Summary
Contents
Subject index
With a foreword by Norman Denzin Communication and the history of technology have invariably been examined in terms of artefacts and people. Gary Krug argues that communication technology must be studied as an integral part of culture and lived-experience. Rather than stand in awe of the apparent explosion of new technologies, this book links key moments and developments in communication technology with the social conditions of their time. It traces the evolution of technology, culture, and the self as mutually dependent and influential. This innovative approach will be welcomed by undergraduates and postgraduates needing to develop their understanding of the cultural effects of communication technology, and the history of key communication systems and techniques.
Technology, Truth, and the Military-Industrial Complex
Technology, Truth, and the Military-Industrial Complex
The world has arrived at an age of cheap complex devices of great reliability; and something is bound to come of it. (Vannevar Bush 1945)
The Establishment of Social and Mass Truth
Truth is never a simple matter. For our purposes here, I will hold truth to be the socially consensual agreement about the symbolic ordering of the world. If transcendent truths exist, they are outside language, unshareable, and thus must be taken as matters of faith. The truths with which I am concerned here are the truths of the world, the agreed answers which each culture creates for itself about the good, the true, and the beautiful. As such, the truths explored within this chapter ...
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