The Dreams of an Accelerated Culture
Mads Haahr
Department of Computer Science
Trinity College, Dublin
Ireland
Abstract. Contemporary society, driven by the continued need for acceleration, encourages us to adopt a pace of cultural interaction not easily compatible with the reflection necessary for deeper understanding. This paper discusses the roles of art and technology in the acceleration of culture and, using an example work of art from the digital avant-garde, argues that reflection is important and should not be neglected.
Lea el Paper completo en CROSSINGS
"...At the beginning of this essay, I argued that we as cultural participants have the choice between adapting to the accelerating environment, leaving it and changing it. While adaptation is what we do automatically, it is important also to consider the other options. Leaving culture is becoming increasingly difficult and the same can be said for changing it. To change the heading of culture away from acceleration, we need to shift focus away from acceleration and towards reflection. This very act in itself requires insight and reflection, something which the accelerating feedback loop by its very nature makes increasingly difficult as time goes on. The faster we go – the more we adapt to acceleration – the less time we have to think about the other options. Perhaps the most ambitious objective of Crossings is really found in this context, namely to promote and encourage reflection. If the lines drawn in this journal can help us understand the world better, we will have participated successfully in the cultural feedback loop – we will have processed a portion of the vast sea of information, synthesized it into meaning and put that meaning back into culture...."
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