Category Archives: web

A tale of two elites

Posted on September 17, 2019 by thefifthwave

The Great Reaction America’s elites are a house divided.  Ranged on one side are the people who rule the mighty institutions of modern life:  I mean government, politics, bureaucracy, media, the university, the scientific establishment.  They represent the forces of … Continue reading →

Posted in democracy, web | 11 Comments

The web as school of manners: a beatific vision

Posted on June 29, 2017 by thefifthwave

What is the school of manners of the rising generation?  There can be no doubt about that.  It’s the web.  Physically, we are still encased in the formalities of the industrial age.  But these are empty gestures:  meaningless rituals muttered … Continue reading →

Posted in web | 2 Comments

The method and madness of the internet mob

Posted on August 4, 2015 by thefifthwave

Three Exemplary Tales ONE:  Your teenage son tells you he wants to become a woman.  You confront this parental nightmare with the usual mix of bravado and bewilderment.  You hope it’s a passing phase, and you send the kid to … Continue reading →

Posted in cataclysm, democracy, web | 6 Comments

Trolls and the trolled

Posted on December 2, 2014 by thefifthwave

You enter a dark forest and encounter a stranger.  You both carry something of value.  Neither of you can appeal to the police for protection.  What happens in the dark forest stays in the dark forest, forever. How should you … Continue reading →

Posted in new media, the public, web | 1 Comment

Journey to the center of the web

Posted on January 30, 2013 by thefifthwave

Come with me down the virtual crater of a digital volcano, located anywhere in the world – but for the sake of the story, let’s say Iceland.  We are about to embark on an inconceivable adventure:  an excursion to the … Continue reading →

Posted in web | 1 Comment

Academia in the age of Skype

Posted on January 22, 2013 by thefifthwave

The American university is in truth a medieval institution reformed along German lines in the 19th century.  At that time, the university replaced the informal “republic of letters” as the arbiter of authority in published works.  The academic self-image resembles … Continue reading →

Posted in cataclysm, web | Leave a comment

Politics and the culture of the web

Posted on January 7, 2013 by thefifthwave

The latest issue of The Economist carries a longish essay on “The new politics of the internet” – in essence suggesting that web activism today may be at a take-off point, comparable to the birth of the environmental movement after … Continue reading →

Posted in cataclysm, new media, web | Leave a comment

Marx and the Fifth Wave

Posted on May 21, 2012 by thefifthwave

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

Unfriending the dead

Posted on December 8, 2011 by thefifthwave

Some months ago, a member of my family died who had an intermittent presence on Facebook.  At her husband’s request, the profile was taken down.  This made sense.  The deceased had left few traces of herself online, and bumping into … Continue reading →

Posted in new media, web | 4 Comments

Libya the lab rat

Posted on March 14, 2011 by thefifthwave

If the Middle East has become a huge laboratory of information effects, Libya’s part in the experiment is the most difficult and uncertain:  that of control animal. From the perspective of information flows, Libya resembles Cuba more than Tunisia or … Continue reading →

Posted in narratives, web | Leave a comment