The cult of information : a neo-Luddite treatise on high tech, artificial intelligence, and the true art of thinking / Theodore Roszak.
By: Roszak, Theodore
.
Material type: 
BookPublisher: Berkeley : University of California Press, c1994Edition: 2nd ed.Description: xlviii, 267 p. ; 21 cm. + pbk.ISBN: 0520085841 ; 9780520085848 .Subject(s): Information technology | Artificial intelligenceDDC classification: 004 | Item type | Current library | Call number | Copy number | Status | Barcode | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General lending | MTU Bishopstown Library Lending | 004 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 1 | Available | 00152343 |
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Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
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.
Originally published: New York : Pantheon Books, 1986.
Includes bibliographical references (p. xlvii-xliii) and index.
"Information, please" -- The data merchants -- The hidden curriculum -- The programme within the programme -- Computers and pure reason -- The computer and the counterculture -- The politics of information -- Ben Franklin's information service -- In the wrong hands -- Descartes's angel.
Author notes provided by Syndetics
Theodore Roszak was born in Chicago, Illinois on November 15, 1933. He received a B.A. from UCLA and a Ph.D. in English history from Princeton University. He taught at Stanford University, the University of British Columbia, San Francisco State University, and California State University, Hayward. His only lengthy departure from academia was when he served as editor of Peace News in London during 1964 and 1965.His writings and social philosophy have been controversial since the publication of The Making of a Counter Culture in 1968. His other nonfiction works include Where the Wasteland Ends, Person/Planet, The Voice of the Earth, The Cult of Information, and Ecopsychology: Healing the Mind, Restoring the Earth.
He also wrote several novels including Flicker, The Devil and Daniel Silverman, and Memoirs of Elizabeth Frankenstein, which won the Tiptree Award. He died of cancer on July 5, 2011 at the age of 77.
(Bowker Author Biography)