Technology as Magic

Technology as Magic

Author: Richard Stivers

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2001-08-01

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 9780826413673

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What gives the mass media, particularly advertising and television, their extraordinary power over our lives, so that even the most jaded and sophisticated among us are troubled and fascinated by their allure? The secret, according to Richard Stivers, in this brilliant new book, lies in the curious relationship between technology and magic. Stivers argues the two are now related to one another in such a way that each has taken on important characteristics of the other. His contention is that our expectations for technology have become magical to the point that they have generated a multitude of imitation technologies that function as magical practices. These imitation technologies flourish in the fields of psychology, management administration, and the mass media, and their paramount purpose in human adjustment and control. Advertising and television programs, in particular, contain the key magical rituals of our civilization.In a fascinating analysis of television programming, Stivers shows how various genres--news, sports, game shows, soap operas, sitcoms, etc.--have their distinct mythological symbols. Through dramatized information, they symbolically connect consumer goods and services to desired outcomes--the utopian goals of success, happiness, and health--thus enveloping technology, both real and imitation, in a magical cocoon.


Book Synopsis Technology as Magic by : Richard Stivers

Download or read book Technology as Magic written by Richard Stivers and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2001-08-01 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What gives the mass media, particularly advertising and television, their extraordinary power over our lives, so that even the most jaded and sophisticated among us are troubled and fascinated by their allure? The secret, according to Richard Stivers, in this brilliant new book, lies in the curious relationship between technology and magic. Stivers argues the two are now related to one another in such a way that each has taken on important characteristics of the other. His contention is that our expectations for technology have become magical to the point that they have generated a multitude of imitation technologies that function as magical practices. These imitation technologies flourish in the fields of psychology, management administration, and the mass media, and their paramount purpose in human adjustment and control. Advertising and television programs, in particular, contain the key magical rituals of our civilization.In a fascinating analysis of television programming, Stivers shows how various genres--news, sports, game shows, soap operas, sitcoms, etc.--have their distinct mythological symbols. Through dramatized information, they symbolically connect consumer goods and services to desired outcomes--the utopian goals of success, happiness, and health--thus enveloping technology, both real and imitation, in a magical cocoon.


Trance: from Magic to Technology

Trance: from Magic to Technology

Author: Dennis R. Wier

Publisher: Lulu.com

Published: 2006-05-01

Total Pages: 223

ISBN-13: 1888428392

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This book describes a new model for trance as well as practical techniques to analyse and design trances. Writing from his personal experience, Wier suggests that some of these ideas might represent new practical precision tools for psychologists as well as for those who work with the occult. Practical suggestions for meditators, yogis, witches and others are included to deepen trance and to increase the trance force as well as techniques to terminate a trance. Pathological trance and trance abuse are also described with suggestions on how they may be recognized and prevented.


Book Synopsis Trance: from Magic to Technology by : Dennis R. Wier

Download or read book Trance: from Magic to Technology written by Dennis R. Wier and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2006-05-01 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book describes a new model for trance as well as practical techniques to analyse and design trances. Writing from his personal experience, Wier suggests that some of these ideas might represent new practical precision tools for psychologists as well as for those who work with the occult. Practical suggestions for meditators, yogis, witches and others are included to deepen trance and to increase the trance force as well as techniques to terminate a trance. Pathological trance and trance abuse are also described with suggestions on how they may be recognized and prevented.


Technologies of Magic

Technologies of Magic

Author: John Potts

Publisher: University of Washington Press

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 190

ISBN-13:

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Technologies of Magic charts curious territory - a place occupied by both machines and magic. This collection of essays investigates the co-existence of very old forms of thought - belief in ghosts, magic, spirits - and contemporary culture. Refracted through highly technologised societies, magic manifests itself in surprising ways and through a diverse range of practices. Apprehension of the magical - in the world of machines - can give rise to a feeling of uncanny unease. These essays show that ultimately this produces another way of thinking about technology in contemporary culture.


Book Synopsis Technologies of Magic by : John Potts

Download or read book Technologies of Magic written by John Potts and published by University of Washington Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Technologies of Magic charts curious territory - a place occupied by both machines and magic. This collection of essays investigates the co-existence of very old forms of thought - belief in ghosts, magic, spirits - and contemporary culture. Refracted through highly technologised societies, magic manifests itself in surprising ways and through a diverse range of practices. Apprehension of the magical - in the world of machines - can give rise to a feeling of uncanny unease. These essays show that ultimately this produces another way of thinking about technology in contemporary culture.


Global Magic

Global Magic

Author: Alf Hornborg

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-04-08

Total Pages: 201

ISBN-13: 1137567872

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Modern thought on economics and technology is no less magical than the world views of non-modern peoples. This book reveals how our ideas about growth and progress ignore how money and machines throughout history have been used to exploit less affluent parts of world society. The argument critically explores a middle ground between Marxist political ecology and Actor-Network Theory.


Book Synopsis Global Magic by : Alf Hornborg

Download or read book Global Magic written by Alf Hornborg and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-04-08 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modern thought on economics and technology is no less magical than the world views of non-modern peoples. This book reveals how our ideas about growth and progress ignore how money and machines throughout history have been used to exploit less affluent parts of world society. The argument critically explores a middle ground between Marxist political ecology and Actor-Network Theory.


The Magic of Technology

The Magic of Technology

Author: Alf Hornborg

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2022-10-20

Total Pages: 311

ISBN-13: 1000686825

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This book examines our understanding of technology and suggests that machines are counterfeit organisms that seem to replace human bodies but are ultimately means of displacing workloads and environmental loads beyond our horizon. It emphasises that technology is not the politically neutral revelation of natural principles that we tend to think, but largely a means of accumulating, through physically asymmetric exchange, the material means of harnessing natural forces to reinforce social relations of power. Alf Hornborg reflects on how our cultural illusions about technology appeared in history and how they continue to stand in the way of visions for an equal and sustainable world. He argues for a critical reconceptualisation of modern technology as an institution for redistributing human time, resources, and risks in world society. The book highlights a need to think of world trade in other terms than money and raises fundamental questions about the role of human-artifact relations in organising human societies. It will be of interest to a range of scholars working in anthropology, sociology, economics, development studies, and the philosophy of technology.


Book Synopsis The Magic of Technology by : Alf Hornborg

Download or read book The Magic of Technology written by Alf Hornborg and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-10-20 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines our understanding of technology and suggests that machines are counterfeit organisms that seem to replace human bodies but are ultimately means of displacing workloads and environmental loads beyond our horizon. It emphasises that technology is not the politically neutral revelation of natural principles that we tend to think, but largely a means of accumulating, through physically asymmetric exchange, the material means of harnessing natural forces to reinforce social relations of power. Alf Hornborg reflects on how our cultural illusions about technology appeared in history and how they continue to stand in the way of visions for an equal and sustainable world. He argues for a critical reconceptualisation of modern technology as an institution for redistributing human time, resources, and risks in world society. The book highlights a need to think of world trade in other terms than money and raises fundamental questions about the role of human-artifact relations in organising human societies. It will be of interest to a range of scholars working in anthropology, sociology, economics, development studies, and the philosophy of technology.


Too Much Magic

Too Much Magic

Author: James Howard Kunstler

Publisher: Open Road + Grove/Atlantic

Published: 2012-06-19

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 0802194389

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The author of The Long Emergency explains why technology can’t solve all our problems, and how excessive optimism can endanger our future. The Long Emergency quickly became a grassroots hit, offering a shocking vision of our post-oil future and capturing the attention of environmentalists and business leaders alike. As discussion about our dependence on fossil fuels and our dysfunctional financial and government institutions continues, the author returns with Too Much Magic—evaluating what has changed and what has not, and what direction we need to take in this post-financial-crisis world. “Too much magic” is what James Howard Kunstler sees in the bright utopian visions of the future dreamed up by optimistic souls who believe technology will solve all our problems. Their visions remind him of the flying cars and robot maids that were the dominant images of the future in the 1950s. Kunstler’s image of the future is much more sober. With vision, clarity of thought, and a pragmatic worldview, Kunstler argues that the time for magical thinking and hoping for miracles is over—and the time to begin preparing for the long emergency has begun. “A sharp critic of energy-sucking, big-box landscapes.” —Winnipeg Free Press


Book Synopsis Too Much Magic by : James Howard Kunstler

Download or read book Too Much Magic written by James Howard Kunstler and published by Open Road + Grove/Atlantic. This book was released on 2012-06-19 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author of The Long Emergency explains why technology can’t solve all our problems, and how excessive optimism can endanger our future. The Long Emergency quickly became a grassroots hit, offering a shocking vision of our post-oil future and capturing the attention of environmentalists and business leaders alike. As discussion about our dependence on fossil fuels and our dysfunctional financial and government institutions continues, the author returns with Too Much Magic—evaluating what has changed and what has not, and what direction we need to take in this post-financial-crisis world. “Too much magic” is what James Howard Kunstler sees in the bright utopian visions of the future dreamed up by optimistic souls who believe technology will solve all our problems. Their visions remind him of the flying cars and robot maids that were the dominant images of the future in the 1950s. Kunstler’s image of the future is much more sober. With vision, clarity of thought, and a pragmatic worldview, Kunstler argues that the time for magical thinking and hoping for miracles is over—and the time to begin preparing for the long emergency has begun. “A sharp critic of energy-sucking, big-box landscapes.” —Winnipeg Free Press


TechGnosis

TechGnosis

Author: Erik Davis

Publisher: North Atlantic Books

Published: 2015-03-17

Total Pages: 457

ISBN-13: 1583949305

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TechGnosis is a cult classic of media studies that straddles the line between academic discourse and popular culture; it appeals to both those secular and spiritual, to fans of cyberpunk and hacker literature and culture as much as new-thought adherents and spiritual seekers How does our fascination with technology intersect with the religious imagination? In TechGnosis—a cult classic now updated and reissued with a new afterword—Erik Davis argues that while the realms of the digital and the spiritual may seem worlds apart, esoteric and religious impulses have in fact always permeated (and sometimes inspired) technological communication. Davis uncovers startling connections between such seemingly disparate topics as electricity and alchemy; online roleplaying games and religious and occult practices; virtual reality and gnostic mythology; programming languages and Kabbalah. The final chapters address the apocalyptic dreams that haunt technology, providing vital historical context as well as new ways to think about a future defined by the mutant intermingling of mind and machine, nightmare and fantasy.


Book Synopsis TechGnosis by : Erik Davis

Download or read book TechGnosis written by Erik Davis and published by North Atlantic Books. This book was released on 2015-03-17 with total page 457 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: TechGnosis is a cult classic of media studies that straddles the line between academic discourse and popular culture; it appeals to both those secular and spiritual, to fans of cyberpunk and hacker literature and culture as much as new-thought adherents and spiritual seekers How does our fascination with technology intersect with the religious imagination? In TechGnosis—a cult classic now updated and reissued with a new afterword—Erik Davis argues that while the realms of the digital and the spiritual may seem worlds apart, esoteric and religious impulses have in fact always permeated (and sometimes inspired) technological communication. Davis uncovers startling connections between such seemingly disparate topics as electricity and alchemy; online roleplaying games and religious and occult practices; virtual reality and gnostic mythology; programming languages and Kabbalah. The final chapters address the apocalyptic dreams that haunt technology, providing vital historical context as well as new ways to think about a future defined by the mutant intermingling of mind and machine, nightmare and fantasy.


Stealth Technology

Stealth Technology

Author: Joseph Jones

Publisher: Tab Books

Published: 1989

Total Pages: 150

ISBN-13: 9780830683819

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Discusses the U.S. development of aircraft that can avoid detection by radar, describes materials and design considerations, and looks at stealth aircraft and missiles


Book Synopsis Stealth Technology by : Joseph Jones

Download or read book Stealth Technology written by Joseph Jones and published by Tab Books. This book was released on 1989 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discusses the U.S. development of aircraft that can avoid detection by radar, describes materials and design considerations, and looks at stealth aircraft and missiles


Technology as Magic

Technology as Magic

Author: Richard Stivers

Publisher:

Published:

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9781501340451

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Stivers argues that our expectations of technology in society have led to the generation of a multitude of imitation technologies that function as magical practices once did.


Book Synopsis Technology as Magic by : Richard Stivers

Download or read book Technology as Magic written by Richard Stivers and published by . This book was released on with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stivers argues that our expectations of technology in society have led to the generation of a multitude of imitation technologies that function as magical practices once did.


The Magic that Works

The Magic that Works

Author: Albert Isaac Berger

Publisher: Millefleurs

Published: 1993

Total Pages: 231

ISBN-13: 9780893702755

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Book Synopsis The Magic that Works by : Albert Isaac Berger

Download or read book The Magic that Works written by Albert Isaac Berger and published by Millefleurs. This book was released on 1993 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: