Living in the Labyrinth of Technology

Living in the Labyrinth of Technology
Author :
Publisher : University of Toronto Press
Total Pages : 777
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781442659483
ISBN-13 : 1442659483
Rating : 4/5 (483 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Living in the Labyrinth of Technology by : Willem H. Vanderburg

Download or read book Living in the Labyrinth of Technology written by Willem H. Vanderburg and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 2005-12-15 with total page 777 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the very beginnings of their existence, human beings have distinguished themselves from other animals by not taking immediate experience for granted. Everything was symbolized according to its meaning and value: a fallen branch from a tree became a lever; a tree trunk floating in the river became a canoe. Homo logos created communities based on cultures: humanity's first megaproject. Further symbolization of the human community and its relation to nature led to the possibility of creating societies and civilizations. Everything changed as these interposed themselves between the group and nature. Homo societas created ways of life able to give meaning, direction, and purpose to many groups by means of very different cultures: humanity's second megaproject. What Das Kapital did for the nineteenth century and La technique did for the twentieth, Willem H. Vanderburg's Living in the Labyrinth of Technology seeks to create for the twenty-first century: an attempt at understanding the world in a manner not shackled to overspecialized scientific knowing and technical doing. Western civilization may well be creating humanity's third megaproject, based not on symbolization for making sense of and living in the world, but on highly specialized desymbolized knowing stripped of all peripheral understanding. Vanderburg focuses on two interdependent forces in his narrative, namely, people changing technology and technology changing people. The latter aspect, although rarely considered, turns out to be the more critical one for understanding the spectacular successes and failures of contemporary ways of life. As technology continues to change the social and physical world, the experiences of this world 'grow' people's minds and society's cultures, thereby re-creating human life in the image of technology. Living in the Labyrinth of Technology argues that the twenty-first century will be dominated by this pattern unless society intervenes on human (as opposed to technical) terms.


Living in the Labyrinth of Technology Related Books

Living in the Labyrinth of Technology
Language: en
Pages: 777
Authors: Willem H. Vanderburg
Categories: Social Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2005-12-15 - Publisher: University of Toronto Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

From the very beginnings of their existence, human beings have distinguished themselves from other animals by not taking immediate experience for granted. Every
Emerging from the Dark Age Ahead
Language: en
Pages: 229
Authors: Charles Fensham
Categories: Religion
Type: BOOK - Published: 2011 - Publisher: Clements Publishing Group

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In this fascinating presentation of faith, Charles Fensham argues cogently and passionately for a church that embraces hope in spite of the dark and destructive
Living in the Labyrinth
Language: en
Pages: 177
Authors: Diana Friel McGowin
Categories: Biography & Autobiography
Type: BOOK - Published: 2011-08-24 - Publisher: Delta

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Living In The Labyrinth is the story of how one woman found the strength and the courage to cope with a devastating disease that has afflicted five million Amer
Our War on Ourselves
Language: en
Pages: 401
Authors: Willem H. Vanderburg
Categories: Social Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2011-01-01 - Publisher: University of Toronto Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Willem H. Vanderburg's Our War on Ourselves explores the type of war we have unleashed on our lives by emphasizing discipline-based processes.
The Labyrinth of Technology
Language: en
Pages: 500
Authors: Willem H. Vanderburg
Categories: Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2000-12-15 - Publisher: University of Toronto Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Why does modern technology succeed so brilliantly in some respects and simultaneously fail in others? While he was completing a doctoral thesis in mechanical en