Category Archives: the public

Henry Farrell and the politics of despair

Posted on May 14, 2013 by

The great vectors of change today are technological and cultural rather than political.  Digital platforms give force to a mutinous public, which has trampled with muddy boots into the sacred precincts of authority.  The established order has reacted with fear … Continue reading →

Posted in the public | Leave a comment

Is the Fifth Wave a good witch or a bad witch? (3)

Posted on April 22, 2013 by

This is the third in a series offering a normative evaluation of the radical changes brought about by the Fifth Wave of information – what is sometimes called the digital revolution.  My method is simple:  to examine specific attributes of this ongoing transformation, and … Continue reading →

Posted in cataclysm, the public | Leave a comment

Is the Fifth Wave a good witch or a bad witch? (2)

Posted on April 16, 2013 by

This is the second of a series of posts offering a normative evaluation of the radical changes brought about by the Fifth Wave of information – what is sometimes called the digital revolution.  My method is simple:  to examine specific … Continue reading →

Posted in cataclysm, the public | Leave a comment

Is the Fifth Wave a good witch or a bad witch? (1)

Posted on April 2, 2013 by

 My concern in writing this blog is to understand the effects of the Fifth Wave of information across various domains.  This has seemed sufficiently ambitious.  Tossing out cosmic judgments would be fun but self-indulgent.  Marx’s scorn for interpreting the world … Continue reading →

Posted in cataclysm, the public | Leave a comment

The economic implications of the Fifth Wave

Posted on February 18, 2013 by

Enter Tyson’s Galleria, a golden temple of consumption for upscale shoppers.  Built in 1988, it was expanded in 1997 and made to appear – so the designers thought – like a “European streetscape.”   In reality, it looks a bit like … Continue reading →

Posted in cataclysm, the public | 1 Comment

The last temptation of Al Jazeera

Posted on February 6, 2013 by

Al Jazeera’s popularity stemmed from the perception, shared by a large Arabic-speaking audience, that the satellite newscaster’s editorial decisions were not dictated by any government or party.  Under the banner of “the opinion and the other opinion,” Al Jazeera demonstrated … Continue reading →

Posted in death of news, influence, the public, tv, visual persuasion | Leave a comment

Analyzing events: Equilibrium and perturbation

Posted on January 1, 2013 by

In an earlier post, I touched on the problem of analyzing events.  Here I’d like to extend the analysis of analysis, considered in light of Terrence Deacon’s difficult book, Incomplete Nature.  Some of the positions taken below contradict the earlier … Continue reading →

Posted in analysis, the public | 2 Comments

Marx and the Fifth Wave

Posted on May 21, 2012 by

Karl Marx was a creature of the industrial revolution.  Colossal productive forces were unleashed during his lifetime, which swept over and altered every form of human relations.  An irreparable breach opened like a wound between nineteenth-century Europe and its own … Continue reading →

Posted in cataclysm, the public, web | 3 Comments

Silent scream: riddle of a street revolt

Posted on March 12, 2012 by

The overarching theme of this blog is the rise of the public and crisis of authority, propelled by a reversal in the information balance of power.  When applied to actual events, these generalities bump into a paradox:  a riddle.  The … Continue reading →

Posted in cataclysm, the public | 1 Comment

Homo informaticus: a theory of political influence

Posted on March 5, 2012 by

The next stage in human evolution is already among us.  This organism will never leave behind fossils or petrified footprints, because it dwells entirely in the digital universe.  Despite the lack of powers vested in me, I have taken the … Continue reading →

Posted in influence, the public | 1 Comment