Ruminations on our relationship with technology
Christopher Cocchiarella When innovation goes wrong Technological innovation is the lifeblood of our society, but at what point does it go wrong? According to Mary Shelley’s mythic story, Frankenstein, it’s when we’re no longer able to control our inventions. In Shelley’s myth, Victor Frankenstein learns this lesson after the machine-like creature he recklessly invents spins out of control … Read more
Visions of Frankenstein Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, is no doubt one of my favorite novels. It marks the dawn of a new era: a modern mythology in media, known as science fiction. Published in 1818, familiarity with the plot endures thanks to Hollywood. When a mad scientist, Victor Frankenstein, discovers how to reanimate dead matter, … Read more
Rise of the second machine age Whether or not technological innovation is good for our working lives has been debated since Plato condemned the invention of writing for ruining human memory. Unlike Plato, however, we’re not dealing with tools like pen and paper. Now we’re dealing with machines. In the past, our ancestors lived through … Read more
Multitasking skills? There was a job interview I had in the not-too-distant past when the hiring manager asked me a peculiar question: “So, how are your multitasking skills?” Now, as a former student who minored in cognitive science, and as someone who dabbles in mindfulness meditation, I felt tempted to go into a spiel about … Read more
What technical writing is (and what it isn’t) When I mention that technical writing and editing are part of what I do for a living, I occasionally hear this reaction: “Oh God, technical writing? Writing long, complicated documents sounds awful!” In fact, I very much agree. Writing long, complicated documents does sound awful. But that’s … Read more
Literacy vs. functional literacy Literacy is usually defined as the ability to read, write, and do math. But what do we mean by reading? People may be able to read the words in a document, but can they grasp its arguments or analogies? How about writing? Students may be able to write or type sentences, … Read more
Proust and the Squid: Maryanne Wolf on the science of reading It’s uncontroversial to say we humans evolved to eat and reproduce. But it would be ridiculous to argue we evolved to read or write—even though reading and writing are clearly consequences of our evolution. So how did we end up with these abilities? Maryanne … Read more
Technics, art, and technology Ever since I traveled through old-world countries like Spain and Italy, I’ve been fascinated by the art of ancient technologies. After seeing the legacy of Greek and Roman architecture and aqueducts, for example, it became impossible to think science and technology were one thing while art and culture were another. There … Read more
Online outrage on social media “Geez, I was only on Facebook for three minutes, and in that time I lost eight friends!” So said a buddy of mine as we were catching up over beers. Unsurprisingly, his remarks took place during an election season. As usual, he (and many others) saw no shortage of outrage … Read more