My Grand-grandmother Was Technophobic

My grand-grandmother was technophobic. She was “Staroverka” (that stands for female Old Believer). Today, we are supposed to be technophilic---or at least techno-friendly---in order to function and develop our skills and talents to their full potential within the modern society. (Or ‘post-modern’, if you please).

There is a never ending debate between those who see new informational and communicational technology as the key to solving problems of social and human life, opposed to those who see technologies as something dangerous, harmful and unnatural. Nevertheless, the companies and corporations involved into development and improvement of information and communication technologies position themselves as lending hand in solving problems of the 21st-century Homo sapiens. Communication is the key. Talking, texting, connecting to data services, etc---these are like oxygen to us. (In my opinion, the ‘O2’ brand successfully managed to incorporate all these values in their logo and branding strategy).

What was considered internet addiction in 90’s is socially acceptable today. (To what extent are you addicted to the internet? Take a test). “The concept of addiction is not easy to define, but central to it is dependence on a substance or activity.” (Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., 2004) “Hooked on Internet? Help is just a click away.” (Unknown internet user) Fight fire with fire (?!).

The advances in computer technology and internet have changed the way humans live, learn, and interact. Thanks to internet, I found out about the Master and PhD opportunities in Germany. I had a long-distance relationship with my Beloved. If something happens and there will be no internet, I am afraid, there will be no way for me to carry out my research projects and fulfill my career dreams. All in all, I am pretty sure, my grand-grandmother would have exclaimed, “My God, she is crazy!”

Obviously, internet has become an integral part of economic, political, and social life. Yet one should not forget that there are places on the Earth, where internet is still considered to be luxury. According to the 2007 report of the OpenNet Initiative, “an emerging regime shift toward more restrictive policy, dependence upon Russian and Chinese Internet connections, and political instability pose problems for clear and continual access to Internet in Kyrgyzstan.” (Interested in details?.)

Prof. Richard Rogers, who introduces himself as a Web epistemologist, views the Web “as a knowledge culture distinct from other media”. He concentrates on the research opportunities that would have been improbable or impossible without the Internet. The IssueCrawler software, which helps to trace “issue networks” on the Web, was one of his initiatives. Unlike Google Search which bases results on outside factors like links and popularity, issue networks do not privilege individuals and groups. His book "Information Politics on the Web" opened my eyes: there are certain “philosophies” behind new information and communication technologies. They do have (different) impact on certain dynamics within our society. And I am looking forward to dicussing it all in class in the closest future. The first "moment of Zen" (for those who don't know: this is our in-class excercise) demonstrated that there are many students interested in learning more about these problems.

I did not expect this Zen-moment to be so "juicy" from the very start! I have done a preliminary overview of the potential research questions and hypotheses the students shared with me---this is awesome. I really hope someone decides to write a research paper or thesis about any topic we touched upon during this class. The "moment of Zen" excercise demonstrated how reflective my students are ("my students"--- hey, folks! I am sorry if it sounds possessive!!:) You have many reasons to be proud of yourselves!! I will prepare a brief report on your successful start with a list of top-questions and problems you shared today. The *Zen-moments* will be available next week. This is a very good material for your future blog-posts. Just don't forget to give credits to those authors who triggered your interest in the problems.

One of the purposes of this course is to create a mini-community on the web, and see how it functions. We will start our blog-projects in two weeks. Yet I already encourage you to start thinking about the topics for future blog-posts. ...Did you also have a technophobic grand-grandma? :)