For our first reading we read the preface and introduction to the book Electronic Monuments by Gregory L. Ulmer. As I stated in class the main part that really caught my attention was the part about convergence and how if people become too dependent on the system that is supposed to expose them to new ideas and other realities then the goal behind the network might backfire by means of people viewing this system as reality. The author also touches on how there is no one classification that organizes reality for everyone and how if a population becomes so absorbed in what they think they know, to the point that they fail to realize what is happening around them in other parts of the world, and that what they know as reality may not be reality everywhere else, than the only thing that can open up their eyes is a huge “reality check”. In the case of the United States the author suggests that this reality check for Americans was the events of 9/11 because it was something that impacted each and every American. The excerpt is as follows:
” It is a matter of relations among ideology and values, politics and morality. “Multiple voices and silences are represented in any scheme that attempts to sort out the world. No one classification organizes reality for everyone” (Bowker and Star 2000, 41). Bowker and Star warn that this inevitable interdependence of policy and metaphysics becomes dangerous in a condition of “convergence” — when the system disappears as such. “This blindness occurs by changing the world such that the system’s description of reality becomes true… It will be impossible to think or act otherwise” (49). A community will not know it has reached convergence until there is a breakdown in the system (34), when it’s solutions fail to pass a reality check. The events of 9/11 may be one such reality check. “
I found this part very intriguing because it reminds readers that we cannot be ignorant to what is going around us, even in our neighboring communities, and that we should not get so caught up in our own lives or any one system or reality such as the internet or social media, etc. As for how you translate this into a call to action for civic engagement, I don’t exactly know beyond advocating people to get more informed, but these were my thoughts about this reading as well as what stood out to me most. Feedback welcomed.
Source:
Ulmer, Gregory L. “Introduction.” Introduction. Electronic Monuments. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota, 2005. 20-21. Print.
Kyle Benson 