Technology as Magic by Richard Stivers

Technology as Magic by Richard Stivers

At first glance, technology and magic would seem to be opposites. Technology is perceived to be rational, scientific and efficacious, whereas magic is thought to be irrational, superstitious and ineffective. Richard Stivers shows how technology and magic, while separate and distinct, are now related to one another in such a way that each has come to take on important characteristics of the other. His argument 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 (or administration) and the mass media, and their paramount purpose is human adjustment and control. Advertising and television programmes, in particular, contain the key magical rituals of our technological civilization. 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.

SKU	Nicht verfügbar
ISBN 13	9780826412119
ISBN 10	0826412114
Titel	Technology as Magic
Autor	Richard Stivers
Buchzustand	Nicht verfügbar
Verlag	Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Erscheinungsjahr	2001-07-01
Seitenanzahl	240
Hinweis auf dem Einband	Die Abbildung des Buches dient nur Illustrationszwecken, die tatsächliche Bindung, das Cover und die Auflage können sich davon unterscheiden.
Hinweis	Nicht verfügbar