New Explorations: Studies in Culture and Communication
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Contextualizing Marshall McLuhan
No full textMy thesis is that the Canadian Renaissance specialist and media ecology theorist and Catholic convert Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980; Ph.D. in English, Cambridge University, 1943) is an analogist. McLuhan himself developed the thesis that the Victorian Jesuit poet and Catholic convert Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889) is an analogist in his 1944 article “The Analogical Mirrors,” using Hopkins’ poem “The Windover” to discuss the analogical mirrors. Because I claim that McLuhan is an analogist, I explore that broader context of analogical thought in Western cultural history. In addition, I suggest that McLuhan himself might also be characterized as a practical mystic which is how he himself characterizes G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936) in his 1934 article “G. K. Chesterton: A Practical Mystic.
Profanity as a Medium – The Science/Art of Swearing
No full textProfanity as a Medium – The Science/Art of Swearin
Can AI Ever Control us Humans: A Probe
No full textTwo interrelated thesis are explored in this probe, namely that;
AI by itself could never take over and control us humans;
the written word is in a certain sense a form of artificial intelligence whereas the spo-
ken word is a form of natural intelligence
Review: Pope Francis, Laudate Deum (“Praise God”): Apostolic Exhortation
No full textReview: Pope Francis, Laudate Deum (“Praise God”): Apostolic Exhortatio
Adeena Karasick & Frank London’s, Eicha: The Book of Lumenations Wins 10 International Film Awards
No full textAdeena Karasick & Frank London’s, Eicha: The Book of Lumenations Wins 10 International Film Award
Algorithm, Aphorism, and Alternatives
No full textThe following paper revisited Gozzi Jr.’s (2002) probing of algorithmic and aphoristic thinking. Drawing on literature from media ecology, surveillance studies, and new materialism, the following paper argued that dichotomies between algorithmic and aphoristic thought reinforce a cartesian dualism between self and object that makes impossible meaningful discourse about, and subsequent alteration of, our data- driven technologies and policies. In his endorsement of the aphorism, Gozzi Jr. (2002) was careful to note that aphoristic thinkers did often employ algorithmic thinking in practice and principle, though the current data-driven nature of society drives a wedge deeper between these two modes of thought. Instead, a mode of thinking for the 21st century requires competency in both aphoristic thinking and ideation and algorithmic comprehension and application. Thus, the present paper explicated what is meant by the term “algorithmic society,” outlined aphoristic and algorithmic modes of thought, and offered an alternative perspective that incorporated algorithmic and aphoristic thinking in a cyclical and systemic manner in order to create space for continued discourse
Oral Storytelling as Recounted by the American Indian Medicine Doctor Paul Peter Buffalo: A Probe
No full textOral Storytelling as Recounted by the American Indian Medicine Doctor Paul Peter Buffalo: A Prob
Review: Gabe-Bines: “Forever Flying Bird”: Teachings From Paul Peter Buffalo
No full textReview: Gabe-Bines: “Forever Flying Bird”: Teachings From Paul Peter Buffal
The Joke as a Medium
No full textWe argue that jokes are not just about the ha-ha and laughter, but they are a technology, and a medium that create an environment and they have a serious purpose. We examine the medium of the joke making particular use of the work of three scholars who made a serious effort to understand the phenomenon of the joke and humor, namely Sigmund Freud (1916) in his book Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious, Johan Huizinga (1971) in his book Homo Ludens and Marshall McLuhan (1964) in his book Understanding Media and his other writings. For Freud jokes like dreams are the medium to reach the unconscious mind. For Huizinga play, puns and games that are closely related to jokes are a universal aspect of human culture dating back to our very origin. For McLuhan jokes are about grievances and a way people deal with them