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"Technology and civilization Fiction."
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Tech fury
Eighth-grader Emily Lemon wakes up and discovers that none of the gadgets around her house are working properly, and the computers at her middle school seem to have a mind of their own--but when the scoreboard in the gym displays the words \"the revolution has begun, down with humanity\" she realizes that humanity has lost control and civilization as we know it is in serious trouble.
Book
I, Yantra
What does it mean to be human? I , Yantra examines ancient
Indian narratives about robots and mechanically constructed beings
to explore how their Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist authors approached
this question. Making translations of many of these texts available
in English for the first time, author Signe Cohen argues that they
shed considerable light on South Asian religious notions of
humanity, self, and agency. She also documents connections between
ancient and modern responses to the ethical problems of what
precisely constitutes a sentient being and what rights such a being
should have. Situated at the intersection of humanities and
bioethics, this cross-disciplinary study will be of interest to
scholars of South Asian languages and literature as well as
specialists in religion and technology.
eBook
Sapiens : a graphic history. Volume three, The masters of history
\"Sometimes history seems like a laundry list of malevolent monarchs, pompous presidents and dastardly dictators. But are they really the ones in the driving seat? Sapiens: A Graphic History-The Masters of History takes us on an immersive and hilarious ride through the human past to discover the forces that change our world, bring us together, and just as often... tear us apart. Grab a front-row seat to the greatest show on earth, and explore the rise of money, religion and empire. Join our fabulous host Heroda Tush, as she wonders: Which historical superhero will display the power to make civilizations rise and fall? Will Mr. Random prove that luck and circumstance prevail? Will Lady Empire convince us of the irrefutable shaping force of conquerors? Or will Clashwoman beat them all to greatness by reminding us of the endless confrontations that seem to forever plague our species?\"-- Provided by publisher.
BOOK
Let’s not be indifferent about robots: Neutral ratings on bipolar measures mask ambivalence in attitudes towards robots
Ambivalence, the simultaneous experience of both positive and negative feelings about one and the same attitude object, has been investigated within psychological attitude research for decades. Ambivalence is interpreted as an attitudinal conflict with distinct affective, behavioral, and cognitive consequences. In social psychological research, it has been shown that ambivalence is sometimes confused with neutrality due to the use of measures that cannot distinguish between neutrality and ambivalence. Likewise, in social robotics research the attitudes of users are often characterized as neutral. We assume that this is due to the fact that existing research regarding attitudes towards robots lacks the opportunity to measure ambivalence. In the current experiment (N = 45), we show that a neutral and a robot stimulus were evaluated equivalently when using a bipolar item, but evaluations differed greatly regarding self-reported ambivalence and arousal. This points to attitudes towards robots being in fact highly ambivalent, although they might appear neutral depending on the measurement method. To gain valid insights into people’s attitudes towards robots, positive and negative evaluations of robots should be measured separately, providing participants with measures to express evaluative conflict instead of administering bipolar items. Acknowledging the role of ambivalence in attitude research focusing on robots has the potential to deepen our understanding of users’ attitudes and their potential evaluative conflicts, and thus improve predictions of behavior from attitudes towards robots.
Journal Article
The exegesis of Philip K. Dick
\"The magnificent and final work of an author who dedicated his life to questioning the nature of reality and perception, the malleability of space and time, and the relationship between the human and the divine.\"--Provided by the publisher.
BOOK
Postal Culture
The nationalization of the postal service in Italy transformed post-unification letter writing as a cultural medium. Both a harbinger of progress and an expanded, more efficient means of circulating information, the national postal service served as a bridge between the private world of personal communication and the public arena of information exchange and production of public opinion. As a growing number of people read and wrote letters, they became part of a larger community that regarded the letter not only as an important channel in the process of information exchange, but also as a necessary instrument in the education and modernization of the nation.
In Postal Culture , Gabriella Romani examines the role of the letter in Italian literature, cultural production, communication, and politics. She argues that the reading and writing of letters, along with epistolary fiction, epistolary manuals, and correspondence published in newspapers, fostered a sense of community and national identity and thus became a force for social change.
eBook
The future : a novel
\"The bestselling, award-winning author of The Power delivers a dazzling tour de force where a handful of friends plot a daring heist to save the world from the tech giants whose greed threatens life as we know it. When Martha Einkorn fled her father's isolated compound in Oregon, she never expected to find herself working for a powerful social media mogul hell-bent on controlling everything. Now, she's surrounded by mega-rich companies designing private weather, predictive analytics, and covert weaponry, while spouting technological prophecy. Martha may have left the cult, but if the apocalyptic warnings in her father's fox and rabbit sermon--once a parable to her--are starting to come true, how much future is actually left? Across the world, in a mall in Singapore, Lai Zhen, an internet-famous survivalist, flees from an assassin. She's cornered, desperate and--worst of all--might die without ever knowing what's going on. Suddenly, a remarkable piece of software appears on her phone telling her exactly how to escape. Who made it? What is it really for? And if those behind it can save her from danger, what do they want from her, and what else do they know about the future? Martha and Zhen's worlds are about to collide. An explosive chain of events is set in motion. While a few billionaires assured of their own safety lead the world to destruction, Martha's relentless drive and Zhen's insatiable curiosity could lead to something beautiful or the cataclysmic end of civilization. By turns thrilling, hilarious, tender, and always piercingly brilliant, The Future unfolds at a breakneck speed, highlighting how power corrupts the few who have it and what it means to stand up to them. The future is coming. The Future is here\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Creating Futuristic Heritage Experiences: An Exploratory Co-Design Study through Design Fiction
This study adopted design fiction and co-design as the two main methodological approaches for designers and artists to explore the complex relationships and intersections of futuristic heritage experience and engagement. A literature-based seminar and a co-design workshop were conducted with 26 participants from multidisciplinary backgrounds, via Miro Board. A series of collaborative design practices and science fiction films were utilised as key media for propelling thinking, raising awareness or questions, provoking actions, inaugurating discussions, and offering alternatives necessary for a heritage setting. Additionally, this study reflects upon the complexities of using design fiction activities to re-think the technological future of heritage engagement and experience.
Journal Article
Shadow and Shelter
To early European colonists the swamp was a place linked with sin and impurity; to the plantation elite, it was a practical obstacle to agricultural development. For the many excluded from the white southern aristocracy--African Americans, Native Americans, Acadians, and poor, rural whites--the swamp meant something very different, providing shelter and sustenance and offering separation and protection from the dominant plantation culture.
Shadow and Shelter: The Swamp in Southern Cultureexplores the interplay of contradictory but equally pre-vailing metaphors: first, the swamp as the underside of the myth of pastoral Eden that defined the antebellum South; and second, the swamp as the last pure vestige of undominated southern eco-culture. As the South gives in to strip malls and suburban sprawl, its wooded wetlands have come to embody the last part of the region that will always be beyond cultural domination.
Examining the southern swamp from a perspective informed by ecocriticism, literary studies, and ecological history,Shadow and Shelterconsiders the many repre-sentations of the swamp and its evolving role in an increasingly multicultural South.
Anthony Wilson is assistant professor of English at LaGrange College. His work has been published in theSouthern Literary Journaland the Chronicle of Higher Education's online edition.
eBook
Nano-punk and Nanotechnology Genre in Literature: A Scientific and Cultural Analysis of Neal Stephenson’s The Diamond Age
Technology and society have been interconnected since the dawn of civilization. Literature has always served as an active medium to represent the interaction between these two fields. Fiction often utilizes technology as a backdrop for exploring societal conflicts. Science fiction, in particular, frequently depicts the complex interactions between technology and civilization. Nanopunk emerges as a significant genre within the realm of fiction, wherein the potential advantages and drawbacks of nanotechnology are explored within the imaginative landscapes of nanopunk narratives. This subgenre, a derivative of cyberpunk or biopunk, highlights forms of nanotechnology referred to as nano or nanites. Literature assumes a crucial role in depicting the nuances of nanopunk reality. In 1995, Neal Stephenson published his seminal science fiction novel, \"The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer.\" This novel delves into the intricate relationship between literature and technology within a dystopian future heavily influenced by molecular nanotechnology. Through its narrative, the novel raises pertinent questions regarding power dynamics and the sociological impacts of technological integration in a futuristic setting. This paper seeks to analyze the implications of these emerging technologies as portrayed through fiction and their potential effects on contemporary society and future generations. It concludes that literature, culture, and fiction will continue to wield significant influence in shaping societal perceptions and attitudes towards the future of nanotechnology.
Journal Article