“Human beings have been cyborgs from year zero. It is our lot to live in societies that invent tools that shape society and the individuals in it.” – Chapter 1, TechGnosis
Today’s technological world is marked by vibes, auras, and incorporeal experiences transmitted through radio frequencies and projected on glittering screens. Automation technology stokes worries about the equation of human with machine. We find the concepts of life, consciousness, intelligence, language, and truthmaking are under question.
Erik Davis’s prescient text TechGnosis, originally published in 1998, traces the history and cultural sentiments between mysticism and technology that animate and mythologize the information economy and our hypermediated society. TechGnosis provides context, empathy, and skepticism toward many angles of this deeply human conversation addressing ancient anxieties about the relationship between humanity and the tools we make in a seemingly relentless drive toward knowledge and control.
We are hosting a reading group of TechGnosis over IAP to reflect on its topics with critique, discussion, and mutual learning.
Three sessions: Tuesdays, January 13, 20, 27
2:30pm-3:30pm in W11-128
Tentative Outline
- Session 1: Chapters 1-4
- Session 2: Chapters 5-8
- Session 3: Chapters 9-11
Anyone is welcome to join any session regardless of whether you complete the reading.
