An Introduction

In Holding On to Reality, one of the texts we read for this course, author Albert Borgmann presents an idea that I have found central to our class and its discussion of the role of the Internet and the Information Age in our lives. He writes, “Information is about to overflow and suffocate reality” (213). With the invention or development of new technological devices or advances every day, this suffocation seems imminent. With the Palm Pilot, the DVD player, with cellular phones that check e-mail and computers that play movies, with all the newer technologies with which I am not yet even familiar, the world seems almost scary. With all of these avenues for accessing, transmitting, and generating information, the pace and the amount of information sent will steadily increase until we, as mere humans, are overloaded. Borgmann makes me aware of the frightening possibility that these signs we rely on to orient and direct us in everyday life will soon become so many that they will begin to contradict one another. Where will that leave us?

My final essay for the class explores these ideas and refers back to other writing assignments I completed throughout the semester.

I. Final essay: The Computer Culture

II. Summary #1: Metaphors We Live By by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson

III. Summary #2: Holding On to Reality by Albert Borgmann

IV. Summary #3: “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” by Laura Mulvey

V. Class Website: Terrorism & Technology

If you have any comments or questions about this course, website, or any of the content, please e-mail me at kjmosca@yahoo.com

An Introduction

Contents