the breakdown - lecture notes
here are the lecture notes for week 11. the lecture was about Cyberpolitics and here are my notes........
Digital Divide
The major issue in all discussions of cyberpolitics is the digital divide: only some people have access to computers and even less to the internet, so how can everybody's interests be represented in on-line debate?
On-line Democracy
It is important to distinguish between the idealist view of a democracy on the web encompassing all citizens (cyberdemocracy) and the democratic uses of the internet to improve the quality of access to existing democracy.
Defining Democracy
The 1980s saw the near-universal triumph of liberal democracy and its representative institutions.Some apparently simple definitions of democracy continue to inform popular discussion: the rule of the many ; the rule of the majority and; 'government of the people, by the people, for the people' are three common formulations.
Gaps in the Mass Media
The increasing concentration, centralisation and commercialisation of the mass media appear to have foreclosed avenues for democratic participation in currently existing representative democracy. However, a number of theoretical counterpoints and interventions suggest that there may be ways in which the arena of deliberation, or the public sphere, may be extended via the application of new communication technologies and a better appreciation of the power of the audience.
Free Speech and Censorship
'The Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it. '- John Gilmore
Black Holes
Although it is theoretically possible to slow time by an infinite amount and almost bring it to a standstill you can never reverse it. Time is halted, however, in Black Holes. This is because gravity dilates time. The gravity on a neutron star is already enormous, and if you shrink the star even further there comes a point where you will reach an almost infinite time warp. A clock on the surface of that shrunken neutron would appear to be completely frozen in time - if we could see it.
We also watched this movie called Primer. It was extremely confusing but I managed to make out that they were time travelling or something. I did some further research on the movie in order to understand it better and here is what I found -
Digital Divide
The major issue in all discussions of cyberpolitics is the digital divide: only some people have access to computers and even less to the internet, so how can everybody's interests be represented in on-line debate?
On-line Democracy
It is important to distinguish between the idealist view of a democracy on the web encompassing all citizens (cyberdemocracy) and the democratic uses of the internet to improve the quality of access to existing democracy.
Defining Democracy
The 1980s saw the near-universal triumph of liberal democracy and its representative institutions.Some apparently simple definitions of democracy continue to inform popular discussion: the rule of the many ; the rule of the majority and; 'government of the people, by the people, for the people' are three common formulations.
Gaps in the Mass Media
The increasing concentration, centralisation and commercialisation of the mass media appear to have foreclosed avenues for democratic participation in currently existing representative democracy. However, a number of theoretical counterpoints and interventions suggest that there may be ways in which the arena of deliberation, or the public sphere, may be extended via the application of new communication technologies and a better appreciation of the power of the audience.
Free Speech and Censorship
'The Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it. '- John Gilmore
Black Holes
Although it is theoretically possible to slow time by an infinite amount and almost bring it to a standstill you can never reverse it. Time is halted, however, in Black Holes. This is because gravity dilates time. The gravity on a neutron star is already enormous, and if you shrink the star even further there comes a point where you will reach an almost infinite time warp. A clock on the surface of that shrunken neutron would appear to be completely frozen in time - if we could see it.
We also watched this movie called Primer. It was extremely confusing but I managed to make out that they were time travelling or something. I did some further research on the movie in order to understand it better and here is what I found -
- Primer is a 2004 independent film written, directed, produced by and starring Shane Carruth. A sci-fi puzzle thriller, it explores the effects of an accidental invention on its two creators.
- Famously produced for $7000, the film played at festivals, collecting the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 2004, before receiving a limited release.
- There is about 9 timelines in the film and I think that is really crazy and confusing but here is a diagram to explain them. Source is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primer_(film)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/03/PrimerTimeline.gif
okay and that is all there is for now. this is like one of my last blogs for this class but i write about that later.
until next time
carrisa.
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