Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 15, No. 446.
Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London
<http://www.princeton.edu/~mccarty/humanist/>
<http://www.kcl.ac.uk/humanities/cch/humanist/>
[1] From: lachance@chass.utoronto.ca (Francois Lachance) (28)
Subject: Bandwidth and Humanists
[2] From: Willard McCarty <w.mccarty@btinternet.com> (25)
Subject: mind/body?
--[1]------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2002 06:08:22 +0000
From: lachance@chass.utoronto.ca (Francois Lachance)
Subject: Bandwidth and Humanists
Willard,
I understand from an article which appeared December 2, 2001, in the UK
publication, Independent.co.uk that Internet Service Providers are
complaining about British Telecom and positioning themselves as champions
of access.
One paragraph resonnates with the architectural situtation in Canada where
providers bundle high speed access packages in such as fashion that people
have a faster connectiont for downloading than uploading information: a
set-up with the consumer of culture in mind. It seems that British ISPs
are seeking to tap into the multitasking business-oriented crowd. I quote
Stephen Pritchard:
<cite> It's worth recalling the benefits of broadband over unlimited
access on a dial-up modem. With ADSL or a high-speed cable modem, your
internet connection is always on. It runs around 10 times faster than a
56K modem. You can make phone calls (or send faxes) while you use it.
Those who try it love it. The problem is the price and the hassle </cite>
Two questions for subscribers to Humanist: how does the deployment of
network access and the expectations associated with network usuage affect
computing humanists? How do computing humanists affect the political and
social debates surrounding the construction, ownership and access to
information infrastructures?
Are we approaching the time when access to the information infrastructure
is a key component to a unviversal right such as access to public
education? (Yes, I have UNESCO declarations in mind).
--
Francois Lachance, Scholar-at-large
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~lachance/ivt.htm
per Interactivity ad Virtuality via Textuality
--[2]------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2002 06:12:34 +0000
From: Willard McCarty <w.mccarty@btinternet.com>
Subject: mind/body?
In light of Francois Lachance's message in Humanist 15.439 I am wondering
if anyone has written in the philosophy of mind about computing and the
mind/body problem. Geoffrey Nunberg's essay, "Farewell to the Information
Age", in The Future of the Book (California, 1996), provides a good
historical basis for an attack on the easy assumption of disembodied
communication. He does not, however, mention the mind/body problem, which I
would think is the most prominent philosophical heading under which one
would consider the question he goes after. It seems to me that we could all
benefit from a disciplined philosophical approach to the problem of digital
data and, as Nunberg says, to the "impression of information" that it
gives. How is (and is not) such data like the Pythagorean soul? Is it
philosophically rigorous to think that the *same* data takes form now as
e-mail, now as a printed message, now as the contents of an archive? Where
do we go wrong in arguing that these data are modulated by the media in
which they appear but do not essentially change?
If I am right that the problem of digital data is an instance of the much
older mind/body problem, then of course there is no straightforward and
final answer, rather an ongoing conversation that we need to be fit to
join. The address of the best fitness centre please.
Yours,
WM
Dr Willard McCarty, Senior Lecturer,
Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London,
Strand, London WC2R 2LS, U.K.,
+44 (0)20 7848-2784, ilex.cc.kcl.ac.uk/wlm/,
willard.mccarty@kcl.ac.uk, w.mccarty@btinternet.com
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