Exploring Modern Society and Technology

Sep 3, 2024

Lecture Notes

Directions to Town

  • Take a right at the site of the new shopping mall.
  • Go straight past the future freeway.
  • Turn left at the upcoming sports center.
  • Continue until reaching the proposed driving bank site.

Saul Bellow's "Herzog"

  • Explores the pressures of modern life:
    • What it means to be a man in a city during a time of transition.
    • The impact of mechanization and organized power on personal identity.
    • The devaluation of the individual in a society dominated by numbers.

Contradictory Nature of Modern Society

  • Discussion by Leon Golov:
    • Society is becoming more totalized and massive.
    • At the same time, communication and technology are atomizing society.
    • Living in a world that is both huge and fragmented.

Emergence of Post-Industrial Society

  • Presented by Frederick Jameson:
    • Post-World War II changes in society:
      • Characteristics of post-industrial society:
        • Multinational capitalism.
        • Consumer society with planned obsolescence.
        • Rapid changes in fashion and media saturation.
        • Shift from urban-rural tensions to suburban standardization.
        • Growth of superhighways and automobile culture.
  • Importance of recognizing gradual historical changes rather than abrupt shifts.

Impact of Technology

  • Significant changes due to:
    • Microchip technology.
    • Nuclear weaponry.
    • Increased surveillance and control.
  • The instability of multinational capitalism despite its homogeneous influence.

Postmodern Condition

  • Discussed by Jean Francois:
    • Acknowledgement of a modern era originating from the Enlightenment.
    • This era proposed progress in knowledge, arts, and human freedom but hasn't fulfilled its promises.
    • Growing sense of ignorance and lack of freedom.
  • Observations about societal change:
    • Many desire change but see little progress.
    • The existing order becomes more entrenched.

Susan Sontag on Cameras and Reality

  • Cameras shape reality in two primary ways:
    • As spectacles for the masses.
    • As surveillance tools for authorities.
  • Emphasis on image consumption equating to freedom.

Mary on Postmodern Practices

  • Positive aspects of the postmodern condition:
    • Elimination of hierarchical practices and dogmatism.
  • Challenges of commitment in a pluralistic society:
    • Importance of identifying aspects to challenge and attempt to change.