[1] From: Margaret Downs-Gamble <margaret@vt.edu> (20)
Subject: Re: 10.0798 humane technology
I normally lurk and read, but am working on subjects germaine to this
discussion of humane technology. I understand that when we discuss
"technology" within the confines of Humanist, we tend to mean digital
technologies; however, the printing press is technology, which displaced
but did not expunge scribal activity. Is print less humane than scribal
activity? Does greater access and less intimate interaction mean less
humanity? Even the black lead pencil was once an "advanced technology."
Does some inate characteristic of digital transmission change the humanity
of the message? That it does/ will change our epistemology I don't doubt;
however, must it necessarily make us less humane? I'm struggling with this
question in my own research. I work on 16th- and 17th- century mss, but am
also working on a book comparing scribal, print, and digital transmission
of texts. Does digital transmission transform the humanity? Sorry for all
the queries.--Margaret Downs-Gamble
Dr. Margaret Downs-Gamble
Department of English
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA 24061-0112
U.S.A.
Office: (540)231-7299
e-mail: margaret@vt.edu