context earth

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Context Earth

Submitted by: Matthew R Jordan

Submitted to: Dr. Benjamin Bates

Information Science 536

May 8, 2006


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This paper is dedicated to Daniel Quinn,

author of Ishmael,

which has greatly influenced my world view

and largely informed this paper.

When they took into their own hands the power of life and death over the world,

their doom was assured. p 166

What exactly does it mean to live like a lion or a wombat?

It means to live at the mercy of the world. It means to live without having any

control over your environment. p 68


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OUTLINE

I. Introduction

II. Human Consciousness

III. Context, Control, and Meaning

IV. Agricultural Revolution

V. Industrial Revolution

VI. Capitalism

VII. Desire for Control

VIII. Illusion of Control

IX. Conclusion


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I. Introduction

The story of the Information Society is the story of human consciousness itself

and in particular the evolutionary strain of consciousness commonly referred to as

Western Civilization. Evolution is not here necessarily considered progress, but rather

change and adaptation. Among the endless varieties of debate concerning the

Information Society, one primary question continues to reassert itself- is humanity

experiencing a revolution or is it witnessing an evolution of a system that is already in

place?

The question of systemic continuity or systemic break by Information Society

theorists is at least somewhat a matter of semantics and perhaps to a small extent a mental

exercise. Continuity always exists, for nothing is created in a vacuum; the seeds of

revolution are planted in the soil of previous generations. Did the Industrial Revolution

occur in spite of the Agricultural Revolution or because of it? Did not the latter provide

the foundation for the former? So the question of change or continuity becomes a

question of degree or extent as well as a question of perspective.

But the perspective of continuity spoken of here refers to the overarching theme

of humankind- the thread that ties the birth of humanity to its present condition. I refer

simply to mans attempts to control his environment. These attempts have resulted in

Western mans desire to exist within a context no larger than himself.

II. Human Consciousness

Whether one ascribes human consciousness to a divine endowment or whether

one assigns it to an evolved response of organisms to an environment, one of its major- if


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not only- functions is to facilitate purposive action. Though purposive action may be

informed by subconscious motivations, in this paper, I characterize it in contrast to

instinctual action. In short, the environment acts onto the creatures of the world- who

respond instinctually, whereas man seeks to reverse course from eons of historical

precedent and act onto his environment.

What makes purposive action possible? Information.1 Where does the

information come from? Memory. Man looks at the consequences of his past actions in

order to inform his future actions. The lessons from these past consequences can come

from previous generations; they can come from personal experience. They can be

rational and scientific, or they can be mythical and religious. They can be correct or

incorrect.2 By training their childs awareness, focus, and attention from day one, parents

(and others) are able to teach her these lessons- reinforcing language, culture, values, and

all the rest. Slowly but surely, the child develops an identity- the complex of neurons

which tells her that she and her environment are separate entities This separation

provides the original context from which she can act onto her environment, for how can

one act onto something that she does not consider separate from herself? Just as the

ground is the point of reference from which a person can jump, so is identity the point of

reference from which a person can consciously act onto the world. What other function

does consciousness serve besides providing a tool to act?

1 Beniger, James R. The Control Revolution: Technological and Economic Origins of the InformationSociety. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1986, 8. Inseparable from the concept of control are

the twin activities of information processing and reciprocal communication, complementary factors in any

form of control. Information processing is essential to all purposive activitiy, which is by definition goal

directed and must therefore involve the continual comparison of current states to future goals.2 I wont qualify the differences between information, knowledge, and wisdom, because no matter, man is

capable of passing them all on. I will only say that it could be argued that people today rely on knowledge

and information for the production of goods more than they rely on wisdom.


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Is this summary too obvious? Is it obtuse to make proclamations like man acts?

The reader may appreciate my broad strokes here, or he may be confounded by my

seemingly puerile attempt at stating the self-evident. But it is exactly this obviousness

that can make it unseeable. Consciousness Information Action The three become

intertwined. Think of the first and foremost mantra teachers of every shape and size

adhere to: Be responsible for the consequences of your actions. It is so ingrained in

each of us (whether we abide by its directive or not) that we may not see it for what it is-

a template for mankind.

Perhaps the reader sees the next question coming from a mile away Why does

man act? Answer: In order to try and control his environment.

III. Context, Meaning, Control

I, for one, am unafraid to expose my naivet or divulge my lack of understanding

before trying to ascend any of the slippery slopes of postmodern theory. Postmodern

theory doesnt lend itself towards easy comprehension, for how can one find meaning

using the mental tools that are simultaneously being deconstructed? Suffice it to say that

the following exposition is not so much a formally learned explanation, but rather a

personal elucidation fashioned by many years of thinking and not as many years of

reading formal texts. Its been said that nothing new in the world has been said, and if

this adage holds true through the next paragraphs, then I must confess Im not sure who

has said it or when, or whether the person or persons saying it had a small or large

bearing on my thinking it, for its not as if I have read nothing at all.


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Let me start by making a statement, which although ultimately unprovable, I shall

consider true for the sake of argument: Nothing exists without context. Action does not

exist without context. Meaning does not exist without context. Life does not exist

without context. Context occurs when something refers to something else; it is the

connection between two things or the environment, situation, or setting of something.

And nothing exists in isolation.

A few examples might help clarify this concept. As stated before, a person cannot

jump without a ground to jump from. All things are built upon a foundation. A person

can not think without an identity or consciousness to think from. A person cannot

(purposively) act without thinking. An arm or a leg does not exist outside the context of

the whole body. A subject creates an object, for how can you define something without

defining its opposite? A plant cannot grow without a foundation or soil to grow from. A

person cannot breathe without trees to supply him with oxygen. And neither can the tree

exist without animals to supply it with carbon dioxide. The one creates the other. They

exist not in spite of each other, but because of each other.

Take the example of a cactus in the desert. Could the cactus exist without the

desert environment of which it is a part? Could it grow from nothing? And why might it

not become a redwood or an oak or a pine tree? Because the influence of its

environment- its context- defines what it is. A cactus which does not submit to the

influence of its environment is a cactus which negates its own existence.

Is the reader still with me? Though I cant blame him if he isnt the logic and

semantics work for me, but that does not necessarily mean it works for him. But if he is,

I shall take this train of thought a step further. It seems that mans ultimate goal- or at


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least judging by the appearance of Western capitalism- is to have ultimate control of his

context. He sees the world as a place to conquer- a place where every element is under

his direct control and has no effect or response that he does not desire. Even the pockets

of wilderness would be kept in place purely for his pleasure. He desires for his every

whim to come true simply by thinking it- without inconvenience or effort

Is this starting to sound familiar? What entity has ultimate control? What entity

exists with no greater context than itself? Yes God. [And if one doesnt believe in

God, then is there a context greater than the conceptof God?] Ultimate control, or

omnipotence, is to be God. To have supreme power is to be the Creator. In the

beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Would man not like to have this

capacity? Would man not like for his reality to consist of a blank white palette for him to

create as he wishes- to paint onto it solely the contents of his imagination? For food to

appear at the stroke of a brush? For the rain to appear only at a calculated time? To have

control over life and death even? 3

For man to be the Creator is for man to have no context greater than himself to

which he is accountable. It would mean the lack of a context, or environment, which

responded back with consequences to his actions. It would mean for man to not submit

to and to be completely secure from any powers or forces beyond his control.

Why ask these grand questions about where man has come from and where he is

going? Are they appropriate for an Information Society paper? I say yes. For when

3 Beniger, 10. Beniger makes the interesting case that information processing, as a means of control tocounter entropy (the universal tendency of organization toward breakdown and randomization) is as an

essential element of all organisms and of life itself. He characterizes technology as any intentional

extension of a natural process, that is, of the processing of matter, energy, and information that

characterizes all living systems. In that case, mans use of technology is simply a method of sustaining his

life, and he will not be able to stop his use of technology on his own. In other words, he may not be able to

control his use of control. Eventually though, entropy (or the consequences context Earth places on his

actions) will do it for him.


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Information Theorists discuss the historical arc of humanity, those are exactly the kinds

of fundamental and philosophical questions they should be attempting to shed light on.

An exponential increase in information has increased mans capacity to alter his

environment. In his rush to control, does he stop to ask what his ultimate goal is? And if

he does stop to ask- and assuming my answer or theory is correct- then I think he needs to

consider two things.

First, to have ultimate control is impossible (as far as can rationally be assumed)

because there is a context greater than man that he is responsible to- the earth and its

attendant natural laws. There is no blank palette- its already completely colored in. Is it

wise to pursue a goal which is impossible? Second, even if he could have this

theoretically supreme clout, would he really want it? If man could have anything he

wanted at the snap of a finger, would those things have any value to him? Would things

that he did not earn have any meaning to him?

Humanity is doing its best to ignore the teachers dictum and to escape the most

universal law. But just as man cannot escape the law of gravity, neither can he escape the

law of consequences. With several assorted examples, I will attempt to illustrate how

global capitalism, empowered by the rise of information and information technologies,

exacerbates this desire for control while simultaneously creating the illusion that the

control exists. But first, I shall submit a brief historical abstract outlining civilizations

progression from the agricultural revolution, to the industrial revolution, to todays

global capitalism.


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III. Agricultural Revolution

I said this would be the briefest of abstracts. Its brevity is dependent upon a basic

and common understanding of the history of Western Civilization. Assuming the

understanding is common, the compressed information will expand like an MP3 file in

the readers brain when the file is opened. There is nothing startling here, but what

should be kept in mind is that with more information, there has been more control.

I have previously argued that consciousness, or the capacity for abstract thought,

is the tool that allows man to act. Consciousness also allows her to communicate in

arguably more complex ways. This language permits planned group organization and

allows information and knowledge to be passed on from person to person and from

generation to generation.4 Culture is created. Custom. Tradition. Myth. Beliefs. Value

systems. An understanding of how the world works.

The advent of the Agricultural Revolution allowed people to live in stationary

settlements. These people learned how to grow food more and more efficiently. With

more efficiency came more surplus. Greater surplus led to the division of labor by

allowing some people to spend their time on work and activities besides food production.

This specialization led to still greater amounts of information. Hierarchies formed,

market economies and political entities were spawned, and societies became increasingly

complex. At this juncture, I will abruptly skip forward to the Industrial Revolution.

IV. Industrial Revolution

4 I wont delve into a debate about the complexity of other animal languages. No doubt they can be

complex, but it is mans ability to pass on learned behaviors to the next generation that is significant. Some

primates have shown an aptitude for learned behavior, but again, I am not a believer in black and whites.

On a grayscale, it is the extreme differentiation between man and his fellow beasts that I want to consider.

The conditions that may have resulted in this differentiation between man and ape are outside the scope of

this paper as well.


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I will not closely examine the soil that engendered the Industrial Revolution.

Major driving forces included the Enlightenment and the influx of rational and scientific

thought over supernatural belief systems.5 Humanity began harnessing energy in the

form of steam and electricity, which led to the development of machinery.

Nor will I scrutinize the developments which resulted in the ascendancy of

capitalism over other social systems such as communism. The subjects are of course

relevant, though its arguable that no matter, capitalism would become preeminent.

Whether that argument is true or not, I am more concerned about where we have ended

up today. Marxs class struggles have (at least temporarily) abated in Western

Civilization, Hitler lost, and the Berlin Wall came down. Besides, I have bigger fish to

fry. But for all social systems, industrialism and scientific invention brought the

increased capacity for production, communications and transportation.

Actually, I rescind my promise to not talk about Marx. Though it crosses over

into the next sections territory, many of his forecasts are directly relevant to the musings

in this paper, including the concepts of historical materialism and a capitalism based on a

system of continuous expansions, as well as the alienation of the worker. But I would

like to comment on a primary calculation that has not come true. Why has Marxs

predicted lower class revolt subsided? A primary reason may be that the proletariat

simply does not feel compelled to. Most everyone is now relatively comfortable; people

have houses over their heads, food on their fast-food plates, and televisions at their

5 It could be argued that rationalism has always been around; when man made his first stone tool, was he

not using some form of rationality? Does the rise of consciousness represent the rise of rationality?

Supernatural, or irrational, belief systems arent necessarily a bad thing- the beliefs themselves may be

irrational, but viewed as metaphors for living within the context of Earth, they might be rational.

Supernatural beliefs are explanations for things man cant control and doesnt understand. Whereas a pure

rationalism might seek to control and rid itself of this context.


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command.6 And for those who dont, society offers them- along with a lack of education

and empowerment- the Welfare State and other assorted charities. Against a force too

strong to be countered, the populaces of third world countries also lack that

empowerment and are quickly being assimilated by global corporations, that see them not

as a body to be suppressed but as three billion more consumers to be cultivated. If

Mother Nature is having a hard time dealing with the demands of the developed Western

world, then wait til all the fine folks of India and China enter into the fray. Global

capitalism has a vested interest in making all people consumers; there is profit to be had

there (and the alleviation of revolutionary tendencies to boot).

Global capitalism is an excellent economic vehicle for the spread of Western

Civilizations surplus production, and the concurrent rise of information technologies has

given that vehicle an engine to be reckoned with.

V. Capitalism

The Industrial Revolution brought the capacity for the production of goods on a

mass scale- an exponential increase of the surpluses originally created by the Agricultural

Revolution. The manifestation of this capacity was fueled by the profit motive of

capitalism. But how did increased production result in profits if most people cant afford

to pay for goods? And what use was profit if there were only ten different products being

created by ten all-powerful and rich steel magnate-types to spend that profit on?

Enter the rise of consumer society. Mass-production requires mass-buyers;

otherwise the production is a moot point. Free enterprise allows citizens to first, create

products of endless varieties for others to spend their money on, and second, create

6 A distilled reasoning for the increases in the standard of living is offered in the next section.


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profits in order to buy products themselves.7 Economic growth is predicated by a cycle

of production and consumption; people need to consume, and they need to continue to

consume in ever greater amounts. Two methods demonstrate how this continued growth

has been possible. In one line of progression, consumers buy what is available, then buy

what they want, and then buy what they didnt even know they wanted. In another line of

progression, businesses differentiate themselves by the physical products they offer, then

differentiate themselves in terms of services they offer, and then distinguish themselves

by the images and symbols they attach to their products through advertising and brand

building.

One need look no farther than the money section of her daily newspaper or any

pronouncement from any level of government to see the value capitalist society places

upon economic growth. Why is this value emphasized? Two reasons emerge and both

are related to the concept of control. First, economic growth gives many people financial

security for the future.8 Second, economic growth creates products (tangible and

intangible) which allow individuals to have ever and ever greater control of their lives.

Consumption brings a sensation of power by allowing them to create their worlds and

identities as their imagination so desires. Given the appropriate funds, any product

imaginable is packaged and ready at a click of a button. Is this the kind of God-like

power that humans crave?

7 In addition to an individuals freedom to pursue wealth through enterprise, an increasingly large

bureaucracy demands educated workers who compete for well paying jobs. This is discussed further in the

next section.8 Though this reason is very important- people want to ensure that they have food on their plates and money

to spend in the future- I will not concentrate on it in this paper, except to say that an increasing amount of

planning for the future seems to decrease peoples connection to the past. Nowhere is the concept of

theoretical planning more evident- at least to the general public- than in economic forecasting.


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Unfortunately for those who answer in the affirmative to this question, unending

economic growth is not a possibility afforded within the confines of context Earth. I

challenge the reader to think ofanythingthat grows forever.9

VI. Desire for Control

I asserted earlier that capitalism exacerbates a desire for control while

simultaneously creating an illusion of control. I began an examination of the desire for

control in the previous section by supplying a two-pronged answer to the question of why

Western Civilization emphasizes the value of economic growth. The second prong was

that economic growth creates products which allow people to have a sense of power and

control over their lives. I intend to discuss that answer further, but a cursory examination

of the initial culprit of these circumstances is in order.

As any system grows larger, so does the complexity of its processes. This

complexity requires the specialization of tasks, or the division of labor.10 Each person (or

unit or cell) does her part in order for the entire system to function. Western Civilization

has become so specialized that its inhabitants have no sense of holism to their lives; they

are disconnected from the most ordinary of daily processes faced by mankind time

immemorial. This may not seem like a dilemma if one compares the person in a

community to a cell in an organism- each serves a function towards the greater whole.

9

Masuda, Yoneji. The Information Society as Post-Industrial Society. Washington, D.C.: World FutureSociety, 1980, 96-7. Masuda claims that individual consumption will reach saturation point, with

increased social disutility. I would like to believe that people will substitute social consumption formaterial consumption, but the appetite for individual desires seems to be insatiable. Have we seen

evidence of a Maslowian progression towards enlightenment and self-actualization or do people just keep

buying more stuff?10 Beniger, 6-10. Any type of growth requires an increased amount of control. Intertwined with an

increased need for consumption is a larger system of bureaucracy as well as increased information flows

between the levels of bureaucracy. Public and private levels of (faceless) middle management begin to

appear.


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Two problems emerge though when considering the person as a cell, and the community

as an organism. First, any given citizen of Western Civilization may in reality be part of

the system, but she thinks as an individual. In fact, the system- our current global

capitalism- requires that she thinks as an individual. This is not the Borg on Star Trek;

the individual consciousness is encouraged and revered. Second, even if the system, or

organism, as a whole is functioning well in a self-referential context, it does not

necessarily mean that it is functioning well in a context greater than itself. For example,

could a polar bear survive in the desert? As such, can global capitalism- in its current

embodiment- survive on context Earth?

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An end result of this massive compartmentalization of tasks is that the individuals

of the citizenry trek to work (some trudge), make their contribution to society, then come

home and -with the little time they have left- create their lives in all manner of

activities- largely through the means of consumption.12 Whether or not a person finds

meaning and value in her work, the point is that when she gets off work, she (reasonably)

does not feel compelled to contribute to the other daily processes that sustain her modern

existence (unless one considers consumption a contribution, which I dont). Granted,

even the most primitive of tribes have some sort of division labor, but the question is how

much is too much? A few examples might shed some light on the uglier side of this

extreme demarcation.

11 Beniger, 12. Beniger discusses Durkheims concept of the crisis of control. Durkheim pointed

towards the rise of individual psychology as an abnormal response to the division of labor. Rather thanincreasing social solidarity, being a part of this system actually decreased it. As Durkheim argued, anomie

results not from the structural division of labor into what he called distinct societal organs but rather than

from the breakdown in communication among these increasingly isolated sectors, so that individuals

employed in them lose sight of the larger purpose of their separate efforts.12 In some other future writing opportunity, I would like to also argue that not only does the division of

labor create a sense of alienation between people and their environment, but also that products and services

being so far ahead ofdirect needcauses a similar effect.


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-PACKAGED PRODUCTS

Packaged products are bright, shiny, and finished. When one buys something,

the entire process behind the creation of that product is concealed.13 The consumer may

have earned it in the sense that he is paying for it with money he made by going to

work, but he didnt earn it in the sense that he did not create it himself from scratch.

People value things that they invest in personally and have a tendency to take for granted

the things they dont. A primary end result of this circumstance is that capitalism

considers nothing sacred; all is for sale. Commodification impinges upon every nook and

cranny of life. That idea does not need to be expounded upon here, for it is now a truism

in American life.

Among countless illustrations of the packaging point is a reliance on restaurants

to prepare food. In some homes (including my own), cooking a meal is unheard of- a fact

that would shock my ancestors. Another example of how the populace has been

conditioned to expect finished products is more abstract. It is my personal theory that,

along with the time constraints of dual family incomes (which largely exist for the

purpose of creating a greater capacity to consume), parents project their conditioning for

finished products onto their children. An investment in the difficult task of childrearing

has become more and more of an unwelcome burden. In the place of discipline comes

the babysitter whose name is television and consumptive distractions in the way of

toys- both of which are merely temporary solutions and in the long run serve only to

intensify the childrens bad habits. Parents have worked hard in fast-paced jobs all day

long and dont have the energy to direct and guide their media-soaked and sugar-

13 I reiterate that process constitutes a cause-effect sequence of events within a context or environment. If

products were to magically appear on the shelf- as they seem to do- then they would have no process, and

thus no context.


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saturated children. Strong words coming from a non-parent I will admit, but it is my non-

parentness which qualifies me to make such utterances. Yes, I admit a fear of the task

myself. But I will not presume to continue this exposition; I will leave that to the

teachers of America. Ask any experienced teacher if she has less time for teaching

because she has to spend more time disciplining and expect to get an ear full.

-CONVENIENT PRODUCTS

Societys craving for completed and packaged products is only half the equation.

Today, it also demands that those products be available without any wait, hassle, or

inconvenience. Any sign of disruption or disturbance to these unreasonable expectations

creates stress and a surly disposition.14 Speaking of words that start with dispo,

disposable is the name of the game. Not only do throwaway products create

convenience, but they also increase consumption. Gone are the days when grandpa

bought a well-made shovel and kept it for forty years. Gone are the days when grandma

saved every scrap of material. Thrift is an attribute of a bygone era [namely the era

constituting the year 4 billion BC to approximately 1953 AD]. When a child doesnt take

care of his things and screams when he doesnt immediately get what he wants, people

label him spoiled. Does the same label apply to Western society at large? But its

difficult to characterize it as such when people toil so hard at their workplaces. They

deserve the spoils of civilization, right? But on context Earth, such arguments fall on

deaf ears. Action, as well as overaction, has its consequences.

14 This surliness can extend to the expectations of tangible or intangible products not being met. A store not

having a certain product in stock would be an expectation of a tangible product not being met. Road rage

is an example of an intangible products unmet expectation.


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-STERILE PRODUCTS

The closer we gravitate towards the sterility, predictability, convenience, and

supposed security of modernity, the further we are disconnected from the outdoors. A

distaste for environmental conditions outside of mans control is perhaps the example,

more than any other, which best demonstrates mans desire to have no part of his context.

Consider the typical temperature-controlled day for some Americans- wake up in their

house, get into their car which is parked in the garage, turn on the cars air conditioning,

open the garage door, drive to work. Then park in the parking garage in the basement of

their office building and take the elevators to their office. Order food to be delivered for

lunch. At the end of the day, take the elevator back down to the parking garage, drive

home, park the car, head upstairs and turn on the television. An entire day and not iota of

commune with the elements.

-ISOLATION

The specialization of tasks in the capitalist system and its resultant

interdependence on consumption has also created a world of alienation. With complex

transportation, technological, and communications systems at his command, a person

could feasibly subsist in his abode without ever leaving its enclave. Emersons self-

reliance takes on a new and grotesque meaning. In the suburbs, how many people know

their neighbors?15 Does anyone borrow a cup of sugar anymore? What happened to barn

raisings, or any other modern day equivalent of community projects? Do folks

participate in local politics anymore? Do they create their own entertainment with others

15 Akin to the specialization of tasks by people is the dismemberment of the community in general by

zoning laws which, along with cars, propagate urban sprawl.


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in the community or do they rely on the passive entertainment and the company of the

talking heads?

The internet can allow individuals to find a sense of community by connecting

them to other people in the world with similar interests. While this point has its merits, I

would argue that maybe people wouldnt need to find these connections if they didnt feel

so disconnected from their communities in the first place. In addition, the personal

computer is a non-confrontational and self-referring piece of machinery. Does it really

contain a community if it so easily walked away from? Culture, ethnicity, religion, place,

and other such community organizers no longer define peoples identities. Their

identities are self-created- largely through the consumption of goods which use the

association of images to help them define their lifestyles, as well as through interaction

with personal computers.16

HOMOGENIZATION

Post-Fordists argue that its possible for people to create using multiple

combinations of prefabricated products. A similar argument could be made about a

graphic design computer program. All of the samples and colors have been

preconceived, but the artist may still be able to express herself by using various

amalgamations of those elements.

Artists and philosophers could debate this idea to eternity, but the preconception

of products takes an ugly turn when gazing upon homogenized cultures. Continuing my

16 Webster, Frank. Theories of the Information Society. 2nd Ed. Routledge: New York, NY, 2002, 20.

Webster summarizes post-modernist theorist Jean Baudrillards theory of signs. Blitzed by signs all

around us, designing ourselves with signs, unable to to escape signs wherever we may go, the result is,

oddly, a collapse of meaning As peoples knowledge through direct experience declines, it becomes

evident that signs are no longer straightforwardly representative of something or someone. The notion that

signs represent some reality apart from themselves loses its credibility. Rather signs are self-referential:

they-simulations- are all there is. They are, again to use Baudrillards terminology, the hyper-reality.


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earlier discussion of communities, corporations and media conglomerates have brought a

top-down approach to them. There is nothing organic, and thus nothing alive, about retail

and restaurant chains.17 Pop culture (in the form of music, entertainment, and even

politics it could be argued) can and does distract people from whats happening nearby.

By listening to the latest canned tune from Clear Channel, keeping tabs on a Hollywood

stars marriage, and reading an on-line article about the war in Iraq, people have the

sensation of participating in a community. But its not participation, its diversion. It is a

self-imposed method of social control. Meanwhile the system goes about its indomitable

and vigorous way.

But before my floodgates open, I will cut this disparaging soliloquy

short and move on to capitalisms talent for creating an illusion of control.

VII. Illusion of Control

In the previous section, I briefly discussed how packaged products obscure the

processes behind the creation of those products. Not only do their sanitized images aid in

expressing lifestyles, they also conspire to mask the seedy underside of the modern

world.18 Obfuscation and denial run rampant while allowing society to deceive itself into

17 Kumar, Krishan. From Post-Industrial to Post-Modern Society: New Theories of the Contemporary

World. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers Inc., 1995, 57-8. Kumar comments on the Post-Fordists

optism for a revival in localism, but then questions whether it is a response by consumers to massproduction or whether it is the result of corporate strategies to make a profit from authentic cultural

objects and experiences. I think it is a bit of both. People do feel disconnected from their local place, but

unfortunately, they often try to ameliorate that feeling that by consumingcultural objects and experiences

rather than actually growing them on their own. The consumption of a cultural object decontextualizes it.

This is an example of the illusion of control which I talk about in the next section.18

Dordick, Herbert S. and Georgette Wang. The Information Society: A Retrospective View. NewburyPark, CA: Sage Publications, 1993, 12-3. The authors describe Jacques Elluls contention by saying

technological society will have to find ways to retrieve its humanity without losing the benefits of the wiseuse of technology and the necessity of having a technology with a human face. The question is whether

we can have our cake and eat it too. But a face simply covering the externalities of the technology is

obviously not a good solution. Bell, Daniel. The Coming of Post-Industrial Society; A Venture in Social

Forecasting. New York, NY: Basic Books, Inc., 1973, 65-6. In that same vein, a comment on the previous

discussion of rationalism is appropriate. Bell discusses Joseph Schumpeters idea that the capitalist process

is too rationalistic for human spirituality. Schumpeter thought that capitalism would crumble under the

hostility towards it. But I contend that the illusion of control allows people to express their angst through


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thinking that the consequences of its actions dont exist. Advertisements of oil

companies which claim they are doing good things for the environment do nothing to

change the fact that context Earth responds to mans actions in ways he wishes it

wouldnt. I believe there are physical, as well as mental, externalities which are being

hidden.

I saw a button one time that read, Suburbia- a magical place where they cut

down the trees and name the roads after them. This thought exemplified how the public

likes to pretend that it is in touch with the outdoors- or context Earth- while replacing

realities with images. This phenomenon is ubiquitous- marketing departments

everywhere indiscriminately paste a natural veneer to a whole slew of tangible and

intangible goods. The worst transgression in this nation-wide cover up is an addiction to

gas-guzzling SUVs. Besides the obvious point that the wasted energy of these monsters

serves to destroy the very environment they claim to love, an SUV is designed to access

parts of nature that are otherwise inaccessible- and their advertisements implore us to do

just that. But buying a product that has those associations built in is good enough, for

people let the talking of the images do the walking for them. Direct experience has not

only been commodified, but also mediated. The postmodernists may argue that it doesnt

matter because nothing is authentic anyways, but I beg to differ; authenticity may or may

not exist, but sometimes there can be serious consequences to a flippant attitude about

pretenses. Not to mention simulacras inducement of a vague, empty feeling in the gut.

The movies offer another method for replacing realities with images that intensify

peoples illusion of control. Take the Kevin Costner movie Dances with Wolves or

Tom Cruises The Last Samurai. The protagonists in the movies connect with the

consumption, thereby allowing the system to remain in place.


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noble savages in the face of Western Civilizations industrializing and colonialist

forces. But it is easy to make such movies now that the threat of the savages is extinct.

In the safety of the theatre, each of us can look with consternation at those evil forces and

pretend that ifwe lived during that time, we would have connected with the savages too.

Another case in point is the hidden process of food products. A customer goes to

the store and purchases a can of chicken noodle soup off the shelf. It seems like such a

harmless and simple act. But the processes that collaborated in getting that product to the

shelf are extremely complex. Thousands of people and operations had a hand in it.

Colossal amounts of information and energy (and waste) were required in moving that

product through its various stages of production, pricing, advertising, and distribution. I

often wonder if it would affect consumption patterns if people had to sit and watch a

video detailing the transformation of raw materials into that finished good. Maybe not,

but at the very least it might engender a sense of groundedness.

The examples have no end, but perhaps one final illustration would be

appropriate. The modern healthcare system does a fine job of creating an illusion of

control by showcasing mans potential God-like ability to have control over life and

death. Man has devised some amazing ways to extend a life when nature has decided

that that lifes time has come. But at what cost? My own mother will attest to the fact

that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Every solution the doctors

have offered to solve her various health problems has resulted in the creation of another

problem. Context Earth has no choice but to be in perfect balance, and the consequences

of mans actions are natures way of maintaining that balance.


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VIII. CONCLUSION

When attempting to make an account of the driving force behind the trajectory of

humankind, one obviously exposes himself to an onslaught of criticism and

counterargument. Pick any book from the library, and it will be germane to the topic. In

an even lengthier paper, I would try to tackle some of those arguments and, as a believer

in the idea that every truth has an equal but opposite truth, no doubt I would find

credence in many of them. As no doubt I have come across as an anti-modernist, do I fall

too easily into the trap of an idealized past? Probably, but not necessarily, for in this

paper I am simply attempting to define a problem. Critics of Daniel Quinns book

Ishmael have argued that he offers no solutions. Thats debatable, but to be sure, that

criticism is applicable here. I, like most others, am defined by the times and my solutions

would reflect that. Had I lived in the early 20th Century, I probably would have been the

first to jump on the progressive bandwagon and rail against the traditions and mores of

the past.

Postmodernists think that man could become free of grand narratives. But these

narratives provide organizing principles for cultures; is it possible for an organization, an

organism, or any system at all to exist without some kind of allegory to hold it together?

Western civilization may have deconstructed the myths of the past, but it does,

unwittingly, hold onto one of its own. That narrative holds that man should work

tirelessly to control his environment, and I argue that this approach is the equivalent of

man trying to exist in a context no larger than himself.

Man cannot avoid the context in which he lives. As such, Western Civilization

needs a new allegory to live by. Belief is not required. The narrative can be used as a


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tool, a metaphor for living. Perhaps we can find this wisdom by listening to the wisdom

of those who the modern world most easily forgets- our elders and ancestors. Does ones

grandmother lay on her deathbed saying, Working yourself to the bone to get ahead in

the world is the only way youll find happiness? Does Thoreau advocate heading to

Wal-Mart and stocking up on lots of stuff before heading to the pond? Does Lao Tzu say

Desire more and you will find enlightenment? Does Chief Seattle declare What you

do to the web you do not do to yourself? Consciousness may have led man to act, but a

higher consciousness may lead him to act not.


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WORKS CITED

Bell, Daniel. The Coming of Post-Industrial Society; A Venture in Social Forecasting.New York, NY: Basic Books, Inc., 1973.

Beniger, James R. The Control Revolution: Technological and Economic Origins of theInformation Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1986

Dordick, Herbert S. and Georgette Wang. The Information Society: A RetrospectiveView. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1993.

Kumar, Krishan. From Post-Industrial to Post-Modern Society: New Theories of the

Contemporary World. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers Inc., 1995.

Masuda, Yoneji. The Information Society as Post-Industrial Society. Washington, D.C.:

World Future Society, 1980.

Quinn, Daniel. Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit. Bantam Books: New

York, NY, 1995. 166, 68.

Webster, Frank. Theories of the Information Society. 2nd Ed. Routledge: New York, NY,

2002.

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