Seminar 14 Scholarship vs. Stupidity

Introduction to the Digital Liberal ArtsMDST 3703 / 7703

Fall 2010

Business

• Last studio coming up• Lightening talks next Tuesday

Review

Database as Symbolic form• A symbolic form is associated with a mode of thinking• The database is associated with lists and network

structures • The database mode is in conflict with narrativeVertov’s film is an example of “database” narrative• An attempt to resolve the conflict • Projects the conditions of its own production—its

implicit world—onto the plane of narrative

Overview

• Today we entertain the question of stupidity– A theme raised by Tufte and Carr– Goes back to Socrates in the Phaedrus

• Does the form of the database make us stupid?– In particular, Google – In particular, with respect to scholarship

What is intelligence?

What are the attributes of scholarly intelligence?

Scholarly Intelligence

• Knowledge of many facts and ideas– i.e. well read

• Ability to perceive patterns• Ability to draw analogies and connections• Ability to develop explanatory models• Ability to develop extended arguments• Ability to revise and critique received

arguments

How are these abilities developed?

What factors contribute?

Locus of Memory(Where is memory?)

Intelligence requires the integration of human memory with media

http://cgea.wikispaces.com/Aboriginal+Sacred+and+ceremonial+objects

Most mentioned people and organizations in NYTimes from 1984-2009

http://www.porhomme.com/2009/02/visualized-most-mentioned-people-orgs-nytimes-1984-2009/

Carr’s Argument

Can be read as an effect of the database on cognition

• The Internet is an expression of database logicThe form of internet, epitomized by Google,

encourages fragmented, unconnected thinking• Information is produced and consumed in small

piecesAnd: Google itself – as the Master Database of

the Internet – is becoming more connected and less fragmented

• Google itself is becoming the locus of memory

Google’s algorithm

What is Shirky’s response?

Shirky

• Shifts focus from consumption to production– Carr focuses on reading– Shirky focuses on writing, media production– Also, Shirky focuses on TV ...

• Notes trend: lowered thresholds of production mean greater production of collection knowledge, e.g.– PatientsLikeMe– Open Source software (Linux, Apache, etc.)

Shirky

Also shifts our attention to the social• Social organization as a solution to the negative

effects of new media• Open source and Internet culture are forms of

social organization that make society smarterWhereas Carr sees a shift in intelligence from the

individual to Google, Shirky envisions a massive division of knowledge labor

• Are both right?

What premises do Carr and Shirky share?

Shared Premises

Neuroplasticity• Writing is cultural, rewires the brain• The internet is rewiring tooExternalization of knowledge• Locus of memory shifts from individual minds

to the collective• This externalization is having an effect on brainsThey differ in their evaluation of this process

Neuroplasticity

“We were never born to read”

Our brains evolved for aural–oral language but not for extracting meaning from print.

Reading is a relatively recent cultural invention, on the order of 5000 years old.The brain appears to learn to

read by borrowing networks that evolved for other purposes. Visual object-processing systems [designed for other purposes] are called on to link the lines and squiggles of the letters in front of you right now to the phonological aspects of spoken language.

Our aural–oral language networks interact with these visual processing networks to instantiate skilled reading. Our executive function networks interact with language and visual processing networks to facilitate the transition to automatic reading. Only when reading becomes automatic does reader have time to fully process the information in the text.

From a review of Proust and the Squid by Bradley Schlaggar, N Engl J Med 2008; 358:538-539January 31, 2008

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMbkrev59155

Maryanne Wolf

Is all “rewiring” equal?

Externalization

Internal vs External Memory

INTERNAL EXTERNAL

Deep ReadingDeveloped selves

MultitaskingIncreased production and

access to information

Cognitive elitismOver-valuing of text

Alienated knowledgeBecoming the Borg?

What kind of knowledge does each system produce?

What new forms of narratives (selves) shall we create?

Can we learn from Vertov, Borges, and Picasso?