1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910631098403321

Autore

Ervik Andreas

Titolo

Becoming Human Amid Diversions : Playful, Stupid, Cute and Funny Evolution. / / by Andreas Ervik

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cham : , : Springer International Publishing : , : Imprint : Palgrave Macmillan, , 2022

ISBN

9783031138775

9783031138768

Edizione

[1st ed. 2022.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (296 pages)

Disciplina

621.382

302.231

Soggetti

Digital media

Digital humanities

Aesthetics

Communication

Information theory

Social media

Digital and New Media

Digital Humanities

Media and Communication Theory

Social Media

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

1. Attractive Screens -- 2. Microbe Computing -- 3. Vegetative Games -- 4. Worldwide Fungi -- 5. Social Petworks -- 6. Human Tribes -- 7. Becoming Humidity.

Sommario/riassunto

“Stupid but cute, distracted and fungal, burned out and playful: this is an inventive and sometimes mischevious media theory that embraces ecology, artifice and delight to propose an art of living with the internet we know today.” –Matthew Fuller, Professor of Cultural Studies, Goldsmiths, University of London This book develops a philosophy of the predominant yet obtrusive aspects of digital culture, arguing that what seems like insignificant distractions of digital technology - such



as video games, mindless browsing, cute animal imagery, political memes, and trolling - are actually keyed into fundamental aspects of evolution. These elements are commonly framed as distractions in an economy of attention and this book approaches them with the prospect of understanding their attraction, from the starting point of diversions. Diversions designate not simply shifting states of attention but characterize the direction of any system ona different course, a theoretical perspective which makes it possible to investigate distractions as not only by-products of contemporary media and human attention. The perspective shifts from distractions as the unwanted and inconsequential to considering instead the function of diversions in the process of evolutionary development. Grounded in media theory but drawing from diverse interdisciplinary perspectives in biology, philosophy, and systems theory, this book provocatively theorizes the process of diversions – of the playful, stupid, cute, and funny – as significant for the evolution of a range of organisms. Andreas Ervik holds a PhD in Media studies from the University of Oslo, Norway. He is an independent researcher and artist.