th way in which scity radily adpts ths tls:
withut a thrugh cnsidratin th rcs
acting n ths tls
in particular, th mtivs ths rcs.
3 Carr also writes o Taylor, though he does so in order to explain theemphasis on eficiency placed on the Internet and search engines suchas Google.
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n hr 2012 uth by uthwst ntractiv talk,h wr ar n twrkd ublics, rsarchr
danah byd4 ntd that
w ar th thingsand th pplthat w d nt
undrstand ar mr than th things w d, vn
i th lattr ar much mr risky. r this rasn,
its nt surprising that ppl ar tchnlgy. ts
nwnss is cnusing and n ns quit crtain whatt d with th prmiss it rs.
hirky and arr hav prducd intriguing
and thrugh wrks which prsnt thris and
ramwrks t turn tchnlgy int smthing w
d undrstand (hirky crtainly prsnts a ar mr
ptimistic n than arr). ut thris, accrding tstman, ar vrsimplicatins, r at last lad t
vrsimplicatin . . . hir waknss is that prcisly
bcaus thy vrsimpliy, thy ar vulnrabl t
attack by nw inrmatin (77).
byd wnt n t rrnc lvin ranzbrgs
irst aw chnlgy: chnlgy is nithr gd,
nr bad, nr is it nutral. h addd that, givnthis, its irrspnsibl t assum that th tls wr
building just wandr ut int th wrld with nly
4 boyd legally changed her name to be all lowercase, noting that shepreers the symmetry o the d and h in her rst name (Goodman).
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psitiv cts s such, this critiqu tchnlgywill cntinu with chnply as a guiding rc,
r it prsnts a ramwrk thrugh which w ar
nt rcd t s a gd, nr a bad, nr crtainly a
nutral. athr, it asks us t s th rcs acting n
that wrld int which ur tls ar wandring and
nabls us t cnsidr th mtivs ths rcs
and th cnsquncs allwing thm t cntinuas thy ar.
s a rst stp, w must rviw sm tchnlgys
mst hraldd achivmnts. s stman writs in
Technopolys rst chaptr, a wis manvn n
such a wul cuntnancmust bgin his critiqu
tchnlgy by acknwldging its succsss (7).
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27
Point, Counterpoint
The Telegraph vs. The Nanosecond
rhaps n th mst pignant xampls
a tchnlgy nt nly altring th bhavir a
ppulus, but als having a prmannt ct n
th trajctry th thught-wrld its tim, is
th tlgraph. ams ary, in his ssay, chnlgyand idlgy: th cas th tlgraph prsnts
an xcllnt argumnt r that pic innvatin
as mricas tipping pint int th industrial
rvlutinacting as bth an nablr r s many
thr advancs as wll as a catalyst in a shit
human idlgy. h tlgraph, argus ary, was
rspnsibl r a rcncptualizatin what abusinss lkd lik, what languag sundd lik,
and what rl lctricity wuld play in th cnsumr
gds markt. w that railrads nd nt dpnd
n ridrs n hrsback t chang signals alng th
rails, trains culd mv much astr and at gratr
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rquncy. umans culd cmmunicat with nanthr rm acrss th glb, and d s, r th
rst tim, withut rquiring any majr travl by any
party. glbal synchrnizatin bganrm railrad
timtabls t city halls t nancial markts.
n 1858, harls . riggs and ugust avrick
xplrd th maning th tlgraph t humanity.
hy assrtd that (as citd by ary), t is impssiblthat ld prjudics and hstilitis shuld lngr xist,
whil such an instrumnt has bn cratd r an
xchang thught btwn all natins th arth.
h annihilatin tim and spac inspird mr
than just nw businss vnturs. t inspird hp.
urthr, it nabld spd. umans culd travl
astr, cmmunicat astr, vn trad astr. sarry nts, tim has bn rdnd as an
clgical nich t b lld dwn t th micrscnd,
nanscnd, and picscnddwn t a lvl at
which tim can b picturd but nt xprincd.
his is du t a glbal tim synchrnizatina
prduct ur rlativly nw ability t travl quickly
acrss tim-zns, dlinatins dvlpd nly atrth intrductin th tlgraph itsland als
th synchrnizatin nancial markts. ary
calls ut th xampl cmmditis tradrs in th
mrican idwst in th arly- and mid-19th
cntury. arkts whs prics laggd tw yars
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bhind Eastrn markts in th 1820s sn laggdbhind by nly mnths thanks t th spd with
which prics travld rm w rk r England.
y 1857, hwvr, th pric shits wr virtually
instantanus.
day, th invitabl rquirmnt t kp apac
with th spd lctrnic markts has lad t th
advnt algrithmic trading
th tracking, buying,and slling nancial prducts via prprgrammd
quatins basd n th lgic ths markts. n th
1970s and 1980s, as banks and thr rms bgan t
turn thir cus t th lctrnic mdling ths
quatins, it bcam imprativ t mak accssibl t
individual mplys th tchnlgy t d s. hus,
whn an ricklin and b rankstn rlasd thrst lctrnic spradsht stwar, isialc, in 1976,
th chang catalyzd by th tlgraph shitd int
high gar.
lng with th spradsht cam th ability
t cmplt bttr analysis astr (ain). ith
rptitiv clls, built-in quatins, and instantanus
crss-rrncs, calculatins wr autmaticallychckd by th cmputr (ain). n, th
cmplxity mdls allwd by th stwar (and
its drivativs, tus 1-2-3, icrst Excl, t al.)
bcam a masur valu: ths mdls with
mr cmplxity wr hraldd as mr lgitimat.
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inancial markts bgan spculating basd n thsmdls, dpnding n snsitivitis1 t cnvy a sns
surnss r pr. s n invstmnt bankr put it,
it was this ida that w culd sit with [a clints] Ceo
and say w thught vrything (aundrs).
his cmplxity rquird a nw kind thinking
and individuals with th ability t d s. irms bgan
t bring in physicists t build mdls n a prpritarybasis. On such individual is Emanul rman, a
physicist wh bgan his carr at ll abs but
quickly bcam brd and mvd n t ldman
achs. n his 2004 autbigraphy h writs taking
a many-sidd viw risk that was a nvr nding
ntrpris. nts that much nancial
mdling is an xrcis th imaginatin (257).arly tn yars latr, it is nt uncmmn t rad
ash-crashs within th markt, bri but signicant
dips causd by a bug within algrithmic trading
cd (anx). rtainly, th nancial cllaps lat-
2008 can b blamd in part n an vrcndnc in
cmplxity within ur markts (h hit us).
hs ccurrncs ar th prduct th marrying imaginatin with risk, spcially in th cntxt ur
chnplya plac whr ur markts cnrm t
th tchnlgy availabl t thm. s tvn vy wrt
1 Small models within models that try to convey what elements o ascenario can directly or indirectly afect outcomes.
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in a 1984 arprs atur n lctrnic spradshts,ths wh us thm hav a tndncy t ls sight
th crucial act that th imaginary businsss thy
crat n thir cmputr ar just thatimaginary.
ctual businsss cnstantly dpnd n th
typ imaginary mdling prrmd using
dvics such as th lctrnic spradshtpatnts,
custmr data, sals rcasts, and s n
r aidin dcisin making. h incrasd capability ur
tchnlgy allws us t cnsum and prcss mr
inrmatininrmatin which is bing prducd
by that sam tchnlgy. ut ar w put in a bttr
psitin t mak dcisins n ur wn r d ur
instrumnts intrr with ur ability t d s? his
dpnds n th rcs acting n ths tls.
Ted Turner vs. The Sensational Media
wantd t start th abl ws twrk, ntd
businss mgul and CNN undr, d urnr, in 1979,
bcaus lt that mrica ndd an in-dpth vic
in whats ging n in th nws (Oprah.cm). On
yar latr urnr launchd th 24-hur cabl nwschannl as a way t rach individuals wh wr nt
abl watch th nws n its xisting schdul (5 p.m.,
6 p.m., and 11 p.m.) th big thr ntwrks: ABC,
CBS, and NBC (Oprah.cm). aving alrady built his
tlvisin mpir by taking advantag th UHF
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bradcast spctrum (n that had bn rcntly madavailabl by th FCC; all th majr ntwrks wr n
th lgacy VHF), urnr undrstd what it mant t
pinr a nw industry via a nw tchnlgy. ith
satllits tday, h ntd, thrs n rasn why
ppl shuld b ignrant abut whats ging n in
th rst th wrld (atinal nstitutin ntr).
ithut much prgramming availabl which tspak n mst cabl prvidrs, CNN brk grund
by bradcasting what it cnsidrd t b valuabl
inrmatin 24-hurs pr day.
ith csts r bth physical (shipping and
travling) and virtual (tlcnrncing and ntrnt
nabld sharing) cnnctins s lw thanks t
nw tchnlgis, cmpanis (including mdiantwrks) bgan xpanding rapidly thrughut
th glb. Evntually, atr xpanding glbally via
CNN ntrnatinal, urnrs ntwrk was sharing
inrmatin acrss th plant, part a much largr
glbalizatin trnd sn thrughut th businss
wrld. urnr and his cntmpraris hraldd this
xpandd ntwrk in a strikingly similar ashin tth tlgraphs advcatsth sharing inrmatin
wuld b a mans thrugh which humanity wuld
nd cmmn causs and rduc vilnc and
stri. am th right man in th right plac at
th right tim, nt m aln, but all th ppl
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wh think th wrld can b brught tgthr bytlcmmunicatins (nry).
h mans t cmmunicat and shar
inrmatin gathrd via satllit and bradcast
int hms was a ralizatin arshall cuhans
lbal illag, a plac whr lctric spd [was]
bringing all scial and plitical unctins tgthr
in a suddn implsin [that] hightnd humanawarnss rspnsibility t an intns dgr (5).
urnr, at th hlm r th ntwrks rst 20
yars, blivd that CNN culd b a catalyst in this
hightning thrugh its bjctiv and act-basd
rprting n natinal and intrnatinal aairs. s
th mdia landscap has changd, hwvr, an
mphasis n prt making has rcd cabl nws inta dirnt plac than urnr nvisind.
t th halway pint 2012, CNN sat lw in th
ratings r 24-hur cabl nws ntwrks, trailing
ar bhind bth x ws and MSNBC, tw ntwrks
which had mrgd yars atr CNNs initial launch.
uch cmmntary was writtn abut th all
th nc hraldd cabl nws giant, tn qutingfcial CNN spksprsns spusing th valu
th ntwrk as a surc r nn-partisan, quality
jurnalism (yrs). rtainly, this dns stmmd
rm th rganizatins attmpt t dirntiat
itsl rm th idlgically-drivn x ws and
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MSNBC (cnsrvativ- and libral-laning, rspctivly).ut urthr criticism has bn lbbd at th ntwrk
r vring away rm th typ nws-gathring
r which it was riginally knwn (yrs). Evn
urnr himsl statd in rcnt yars that h wuld
lik t s lss uy nws and mr nvirnmntal
nws and mr intrnatinal nws . . . a littl mr
substantiv (ha).hthr th rt th CNNs ratings ws is
basd n th ntwrks lack cus n intrnatinal
nws r is t cusd n staying nn-partisan, th
act rmains that it is unabl t garnr th shar
audinc it nc culd. hrs trmndus prssur
t gt ppl t watch ths channls s thy can
sll advrtising r a highr pric, urnr tld mrkaw in 2011. thy g t mr snsatinalt
m, trivialprgramming (US Zitgist 2010). nd,
as th mdia industry cnslidatd, th typ
disruptin which urnr was abl t accmplish in
1980 was n lngr pssibl. n th uly/ugust 2004
issu Washington Monthly, urnr writs, hat
will prgramming b lik whn its prducd r nthr purps than prt? hat will nws b lik
whn thr ar n indpndnt nws rganizatins t
g atr stris th big crpratins avid?
s with th tlgraph, cabl and satllit
cmmunicatin was viwd as a pssibl bridg
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Gabi Schaffzin
35
btwn glbal partis wh may nt b amiliarwith n anthrs cultur. nrming ths grups
abut n anthr culd hav bn acilitatd by
th nw tchnlgy. wvr, th cnsidratins
capital cmplicatd and cmprmisd th
riginal visin. ut cabl nws is an inhrntly n
way cmmunicatin. h vlutin tchnlgy
has ld t th dsign and curatin intractivxprincsths which allw us t bth cnsum
and crat, allwing us t raliz mr cmplx
discurss acrss a plthra channls.
The Memex vs. Facebook
annvar ushs and ark Zuckrbrgs visins
shard a lty gal: th bttrmnt mankind. Oninnvatr, having just nishd dvlping th atmic
bmb, lt that mrging tchnlgy at th tim
culd ushr in a lvl nlightnmnt, n that
wuld ncurag humans t grw in th wisdm
xprincrathr than digrss and kill. h thr
innvatr, with his pnchant r tinkring with
th latst stwar and ntwrking tls, blivdthat a scity with libral plicis n sharing
prsnal inrmatin wuld ncurag cnnctins
btwn nighbrs and intrnatinal strangrs
alik. Each ths innvatrs usd similar building
blcks t cnciv and cnstruct his rspctiv
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tl
Zuckrbrgs acbk having th luxury narly 60 yars tchnlgical dvlpmnts n
ushs mythical mx.
s ush mrgd rm his wrk n th anhattan
rjct in 1945, h sught ut ways t utiliz th
ras rapidly dvlping tchnlgical advancs r
acadmic, rathr than military, bjctivs. cusd
n rsarch tchniqus, uld by his bli thatppl wr nt quippd with th prpr tls t
cllct, cnsult, and shar ndings. s h wrt in
The Atlantic Monthly, rsumably mans spirit shuld
b lvatd i h can bttr rviw his shady past
and analyz mr cmpltly and bjctivly his
prsnt prblms (47).
ush was mainly cncrnd with using tchnlgyt rplicatr supplmntprcsss th
human brain. s such, th cllctiv valu th
individual tchnlgis was ully illustratd nc
thy cam tgthr in his visin th mx, a
dsk-nclsd mchanizd systm r cllctin,
rtrival, rviw, and cnsultatin rsarch.
ntral t th mx cncpt wr trails data:assciativ, rathr than alphabtical r thrwis
indxd cntnt. signd basd n th thught
assciatin prcss, individual pics rsarch
wr cllctd rm disparat surcs, transrrd t
and rm a strag mdium (micrlm), and taggd
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Gabi Schaffzin
37
with uniqu idntiying addrsss. hs rcrds trails culd als b shard r duplicatd s that prs
and cllagus wuld hav th ability t viw and
anntat ach thrs rsarch (4446).
hil nvr ully ralizd as a physical
prduct, many aturs th mx hav bn
implmntd thrughut tdays tchnlgical
advancs. ic rcgnitin stwar, camra andlns miniaturizatin, and ir im rnrs-s
yprtxt arkup anguag (HTML) can all b tid
back t prpsals ush maks in hisAtlantic articl,
ntitld s ay hink. rhaps n th
mst ncmpassing cntmprary xampls th
mx, hwvr, is acbk, launchd in 2003. ust
as ush hpd that his mx trails wuld lad tth lvating mans spirit, Zuckrbrgs visin
r acbk was n in which th wrld [is] mr
pn and transparnt, which . . . will crat gratr
undrstanding and cnnctin. Zuckrbrg and his
tam blivd thy culd achiv this by ncuraging
th us its tchnlgy t prmt cial alu,
mmn lar, and On rld
amng thrprincipls (acbk rincipls).
acbk usrs ability t uplad thughts (r
nts), phtgraphs, and vids mimics ushs visin
a multi-mdia rcrding tl r rsarchrs. h
sits ik buttns allw usrs t mark any cntnt
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thy nd nlin and plac a rrnc t it n aacbk prl pag. his buttn, alng with
cmmnt thrads, act as cnsultatin tls, allwing
cnnctins t dclar i thy shar th sam
pinins n r apprv a pic cntnt. inally,
usrs ar ncuragd t shar cntnt via th
acbk platrm, ithr t th gnral public (via
th ws d) r t a spcic cnnctin via aacbk mssag. h acbk platrm
(ncmpassing acbk.cm, mbil applicatins,
and any tchnlgy utilizing its applicatin
prgramming intrac) uss all th data t which
it has accss and crats its wn vrsin ushs
mx trails. rnrs-s rld id b is an
implmntatin a sa intractiv shardknwldg inspird by ushs mx (1995 annvar
ush ympsium), thn acbks intllignt
rcmmndatin and ltring ngin is a mx
trail, cratd n th y.
t is this ngin that drivs th cr acbks
valu. nsidr il stmans inrmatin glut
vrsus lay hirkys publish-thn-ltr. hn thw inrmatin gs thrugh a cntral algrithm
that catgrizs, priritizs, and prsnts that
inrmatin, thr is n glut, n nd r ltring n
th sid th human. r acbk as a crpratin,
building and maintaining this ngin prvids a
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Gabi Schaffzin
39
twld bnt: usrs ar prsntd with whatthy bliv t b th mst prsnalizd inrmatin,
nsuring trafc stays high, a bn t advrtisrs;
ths sam advrtisrs can draw n th data
mving thrugh th ngin in rdr t bttr
custmiz thir ads t thir targt audincs
(arisr 194). th ths slling pints rsult
in highr rvnu pssibilitis.ush, curs, nvr rrncs rvnu
pprtunitis in s ay hink. his
undamntal dirnc is whr acbk and th
mxs shard cntinuum mchanics (cllct,
cnsult, shar) t philsphical gals (mak th
wrld a bttr plac) branchs: whr mx was
cusd n sharing inrmatin r th bnt thacadmy and its ndavrs, acbk is cusd n
gathring, ltring, and prsnting inrmatin at
th bhst its advrtisrs. s srving its paying
custmrs cuntr-act th gratr undrstanding
and cnnctin prmisd?
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A Technopolian Critique
h struggl t undrstand tchnlgys prgrssin
is nt a nw n. igmund rud, in his 1929 wrk,
Civilization and Its Discontents, highlights th
dialctic btwn th prblms slvd by tchnlgy
and ths nw ns raisd by it:
ut hr th vic pssimistic criticism maksitsl hard and warns us that mst ths
satisactins llw th mdl th chap
njymnt xtlld in th ancdtth njymnt
btaind by putting a bar lg rm undr th
bdclths n a cld wintr night and drawing it
in again. thr had bn n railway t cnqur
distancs, my child wuld nvr hav lt his nativ
twn and shuld nd n tlphn t har his
vic; i travling acrss th can by ship had
nt bn intrducd, my rind wuld nt hav
mbarkd n his sa-vyag and shuld nt nd a
cabl t rliv my anxity abut him (61).
undrstand th ct any ths
tchnlgical tlsth tlgraph, cabl tlvisin,
scial trails
n humanity as a whl is nt inth scp this dcumnt. r is th pint
this chaptr t call ut ths tls as having nvr
acilitatd wrld-altring vnts with psitiv
utcms. n act, acbk and thr scial
ntwrks hav bn crditd with prviding th
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Gabi Schaffzin
41
channls thrugh which th pprssd participantsin th rab pring built rvlutins t vrthrw
thir dictatrial gvrnmnts (Zuckrman ivic
isbdinc). ut th vnts in unisia, ibya,
Egypt, and thr natins in arly anuary 2010
hav als raisd signicant qustins abut what
might happn as th gvrnmnts bcm awar
and mv n t ths platrms (Zuckrmanrzv). hil th ntwrks hstd th cntnt
which mtivatd Egyptian rvlutinaris, it was
shutting th cuntrys ntrnt cnnctin that
brught prtstrs in largr numbrs t th strt
t participat in th ahrir quar prtsts (ward,
t al.). nd what th cmmrcial ntitis (sm
with rlatinships t gvrnmnts) bing th gatkprs t th data and cntnt usd within ths
rvlutins? whm d thy ultimatly answr?
hs and thr qustins illustrat th
imprtanc cnsidring th rcs that hav actd
n ths tls and th rsulting implicatins n th
way scity is abl (r willing) t us thm. hn
th nanscnd bcms a unit masurmnt rtrad, a ral stat bm ccurs surrunding th
ptical br that brings data t buildings in such
a small amunt tim (illr). hn th nws is
always n, it is paid r by advrtising drivn by th
act that smn must always b watchingvn i
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that mans tailring that nws t a spcic idlgy.nd whn, as annvar ush nts, thr will always
b plnty things t cmput in th dtaild aairs
millins ppl ding cmplicatd things (41),
it bcms imprativ t bgin t cmput, vn, th
dtails th uncmplicatd.
n cnsidring ths rcs, tw thms punctuat
th cas studis xplrd in this chaptr. irst, ach th utpian visins driving th tchnlgical
innvatins wr prdicatd n th bli that
sharing inrmatin btwn unknwns wuld rsult
in th bttrmnt humanity. ccrding t danah
byd, this is, prhaps, a curius bli:
Expsur t nw ppl dsnt autmaticallyprduc tlranc. hn xplrrs travrsd th
arth lking r pprtunity, thy pillagd and
plundrd vn br thy bgan clnizing.
ar ruld th sas. nd lts b hnst...xpsur
t thr ppl during grat xplratins did
nt magically prduc tlranc. t brd angr,
distrust, and hatrd.
cndly, as ary nts in his analysis th
varius idlgical changs tracd back t th
invntin th tlgraph, chnlgy as such is t
abstract a catgry t supprt any prcis analysis;
thrr, changs in tchnlgy g unanalyzd
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43
xcpt r classiying thm within varius stags capitalist dvlpmnt. r, h is calling ut
a ault in mst analyss surrunding tchnlgy
but als bringing t light n th thms bth
stmans wrk and this chaptr: th rquirmnt t
cntxtualiz a critiqu tchnlgy with a rviw
th capitalist inuncs n it alng th way. Each
th cas studis prsntd abv d prcisly that.
Understanding Designs Susceptibility to Technopolian Forces
hat th cus hr has bn at th crssrads
knwldg transr and cmmrc is crtainly n
cincidnc. urly, tdays inrmatin scity
placs much valu n bth. rm th rts
tchnlgical cmmunicatin t tdays mstppulus virtual ntwrk, ths ar xampls
cmmunicatin systms in actin, sn thrugh
th lns thir dsignd purps , vntually
stablishing thir plac in chnply.
Each th tchnlgis discussd wr hraldd
r th prmisd utcm thir implmntatin
and us, as dsignd by thir cratrs. ut what dsign itsl as a chnplian tchniqu? sign,
atr all, rprsnts th planning cnvrting
th cncptual t th cncrt. his cnvrsin is
bsrvd distinctly in th inrmatin dsign ld,
in particular, as th cncpts dscribd by txtual
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and numrical data is prsntd in a sminglynutral mannr.
mattr th nal rm, hwvr, that cnvrsin
must undrg scrutiny by intrstd partis. h
cnvrsin is, t rrnc byds mntin lvin
ranznbrg, nithr gd, nr bad, nr is it nutral,
and prvids r a rich analysis its suscptibility t
chnplian rcs, spcially whn applid t a us-cas stpd in human mtivs and bli systms. s
such, an xaminatin inrmatin dsign usd in
scial mvmntsarguably, highly mtivatd partis
with strngly varid intrsts basd n spcic pints
viwbrings t light th imprtant qustin:
s a cnsidratin th rcs acting n dsign
inhrntly built-in t r xcludd rm th way thld is undrstd tday?
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45
Social Movement
Information Design
Evn as sm its arlist xampls wr prducd
with scial cnsidratins in mind, inrmatin
dsign has bn particularly hlpul in assisting
dsignrs mpirical data with cnmic and
scintic ndavrs. day, hwvr, ss its
ppularity amng scial mvmnts grwing.his crss-pllinatin th subjctiv dsign
inrmatin and a smingly bjctiv scintic
apprach t inrmatin gathring and rganizatin
has raisd qustins, spcially as it srvs bth
cmmrcial and scial intrsts cncurrntly.
Graphic and Inormation Design & Social Movementsrguably, inrmatin dsignrs ar ths wh cus
n using maps, charts, illustratins, graphs, and thr
graphic-havy visual lmnts t cnvy thir
mssagwith a strng mphasis n th
simplicatin that mssag. nrmatin dsignrs
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us visualizd data t cnvy mssags in aunivrsal rmimagrytracs back t
aincis itruvian an, illiam layairs
Commercial and Political Atlas, and r. hn
nws wrk mapping th chlra utbrak in
ndn in th 1850s (ut, Visual Display).
ut whil dcumntatin nws maps r
layairsAtlas is rlativly cmmnplac, thris littl writtn abut th us inrmatin
dsign in cntmprary scial mvmnts. n rdr
t gain a critical undrstanding scial inrmatin
dsign, thrr, it wuld llw as wrthwhil t
apply cntmprary inrmatin dsign principls
t ths graphics bing prducd r scial
mvmnts tday.
A Tutean Framework
bgin, it wuld b hlpul t rviw th wrk
prhaps th mst prminnt inrmatin dsign
thrist ur tim, r. Edward ut (stn).
is rst bk, The Visual Display o Quantitative
Inormation, riginally publishd in 1983, prsntsa thrugh vrviw th histry inrmatin
dsign. t als prpss a st principls t b usd
in ctiv graphics which maintain th intgrity
thir rspctiv data. inc th publicatin
Visual Display, ut has built up an mpir
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sl-publishd wrk and sl-rchstratd sminars.hNew York Times ntd in 1998 that, his skills
sm uniquly suitd t th mmnt: h knws hw
t turn sas inrmatin int navigablvn
scnicwatrways (haply). is parklins1 and
thr mchanisms hav mad him a mainstay in
th inrmatin dsign ld, prviding him th
pprtunity t hav signicant inunc vr th waycrpratins and gvrnmnt rganizatins prsnt
data (stn).
n his urth and mst rcnt vlum,Beautiul
Evidence, ut prsnts a list six principls:
mparisns; ausality, chanism, tructur,
Explanatin; ultivariat nalysis; ntgratin
Evidnc; cumntatin; and ntnt untsst ll. critiqu using ths principls can b
usul in hlping t dissct a visual languag rm
an analytical prspctivhw wll an argumnt is
prsntd via th dsign th data assciatd with
that argumnt, r, as ut nts, t apprais thir
quality, rlvanc, and intgrity. h act that scial
mvmnt dsigns subjct mattr may dir rmtraditinal crprat r scintic prsntatins
is mt accrding t uts assrtin that th
1 A Sparkline is a small intense, simple, word-sized graphic withtypographic resolution (Tute, Beautiful Evidence). They are tools meantto integrate the visual representation o data into text-based narrative.
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undamntal principls analytical dsign applybradly, and ar indirnt t languag r cultur
r cntury r th tchnlgy inrmatin display.
gs n: uman activitis, atr all, tak plac
in intnsly cmparativ and multivariat cntxts
lld with causal idas: intrvntin, purps,
rspnsibility, cnsqunc, xplanatin, intntin,
actin, prvntin, diagnsis, stratgy, dcisin,inunc, planning.
r ut, applying his apprach t any scial
mvmnt inrmatin dsign wuld prvid a
ruitul undrstanding ths dsigns quality,
rlvanc, and intgrity. ut what ds this
applicatin lk lik using ral-wrld xampls? his
analysis taks tw mvmnts aturing widspradus ingraphics and data visualizatinth
Occupy all trt and th anti-SoPA/anti-PIPA
mvmntsand attmpts such an applicatin.
Occupy Wall Street
nrally spaking,2 th Occupy mvmnt
(smtims calld Occupy all trt r oWS)rrs t a glbal prtst against th cnmic and
scial injustics causd by what its mmbrs bliv
t b capitalisms pwr vr gvrnmnt and th
2 Due to the disparate nature o the Occupy movement, there is nooficial maniesto or handbook to reerence.
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individual
a pwr which th mvmnt psitshas ld t a svrly skwd distributin walth
thrughut th dvlpd wrld. O particular
nt is th mvmnts mphasis n hrizntal
rganizatin, gvrnd by cnsnsus prcsss:
dcisins ar mad at gnral assmbly mtings3
via prdtrmind mthds that ar dsignd
t nsur brad agrmnt acrss th grup. nptmbr 2011, ccupatinsr camps
prtstrs in public lcatinsbgan apparing
in hundrds citis arund th wrld. tr th
majrity camps wr victd by lcal authritis,
th mvmnt cntinud as a ntwrk smallr
grups, planning dirct actin prtsts and
awarnss campaigns. Each camp and assciatdscial actin shar a gnral thm (rprsnting th
99% th ppulatin wh ar actd by th unair
distributin walth). hr is n fcial bdy which
gvrns ach n as a cllctiv (Occupyallt.rg).
3 General assembly reers to a time and place or . . . announcementsand proposals. It is open to anyone and is governed by consensusprocess proposals are made and passed via broad agreement, handsignals are used to indicate various points o process, and a team oat least 11 acilitators ensure the process is executed as previouslyagreed upon. For more, see: http://bit.ly/tsBIoE.
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Anti-SOPA/Anti-PIPA
n Octbr 2011, th Elctrnic rntir undatin4
bgan ncuraging cnstitunts t cntact thir
ngrssinal rprsntativs t vic cncrn
vr lgislatin bing dbatd n th rs th
.. us prsntativs and .. nat, th
tp Onlin rivacy ct5 (SoPA) and PIPA (rtct
ntllctual rprty ct) (. 3804; . 968; ..3261). h rganizatin xprssd ars vr what
thy lt wr vr-raching masurs t prtct
intllctual prprtymasurs that wuld, thy
blivd, invad usrs privacy and cnsr r
spch nlin. h llwing mnth, ngrssinal
mark-up harings wr hld, aturing v
rprsntativs rm th mdia industry andn rprsntativ rm tchnlgy giant gl.
aking nt th lack rprsntatin, mr
tchnlgy cmpanisacbk, ay, and
thrsjind tgthr in ppsitin th
lgislatin (igginbtham). gl itsl hird at
last 15 lbbying rms t cuntr th bills (yatt).
On vmbr 16, th rts th tchnlgylbby crssd vr int mainstram attntin whn
th nlin micr-blgging sit, umblr, bgan
4 A non-prot advocacy group, described as committed to conront[ing]cutting-edge issues deending ree speech, privacy, innovation, andconsumer rights (sopa/pipa: Internet Blacklist Legislation).
5 Formerly Combating Online Inringement and Countereits Act, or coica.
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cnsring usr dashbards by blcking ut txt nth sit with black squars. n atr, thr nlin
giants mad similar gstursall t prtst SoPA and
PIPA (alvz). s cvrag SoPA and PIPA mvd
int th mainstram, mr cntnt rgarding th
lgislatin and th mvmnt against it was bing
prducd and distributd, spcially nlin.
Comparing Occupy and Anti-SOPA/Anti-PIPA
th scial and plitical actrs, as wll as dsignrs,
wuld bnt rm an invstigatin ths
tw cntmprary scial mvmnts and thir
rspctiv us inrmatin dsign. On th n
hand, thr ar cncrt variatins btwn th tw
mvmnts: Occupy prsnts itsl as a hrizntalmvmnt, whil th rts th anti-SoPA/anti-PIPA
ar citd as a tchnlgy lbby initiativ, vntually
gaining bradr supprt via spcic r- and nt-
r-prt rganizatins (i.. umblr, ikipdia, t
al.). dditinally, Occupy rsists assigning itsl n
singular mssag r gal, whras anti-SoPA/anti-
PIPA rallid cnstitunts arund dating tw vryspcic pics lgislatin (chwartz; alvz).
h tw mvmnts ar nt, hwvr, mutually
xclusiv. n act, n th tnts th Occupy
mvmnt is t supprt rdm spch and
rsist cnsrship. s such, varius grups within
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th mvmnt xprssd supprt r th SoPA/PIPAppsitin, ging s ar as t ncurag activists
t Occupy SoPA by cntacting lcal rprsntativs
(Occupy SoPA). Evn thugh mmbrs th
mvmnt had prviusly xprssd rsistanc
ngaging with th plitical systm, th thrat psd
by ths bills was nugh t inspir actin (lin).
ynd th cmplicatins in cmparing thtw mvmnts, a thrugh invstigatin vry
ingraphic assciatd with ach mvmnt is
impssibl; nithr mvmnt has an fcial
prducr r rpsitry r prmtinal r
inrmatinal cntnt, lt aln th spcically visual.
On cllctin Occupy rlatd graphics (including
a numbr anti-SoPA/anti-PIPA cusd dsigns)rsids at Occupysign.rg, whs administratrs
dscrib th sits gal as building a visual languag
r th 99 prcnt (Occupysign.rg). rducd and
maintaind by a grup vluntrs, th sit prsnts
itsl as a tlkit r bth ths wh d and d nt
sl-idntiy as dsignrs. t prvids visual lmnts
that can b rprducd and distributd n signs,bannrs, r nlin. nitially, th cus th grup
was n prducing ingraphics and icngraphy r
th mvmntsmtims using data-sts rcivd
rm cnstitunts. Evntually, th sit xpandd
int pstrs and thr dsignd pics rlatd t
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53
th mvmnt. hn askd hw ingraphicsar classid as such by sit administratrs, tam
mmbr ax lavkin ntd, guss its bn mr
a knw it whn w s it apprach.
his rlativly libral apprach is ntd bynd
Occupysign, as wll, whn bsrving ach
mvmnts rspctiv dsign subjct-mattr (thr
ar graphics dscribing th purps a mvmnt,dscriptins its mmbrs and makup, its gals
and cts, and s n) and cntnt (bth mvmnts
causs ar rprsntd thrughut varius graphics
in a quantitativ r qualitativ mannr). n attmpt
t cntxtualiz ach mvmnts visuals by asthtic
is similarly vasiv: n bsrvs a rang asthtics
rm larg blcks txt t pictgrams, graphs, andvn dchnk-squ vic rippls.6
Application O The Tutean Framework
h highly varid natur th inrmatin graphics
prducd r and by th Occupy and anti-SoPA/anti-
PIPA mvmnts is indicativ th widsprad us
inrmatin dsign thrughut ach mvmntsmdia stratgy. Evn th pur vlum dsigns rm
which t pull a sampl t analyz is an indicatin
bth th ppularity th ingraphic rm amng
6 Please see http://occupydesign.org/gallery/all?eld_type_tid=3 andhttps://google.com/takeaction/past-actions/end-piracy-not-liberty/.
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ths particular mvmnts and th prvasivnss inrmatin dsign in ur visual cultur. ut
ds th us a rm which is tn sn in data-
cntric cmmunicatins distract rm th mtivs r
maning th dsignr?
ccrding t ut, Evidnc is vidnc
(Visual Display). Encuraging a cmparativ and
multivariat apprach is bst r cnmic rscintic cnsidratinslds in which mpirical
data drivs much what is taught. ut what this
apprach ignrs ar cnsidratins such asamng
thrsth intangibility mvmnt bjctivs,
th multichannl natur graphic prsntatin (in
mvmnt litratur, n pstrs, during cllctiv
actin), and th imprtanc annymity r smmvmnt actrs (spcially ths supprting
cntntius causs).
r instanc, an applicatin th utan
principls suggsts that Occupysigns inrmatin
graphics ar rlativly wak: thy nrmally nly
cntain w pics data, thy ar prsntd with
vry simpl visual cus (in black and whit, withutmr than a w dirnt icns, tc.), and thy
ar wak whn sn individually. hs dsigns,
hwvr, wr prpard r us in cllctiv physical
actinccupatins and prtsts. h pinrs
inrmatin dsign wr nt abl t tak th channls
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and mdia w hav availabl tday int cnsidratin:layair and nw wr snding thir dsigns t
b printd in bks r jurnals. ut as th us
inrmatin dsign mvs bynd th mdical and
cnmicand int cmmrcial advrtising, prsnal
xprssin, and scial advcacyth ways in which
w valuat this dsign must adapt accrdingly.
ncurrntly, a rvaluatin th ldsapprach t intgrity is als in rdr. ut
prmts dcumntatin as a rquirmnt r strng
analytical dsignan assrtin that is hard t rut
whn cnsidring th imprtanc dlinating
btwn act and ctin. ut at what pint ds
an mphasis n dcumntatin vrshadw an
xprssin bli? s imprpr citatin surcs rgarding a mvmnts rach, distract rm
th dsignrs intnt t prtray a larg scal actin?
On th thr hand, an mphasis n xprssin
thrugh dsignrathr than n slly cnvying
scintically accurat inrmatin abut r r a
mvmntlavs prhaps t much in what iltn
lasr calls th catgry cnsciusnss-raising. gs n t argu that w can yu pntrat
ppls immunity is always th undamntal
qustin a dsignrs wrk (lasr and ayr).
s pntratin withut an mphasis n
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act
turning t shck valu
urthr plariz analrady dichtmus discurs?
Challenges To Inormation Designs Inherent Objectivity
b sur, uts strng mphasis n scinc and
mpirical inrmatin in th dsign ld has drawn
indirct criticism rm a numbr dsignrs. w
in particular, ssica land and illiam rnttl,writ in 2002 th dangrs applying principls
what ut might call wll-dsignd graphics t th
scintic. h appal inrmatin dsign is that
it rs instant crdibility. hy cntinu, ut its a
als authrity, particularly bcaus w buy int th
rm s unqustiningly.
bin rly als prsnts a similar warning,thugh sh apprachs th dangrs rm th
prspctiv th dsignr, rathr than th bsrvr.
n hr 1998 rviw dsignr ichard uards
ztlan str, sh rs an intrrgatin cultural
hgmny in graphic dsign. h argus that sign
in ur prsnt dcad cannt b thught slly
in trms an bjct r prduct; rathr, it must bcnsidrd as a prcss carrid ut with a nxus
particular scial rlatins (cultural, cnmic,
symblic) (22). urthr, sh ncurags currnt
dsignrs t cnsidr th lds mtapraxis, a plac
whr maning bcms attachd t bjcts, imags,
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and wrds: h ability t ngag in this mtapraxisis part what sts dsignrs rm nndsignrs,
spcially in this ag prsnal cmputrs and
cttag industry dsign, whn prssinal status
aln n lngr dns a ld (23).
n raising th varius cnsidratins which must
b acknwldgd whil dsigning inrmatin, and
in cusing n th spcic valu th prssinaldsignr, rly calls int qustin th vry natur
uts missin, n which thNew York Times
dscribs as prslytizing, winning cnvrts and
turning a prt in th prcss. ut, in th sam
articl, nts that h is xpanding [his] taching
t rach ppl dirctly (haply). his willingnss
t imbu th masss with th valus gdinrmatin dsigna willingnss upn which his
ntir businss mdl is prdicatdstands in dirct
cntrast t th wrk a philsphr whs inunc
n th inrmatin dsign ld dats back t narly
60 yars br th publishing The Visual Display o
Quantitative Inormation.
Otto Neurath, Isotype, and The Transormer
s a unding mmbr th inna ircls lgical
psitivist mvmnt, Ott urath blivd that
th xprssin act was utmst imprtanc,
spcially in a Eurp having rcntly bn ravagd
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by rld ar . uring his tnur as dirctr varius lcal musums in ipzig and inna,
urath dsignd xhibits r citizns that xplaind
statistics and plicis abut lcal cmmunitis and
thir varius cnmic and scial cncrns (uptn).
nundd by th cmplxitis xprssing
statistical knwldg thrugh vrbal languag and th
ruls which accmpany it, urath turnd t a systm pictgrams, dsignd and arrangd (smtims
alngsid writtn languag) with a lgic h lt
unattainabl thrugh wrds aln. hs pictgrams
addrssd, t, his struggl t cnvy rlvant
inrmatin in a clar mannr, t b cnsumd and
undrstd by an intrnatinal audinca d-
bablzatin srts. urath vntually titld thismd inrmatin transr th ntrnatinal
ystm O pgraphic ictur Educatin, r
styp (uptn; Ott urath 1215).
styp prsntd a way r urath t balanc
his struggl with th rm languagth ruls
and cnsidratins assciatd with th writtn and
spkn wrd
and his bli, as a lgical psitivist,that languag culd still cnvy univrsal act. n
his intrductry txt t styp, urath nts
that mak a pictur is mr rspnsibl than t
mak a statmnt, bcaus picturs mak a gratr
ct and hav a lngr xistnc (15). nsidring
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th dvastating cts rld ar n th wrldarund him, it is n surpris that rspnsibility
is a pririty uraths. vlping a languag
basd n th univrsality imagry was utmst
imprtanc t him, as h blivd it culd ushr in,
accrding t dsignr and ducatr Elln uptn, a
mr galitarian cultur, n in which pictrial
inrmatin wuld disslv cultural dirncs (50).s ari urath (n idmistr), Ott uraths
wi and cllagu, writs, urath wantd t dvlp
charts maning smthing r vryn, h wantd
t mak sur that thy xcludd nbdy, that thy
allwd svral lvls undrstanding . . . as a mans
ducatin that is nutral, prvids bjctiv
acts and lavs judgmnt and valuatin t thviwr (26).
his smingly utpian visin rquird
vrcming many bstacls. urath st ut t tak
n th practicalitis building styp int a truly
intrnatinal languag (all th whil ddging th
pprssiv rgims th pr-rld ar II natins
Eurp) by building a tam dsignrs
mstntably, rd rntz, wh had signicant inunc
n styps amus wd cut asthtic (uptn
48). arly 80 yars atr uraths intrductin
styp, th languags staying pwr is vidnt nly
in this asthtics inunc n currnt inrmatin
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dsign and data visualizatin pictgraphy (and,prhaps, in th additin th trm istyp t
dsigns lxicn). n 1972, 27 yars atr uraths
dath, ari rtird, dpsiting th ull cach th
prjcts dcumnts and publicatins int an archiv
at th nivrsity ading, utsid ndn (uptn
48, tnt 4).
ut styp may hav mr t tach us,particularly n a philsphical r thrtical lvl.
uraths systm was built arund th prmis
that languag xists as an bjct tid t natur,
thugh still rmd by th bsrvr this
natur (uptn 47). his bli can b xplicitly
sn in styps strng mphasis n th rl
what urath calld th transrmr. s bininrss writs in his bk The Transormer, urath
dvlpd th ntin transrmr (it was
ransrmatr in rman) t dscrib th prcss
analysing, slcting, rdring, and thnmaking
visual [mphasis his] sm inrmatin, data, idas,
implicatins (6).
his prcss was a dtaild n, with thtransrmr wrking with stakhldrs and subjct
mattr xprts, gaining a strng undrstanding
an issu br building ach styp translatin
t rprsnt it. his includd cnsidring th
audinc th languag and what symbls wuld
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bttr rsnat with thm (ari urath 75). hna discipl uraths, udlph dly, tk his
knwldg styp t th nitd tats in th
1930s and 1940s, h ptd nt t includ th rl
transrmr. nstad, his gal was t rach as brad
an audinc as pssibl by bringing, r xampl,
th pictgrams t schl childrn as symbl shts.
n ding s, h alinatd urath. s Eric indl,curatr h Ott and ari urath styp
llctin at th nivrsity ading, ntd, it
ld t [a rductin in] th richnss prsntatin
inrmatin. y rmving th transrmr and
attmpting t bring th principls styp t th
masss, much was lst in th dvlpmnt and th
rsulting maning th languag. s such, urathand his tam sught t cntrl vry lmnt th
dsign and prductin styp.
Moving Away From A Focus On The Design Side
t can b said that this cus n cntrl
prductin ld t styps vntual dwnall. his
is nt t dtract rm th systms inunc nth gnratins dsignrs wh cam atr its
incptin amidst a war trn Eurp. uraths
apprach is cntxtualizd whn viwd alngsid
mr cntmprary thrists such as bin rly;
attmpts at cntrlling r changing th way dsign
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r mdia is mad is nthing nw. his phnmnnis what stman rrs t whn h nts that n
n can rasnably bjct t th ratinal us
tchniqus t achiv human purpss. gs n
t call ut th prcis subjct mattr uraths
rts:
. . . anguag itsl is a kind tchniqu
an invisibltchnlgyand thrugh it w achiv mr than
clarity and fcincy. achiv humanityr
inhumanity. h qustin with languag, as with
any thr tchniqu r machin, is and always has
bn, h is t b th mastr? ill w cntrl it, r
will it cntrl us? h argumnt, in shrt, is nt with
tchniqu. h argumnt is with th triumph
tchniqu, with tchniqus that bcm sanctid
and rul ut th pssibilitis thr ns (142).
nrmatin dsign is a tchniqun that
stands t r signicant aid t ths wrking
t undrstand a cmplx st data. s mdia
philsphr ilm lussr assrts, mags ar
mdiatins btwn th wrld and humanbings . . . th wrld is nt immdiatly accssibl t
thm and thrr imags ar ndd t mak it
cmprhnsibl (lussr Towards A Philosophy 9).
Ovrwhlming data bcms digstibl inrmatin
whn prsntd via imagry. ut th trust w plac in
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ths imags bcms dangrus as ur critical ysbcm lackadaisical and th tchniqus t prduc
thm bcm sanctid. hy ar suppsd t b
maps but thy turn int scrns, lussr cntinus,
uman bings rgt thy cratd th imags in rdr
t rintat thmslvs in th wrld (lussr Towards
A Philosophy 10). h transrmrs prspctiv and
inhrnt bias is rgttn in th prcivd bnt th cnvninc gaind.
attmpt a mthdical r scintic valuatin
th inrmatin graphics prducd by Occupy,
anti-SoPA/anti-PIPA, r any scial mvmnts is a
util xrcisthy ar nar innit in numbr,
prducd by cuntlss dsignrs, distributd, citd,
vn mdid thrughut cuntlss channls n aplthra platrms. s graphics assciatd with
mvmnts, this is bth xpctd and accptabl:
th way th pics ar dsignd, viwd, and sprad
ar all prducts th nuanc and maning-making
inusd int thm. h way thy ar undrstd is a
prduct th maning thir audincs sk. hy
nd nt b hld accuntabl t th tnts truth. nd nt scld dsignrs r nt prducing thm
in accrdanc with utan (r any thr) principls.
athr, w must rmmbr what Ott urath alrady
knw whn dvlping styp: thr is a translatin
that taks plac btwn th lings, th wrds, and
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th imags that mak up an inrmatin dsign. hn,prhaps, w can tach dsign cnsumrs t d s with
a critical y and a willingnss t lk past tchniqu.
arly 15 yars atr rlys ztlan ssay,
dsignrs ar still acd with th act that thir ld
is inhrntly cmmrcially drivn. ut in th ra
ppl, nc.s dminanc in th cnsumr markt, in
a tim whn dsign thinking is part th businsslxicn, and th chnlgy, Entrtainmnt, and
sign cnrnc is prhaps n th mst
widly cnsumd,7 surly th bsrvrs all
this tchniqu-clbratd dsign ar rady r a r-
ducatin rgarding cnsumptin: a ramwrk, nt
t prduc bautiul, wll-dsignd inrmatin,
but n t cnsum it rspnsibly.his ramwrk wuld rquir th dvlpmnt
a curriculum prpr knwldg consumption, n
that challngs viwrs dsign t answr stmans
rhtrical qury with an mphatic, w will cntrl
it, and nt vic vrsa. aking int cnsidratin
chnplys currnt prgram, prhaps thr ar nw
ways t rach ur dsign cnsumrs, making surthat thy undrstand what Ott urath nc did:
n must always cnsidr th rcs at wrk n th
knwldg arund us.
7 As o Jun 2011, the videos on TED.com reached over 500 views (Lawler).
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Philosophical Basis
Brevity & Speed
h xampls prsntd in prvius chaptrs cusd
n inrmatin sharing tchnlgis which wr
dvlpd with signicant prmis. h tlgraph,
cabl nws, th scial ntwrk, and inrmatin
dsign playd th rl straw man in an argumntcusd n th ngativ cnsquncs chnplys
rcs taking hld. ut ach th transrmatins
utlind rs insight int th valus prmtd by
ths rcs: a high vlum inrmatin prducd
and transrrd quickly. hs prtins may b
packagd r man (as in th cas cabl nws,
acbk, and th ingraphic) r machin (as in thcas th algrithmic trad).
hr is littl surpris that vlum and spd ar
th qualitis which apprpriatly charactriz ach
transrmatin, spcially as a prt mtiv taks
hld th tchnlgy. usinss, atr all, is drivn by
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cnsumptin
and succss vr ns cmptitrs isachivd whn ns prduct is cnsumd in largr
quantitis r at gratr spds (r bth). s capital
drivs th ways in which w prduc, transr, and
cnsum inrmatin, th units with which w
masur that inrmatin bcm smallr. Evn as
th tchnlgical bstacls n cntnt lngth
ar vrcm, w cntinu t wrship th shrt-rm.h wittr platrm, r xampl, was built t
b usd vr th 160-charactr-limitd txt mssag
basd SMS (hrt ssag rvic). day, as th
majrity twtrs us dsktp and mbil
applicatins which culd accmmdat largr
blcks cntnt, th platrms 140 charactr limit
rmains (h Evlving Ecsystm).1
n 1964, mdia thrist arshall cuhan rd
guidanc n th rlatinship btwn inrmatin
and th rm in which it is prsntd whn h
assrtd that th mdium is th mssag (25).
arly 40 yars latr, in 2002, thrist ctt ash
translatd cuhans aphrism litrally: tdays
prrrd mdium cmmunicatin is th mssag.rviusly th dminant mdium was narrativ,
lyric ptry, discurs, th painting. ut nw it is the
message: th mssag th cmmunicatin. h
1 The Twitter platorm reserves 20 characters or meta-data related tothe destination and ormat o the message (New User FAQs).
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mdium nw is vry byt-lik. t is cmprssd (2).n his 2002 publicatin, Critique o Inormation, ash
prsnts a dns but thrugh pstmdrnist analysis
what h calls th inrmatinalizatin scity:
a plac whr mdia scitys paradigmatic unit
cultur is th cmmunicatin, which in its brvity,
spd and phmrality is taking vr rm narrativ
and discurs as th axial principl cultur (viii).n ur currnt stat tchnlgical rms
li, ash argus, inrmatin shrinks r cmprsss
mtanarrativs t a mr pint, a signal, a mr
vnt in tim (1, 17). s such, th ability r rctin
and critiqu ar thrwn int qustin. arrativ
and discurs hav givn way t th vry byt-lik
mssag
thr is n lngr rm r th srt lgitimating argumnt that yu ar prsntd with
in a discurs and pwr, which was nc largly
discursiv . . . is nw largly inrmatinal (3); whn
spd and brvity bcm qualitis cmmunicatin
which ar hraldd abv such rms as narrativ
and discurs, th partis wh ithr str r cnvy
th mst inrmatin in th shrtst amunt tim als hld th gratst amunt pwr. h
institutins and traditins that mak up ur cultural
undatin giv way t ths pwrs and chnply
nsus. ith his cus n th cultural, ash prvids
th sam cncptualizatin th primary ara
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cncrn in ur nw tchnlgy-drivn inrmatinag as stman. ut ash als dlvs int th highr
lvl dangrs th cmprssin tim and spac,
marking spd and brvity as th primary drivrs
th lss ur ability r rctin.
Refection
ut what valu t us is th ability r rctin? undrstand this, it wuld b hlpul t xplr th
tachings th philsphr ilm lussr. Exild
rm his hm in ragu during th cnd rld
ar, lussr was sparatd rm his amily, whm
h wuld ls at th hands th azis. studnt
philsphy at th tim, h vntually und
himsl wrking as an nginr r a manuacturr radis and transistrs in razil. is acadmic
inclinatins ld him back t th acadmy, hwvr,
and in 1960 h bgan wrking with th razilian
nstitut r hilsphy in al. n atr, h
bgan taching at th nivrsity al as a
prssr philsphy t studnts in th schl
nginring (lussr Writings 197200). s such, his
xprinc taching th humanitis t studnts
an applid scinc maks him particularly rlvant
t th cnstructin a curriculum prpr
knwldg cnsumptinn which is mant t
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adapt th tachings th humanitis t nlightnusrs scintically drivn tchnlgis.
lussrs writings d nt rsmbl ths th
majrity thr philsphrs: thy lack citatins
and tnts2 and ar tn dlivrd as shrt, lucid
ssays. his my hav cntributd t his rlativ
bscurity in th mainstram; h rarly appars
bsid cuhan r altr njamin in th annals mdia philsphy. is ssays, hwvr, prvid
pignant critiqus n th stat tchnlgy and
cmmunicatin during his tim3. n particular,
lussr lt that humans ar in dangr dvlping a
dislcatd wrld viw as thy ar prgrammd by
tchnlgy, rathr than th bing th ns ding th
prgramming (vn mlunxn).his ar is utlind quit ctivly in Towards
A Philosophy O Photographya txt which will b
discussd in th llwing chaptr. h basis r his
ar this prgramming, hwvr, is lucidatd in a
talk h gav t th razilian nstitut hilsphy
in 1963 ntitld hught and ctin. n
2 In his review o Flussers work in the context o the philosopherscontemporaries, Sjoukje van der Meulen notes Flussers reusalto comply with basic academic requirements: none o his booksincludes a bibliography or any other reerence system, because asFlusser proessed himsel this would deviate rom the clarity o histhoughts (181).
3 Flusser died in a car crash outside Prague in 1991 (von Amelunxen).
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it, lussr critiqus th artsian viwpint
aviwpint takn n by th st in its ushring in
th drn g. n particular, lussr ss as
prblmatic th artsian distinctin thinking
thingxtndd thing, a prcss which sks t
simultanusly undrstand and mdiy th wrld
thrugh thought. hught, in lussrs cncptin, is
an advancmnt twards clarity and undrstanding. writs: hught xpands in accrdanc with th
ruls languag . . . shuld imagin thught as an
xpanding wb (5). s thught xpands, languag
cms with. wvr, w cannt hlp but cnnct it
back t what has mad us abl t us it, ur prvius
thught: hrugh th mshs in that wb w always
dwll in th prximity ur rigins, vn thughcnvrsatin drags us alng, bcaus, as w mv
n, w tak ur rigins with us (5). king clarity
and undrstanding, thrr, must b balancd
by rctinr, as lussr calls it, philsphy.
ctin, lussr rs, is a rquirmnt t kp
thught rm dvuring itsl:
ut shuld th wb languag cls cmpltly
arund us, shuld th mshs languag disappar,
shuld discurs bcm rigrus, (as it ds
in mathmatics), w wuld ls ur capacity r
amazmnt. nw wrds, n nw thughts wuld
thn mrg, and w wuld rvlv in th rptitiv
circls idl talk (56).
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h abslut brdm, mrtal tdiusnss, [and]disgusting idm pr idm (6) prct thught,
withut rctin, vntually lads us t th nd
thughtth nd ur chancs r amazmnt. n
rctin, hwvr, lussr ss an pprtunity r
humans t cntinu n as xactly that: human.
think, in rdr t think n mr, w talk, in rdr t
stp talking. hught is absurd, but it is what maksus what w ar, thinking things, humans (7).
n disscting th sts bsssin with llwing
scarts wish t knw and catalg vrything in th
wrld, lussr calls ut th tru dangr allwing
urslvs t succumb t th valus brvity and
spd: w ar lt with n tim r spac r rctin,
n pssibility discurs, with nthing ls t try tundrstand. ar lt with stmans chnply
and ashs inrmatinalizd scity, and t this list
w can add lussrs aradis idl talk . . . whr
nthing amazing can happn and nthing can
thrr b dubtd (67). ar rcd int a
spac bjctivity, whr th lgitimating argumnt
surrunding inrmatin is th inrmatin itsl,carrid alng in th bit r th byt.
Opning up a spac r rctin, thn, is th
ultimat gal th curriculum prpr knwldg
cnsumptin. chiving this gal, hwvr, rquirs
an undrstanding what th curriculum ntails.
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A Curriculum Of
Proper Knowledge Consumption
h us th phras a curriculum prpr
knwldg cnsumptin carris with it many
pssibl implid judgmnts r manings. ut
by braking it dwn int individual trms,
undrstanding what th curriculum as a whl
brings with it bcms asir.
Knowledge Consumption
hil th numbr mdia mssags t which
w ar xpsd n a daily basis1 is shcking, th
us th trm cnsumptin hr rrs t th
cnscius ingstin ths mssags which w
hav sught ut r which hav bn prsntd tusdirctly r indirctly. uring intractins with
1 The multitude o various arguments regarding this gure makes itdificult to provide an exact gure. For an example o one such assertion,see: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8316534/Welcome-to-the-inormation-age-174-newspapers-a-day.html
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mdia r thr individuals, w ar prsntd withinrmatinwhthr r nt w synthsiz this
inrmatin int knowledge is a chic mad by us,
th cnsumrs. b sur, thr may b curricula
which ar cncrnd with th cuntlss subliminal
mssags which ur minds prcss thrughut th
day. his particular curriculum, hwvr, tachs
that consideration should be given to the motivesand perspectives o those who produce and transmit
the inormation being consumed. s this is nt
pssibl with mdia cnsumd subcnsciusly, th
curriculum cuss n th mdia w rad, listn t,
r watch, as wll as th cnvrsatins w hav with
n anthrthat is, th inrmatin w cnsciusly
cnsum and synthsiz int knwldg.n his 2012 bk, The Inormation Diet: A Case or
Conscious Consumption, lay hnsn assrts that th
cncpt inrmatin vrlad, abut which th
liks stman and arr hav thrizd, is
nn-xistnt. athr, h argus, consumers ar t
blam r activly ingsting t much inrmatin
int thir brains.
nrmatin is n mr autnmus than rid
chickn, and it has n ability t rc yu t d
anything as lng as yu ar awar hw it acts
yu. . . . ts nt th ttal amunt inrmatin,
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but yur inrmatin habit that is pushing yu t
whatvr xtrm yu nd uncmrtabl (25).
hil hnsns bli that a cnsciusnss
rgarding hw inrmatin acts an individual is
crtainly n th right track, h t quickly ignrs
tw imprtant ntins: that it is difcult r us, as
humans, t blck ut th multitud stimuli ding
us inrmatin (vak); and that th mdia industryis prdicatd n th crat making sur that
mssags ar sn and prcssd. hus th cus hr
will rmain n cnsumd knwldginrmatin
that has bn cnsciusly synthsizd.
Proper
nsidring knwldg cnsumptin as a singlunit within th curriculum titl, rathr than tw
sparat lmnts, allws r th tw wrds t inrm
n anthr mr clarly. ut it als prvids sm
clarity whn trying t undrstand th cntxt
th us prpr in th curriculum titlthat is,
th gal this curriculum is t tach th prpr
cnsumptin knwldg, nt th cnsumptin prpr knwldg.
ning prpr knwldg cnsumptin taks
int accunt th philsphical basis prsntd in
th prvius chaptr: a cnsidratin that humanity
dsrvs th pprtunity r thrugh rctin,
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smthing unattainabl with chnplys mphasisn brvity and spd. h synthsis inrmatin
int knwldg is nt th sam as rctin. h
rmr indicats that inrmatin is bing cmbind
int smthing nwknwldgwhil th lattr
is charactrizd by a cnsidratin and critiqu
th knwldg cnsumd. his dirnc urthr
undrlins th imprtanc th additin thadjctiv prpr whn titling th curriculum.
urthr,proper knowledge consumption
acknowledges the inherent subjectivity o any given
communication. his rcgnitin is tn jttisnd
by th tchniqu-happy actrs chnply;
taking int cnsidratin bias, mtiv, multipl
viwpints, and th lik, is bth tim cnsuming andcmplicatd. tr all, as rdrick . aylr nts (as
citd by stman), subjctivity is an bstacl t clar
thinking (51). king aylrs clar thinking, n
th thr hand, wrngly mpwrs th prducr
cmmunicatin as t asily right r truthul.
ivn this, it is imprtant that tachrs
th curriculum nt nly custmiz th cntnt tthir gals, but als imprativ that thy r thir
audincs an labratin n th valus and mtivs
driving this custmizatin. h viwrs wrk
prducd thrugh a curriculum prpr knwldg
cnsumptin shuld b givn th pprtunity t
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undrstand th prspctiv, inuncs, and rasnsbhind th cnstructin such a curriculum.
Curriculum
inally, th trm curriculum is usd in rdr t imply
a taching pprtunityn that is built n th bli
that any elucidation o the dangers o Technopoly
will inspire a more critically consuming public. hispprtunity may prsnt itsl in an acadmic
stting, but it will als xist utsid. ritrs, artists,
and cmmunity and activist ladrs, r instanc,
all prat in scital institutins with audincs
wh may b asily mpwrd with th awarnss
chnplian rcs.
uilding this awarnss, nts stman, wuldman rasn t hp that th nitd tats may yt
surviv its Ozymandias-lik hubris and tchnlgical
prmiscuity (183). airing a philsphical
basis (utlind in th prvius chaptr) with th
prscribd mthdlgy dscribd blw shuld
lad t th cratin a st lssns wrking
twards a cmmn gal. s lssn is t spcic,and philsphy t gnric, th trm curriculum
prprly rprsnts this cllctin pdaggical
guidlins and tls.
ut making awar chnplian cncrns t any
individual wuld rquir a curriculum brn th
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paradxical struggl btwn taking advantag th tls, channls, and mdia availabl tday and
illustrating th dangrs assciatd with th w
inunc manating rm ths sam tls, channls,
and mdia. his rictin is apparnt in ilm lussrs
carr: h usd his xprtis as an nginr in rdr
t nlightn thr nginrs t th philsphical
cnsidratins rlatd t thir ld. s such, a brianalysis his writing will inrm th mthds
rcmmndd r th nactmnt th curriculum.
The Apparatus
lussrs Towards A Philosophy O Photography
prsnts an attmpt t sum up th ssntial quality
phtgraphy (76). raking th ld dwn intimagapparatusprgraminrmatin, th
mdia philsphr critiqus th ways in which w
prduc and rad imagry, spcically tchnical
imags: imags that, lussr nts, ar abstractins
txts, which ar thmslvs abstractins th
imagry that rprsnts th wrld itsl. hs
tchnical imags hav bn accptd as bjctivrprsntatins this sam wrld, hwvr, lading
whvr lks at thm t s thm nt as imags but
as windws (15).
lussrs argumnt assrts that this sam trust is
placd in phtgraphsimags cratd by th camra
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which has bn prgrammd t crat ths imagsin a crtain mannr. h prgram is structurd t
srv th purpss th camra itsl, prviding r
th ralizatin its capabilitis and, in th prcss,
r th us scity as a dback mchanism r its
prgrssiv imprvmnt (46). n this prgramming,
lussr is alignd with bin rly, ichlas
arnham, and stman whn h nts that
thr ar urthr prgrams bhind this n (that
th phtgraphic industry, th industrial cmplx,
th sci-cnmic apparatuss), thrugh th
ntir hirarchy which thr ws th nrmus
intntin prgramming scity t act in th
intrsts th prgrssiv imprvmnt th
apparatuss (46).
his prsnicatin th camra drivn by a
mtiv t gathr dback rm th phtgraphr
(thus using scity r its wn purpss), raiss th
qustin what rl th phtgraphr actually plays:
is sh using th camra r is it using hr? lussr
nts that th rlatinship btwn th usr and thapparatus is, gnrally, a cprativ n. gs
n, hwvr, t ask: w ar hav phtgraphrs
succdd in subrdinating th camras prgram
t thir wn intntins, and by what mans? nd,
vic vrsa: w ar has th camra succdd in
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