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From: rs@mirror.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.books
Subject: Re: Technology, Literature, Scientists,
Message-ID: <2100002@mirror.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 25-May-85 13:55:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: mirror.2100002
Posted: Sat May 25 13:55:00 1985
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Nf-From: mirror!rs    May 25 13:55:00 1985



>   Now, I have a question for everybody:
>   If you were designing a course, for technological people,
>covering different views of technology and its impact
>on society;  which books, stories, or music
>etc would you include?

I admit to being somewhat biased; most of my choices are negative.
This is no doubt because most "technological people" I know are
pro-tech.  With that in mind, I'd recommend:
	The Machine in the Garden (I forget the author, d--n it)
	Computer Power and Human Reason, Joseph Weizenbaum
		yeah, it's got problems, and his "me alone against
		all my former colleagues" whining gets tiresome, but
		his basic question -- are there things we should not
		try to "computerize" -- is a critical one.
	Mechanization Takes Command, Siegfried Giedion
		an attempt to study the effects of mechanization
		the loss of artisanry, how it "contributes to the
		split between thought and feeling"
	The Second Self, Sherry Turkle
		how computers change individuals, from little kids
		who become more self-confident, to the stereotyped
		mit/berkeley/stanford hacker
	"Welcome to the machine," the song by Pink Floyd.
		There are lots of others, but this is net.books;
		contact me if you're interested in more.
	"What's the Matter with Plastic Trees," Martin Kreiger,
	_Science_ (1982?) and "The Work of Art in the Age of
	Mechanical Reproduction" Walter Benjamin, an essay I've
	a copy of but lost the original citation.
		What does "art" and "original art" mean in the
		age of technologic, mass-reproduction.
	Steal this Book, Abbie Hoffman (in reprint from his brother)
		How one person used technology against its
		"creators" (e.g., guerilla radio stations)

enjoy,

--------
Rich $alz	{ mit-eddie, ihnp4!inmet, wjh12, cca, datacube } ! mirror!rs
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