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.
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"An important analysis of the interplay between science and technology on the one hand, and the affairs of living beings on the other. Information technology is a good vehicle for the argument."--Igor Aleksander, "Nature
About the Author
Theodore Roszak is Professor of History at California State University, Hayward. Among his many books are The Voice of the Earth (1992), Flicker (1991), and The Making of a Counter Culture (1969).
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By charlest
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
A very cogently argued and well researched commentary on the way we have accepted technology with hardly a whimper. There are some very useful jewels of insight here. I like the way he doesn't shun technology, but implicity asks the question: What does it mean to be human? The very future of our civilisation will hinge on how we collectively answer that question.
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Mr. Roszak does a fine job in this book of showing the problems with the cult of information/computers. He points out the many fine things they do and how those are ignored in favor of the hyperbole favored by the computer fanatics. He has obviously studied the topic in depth and shows all the flawed projections, assumptions and ideas of the Minskys of the world. His book is especially useful at refuting claims about AI and showing where abuses can occur with the system. His questioning about the use of computers in schools is very relevant and very well thought-out. His history of the computer itself is also interesting, something rarely covered in other sources. The only complaint I had with the book was that it is fairly dated - he did little revision of the 1986 edition and there are points where this is obvious. His point though is as relevant as it was when the book first arrived 22 years ago and very few of his ideas have been proven wrong - on the other hand the AI-hypers look sillier and sillier. Definitely worth reading.
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
As a sociologist and as a fervent supporter of the "true art of thinking", the text fast became for me a sign that today's 'thinkers' are not allowing the information society to internalize itself without some resistance. Roszak points out the glaring inconsistencies of the "wave of the future", in that computer technology, while often useful, is not the cure for all our ills; it cannot hope to equal or surpass the true, human process of ideation, theory construction, and the very social act of learning. I thank Roszak for making clear in a "Neo-Luddite" fashion that the easy answers are not always the best. Computer technology, he states, is a solution in search of a problem; to my mind, this can do naught but generate problems in a myriad of forms. A clear, thorough thinker, Roszak has given us food for thought...and we'd better sit down to our meal.
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