The Cult of Information: A Neo-Luddite Treatise on High-Tech, Artificial Intelligence, and the True Art of Thinking [Paperback]

Theodore Roszak (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0520085841 | ISBN-13: 978-0520085848 | Publication Date: April 29, 1994 | Edition: 3rd

As we devote ever-increasing resources to providing, or prohibiting, access to information via computer, Theodore Roszak reminds us that voluminous information does not necessarily lead to sound thinking. "Data glut" obscures basic questions of justice and purpose and may even hinder rather than enhance our productivity.
In this revised and updated edition of The Cult of Information, Roszak reviews the disruptive role the computer has come to play in international finance and the way in which "edutainment" software and computer games degrade the literacy of children. At the same time, he finds hopeful new ways in which the library and free citizens' access to the Internet and the national data-highway can turn computer technology into a democratic and liberating force. Roszak's examination of the place of computer technology in our culture is essential reading for all those who use computers, who are intimidated by computers, or who are concerned with the appropriate role of computers in the education of our children.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The title notwithstanding, Theodore Roszak is no computer hater. But in an age that idolizes intelligent machines, he stands out as a rare cautionary voice. His book makes an eloquent case for a simple thesis: digital computing, far from being a panacea, has created as many problems as it solves. For Roszak, a fair measure of the fault lies with corporate hucksterism, a credulous educational establishment, and government's desire to control information. But the deeper worry is our own utopian techno-idealism--the belief that a scientific broom can sweep away our messy problems. The author challenges such computer messianism with a detailed, common-sense look at the history of what computing has actually brought us. The trends he sees--the conflation of data with knowledge, the erosion of human-centered values, and the rise of a digital oligarchy at just about everyone else's expense--are tough to deny. If you love computers, The Cult of Information is a provocative read, but one you shouldn't dodge.

Review

"An important analysis of the interplay between science and technology on the one hand, and the affairs of living beings on the other. Information technology is a good vehicle for the argument." -- Igor Aleksander, Nature

"The facts and ideas contained in this book may be ignored only at our peril." -- Philip Davies Roberts, Times Higher Education Supplement

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Product Details

• Paperback: 267 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 3rd edition (April 29, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520085841
• ISBN-13: 978-0520085848
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #699,011 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Theodore Roszak (1933-2011) was the author of fifteen books, including the 1969 classic "The Making of a Counter Culture." He was professor emeritus of history at California State University, and lived in Berkeley, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Full-Broadsided Body Punch To Conventional Wisdom!, May 29, 2000

By 

Barron Laycock "Labradorman" (Temple, New Hampshire United States) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Cult of Information: A Neo-Luddite Treatise on High-Tech, Artificial Intelligence, and the True Art of Thinking (Paperback)

This book is a thoughtful and thought-provoking examination of both the meaning of and the consequences associated with the rising computer information cult within contemporary society. Roszak is a skilled writer and an even more perceptive thinker. He quickly disposes of the contemporary idea equating data or information, on the one hand, with knowledge and wisdom, on the other hand. He despairs of the notion that technological progress is an unalloyed blessing, and provides a lot of supporting documentation illustrating that for all those capabilities we gain through the use of digital technology, for example, we also lose important capabilities and perspectives.

According to Roszak, we have now come to almost rely on exclusively rational,"logical", and quantifiable methods of understanding everything around us, often to the detriment of ignoring more traditional and time-honored methods of knowing. This, in turn, leads to a very narrow perspective of how it is that the world operates, one devoid of anything not quantitative, anything comprised of more "qualitative" means of observation. Thus, to the digitally oriented logical and rational mind, anything not disposed to undertanding through calculation and the scientific method simply is not real. Furthermore, he shows us, such digital computing techniques creates as many problems as it solves.

He fears for good reason that we are falling into a hyperbolized and superficial culture where we have come to completely depend on scientific rationalism as it is depicted by the media, and that this creates a conundrum we cannot escape from, since many of the problems associated with modern society stem from this increasingly exlusively scientific and rational approach toward problem-solving.

As with other contemporary critics of the new Digital Intelligence cult like social critic Neil Postman, Roszak argues for a more comprehensive perspective , one that places the tools of computer technology at the behest of a more broad-based intelligence, one that recognizes that there is a whole range of ways of knowing and understanding that those contained in programming code. This is a provocative and thought-indicing book. I enjoyed and learned from it, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys watching a superior intellect at work, and who also appreciated the thread of a finely-hewn intellectual argument. Enjoy!

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Highly informative and intelligently written, December 5, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Cult of Information: A Neo-Luddite Treatise on High-Tech, Artificial Intelligence, and the True Art of Thinking (Paperback)

Mr. Roszak does a fine job in this book of showing the problems with the cult of information/computers. He points out the many fine things they do and how those are ignored in favor of the hyperbole favored by the computer fanatics. He has obviously studied the topic in depth and shows all the flawed projections, assumptions and ideas of the Minskys of the world. His book is especially useful at refuting claims about AI and showing where abuses can occur with the system. His questioning about the use of computers in schools is very relevant and very well thought-out. His history of the computer itself is also interesting, something rarely covered in other sources. The only complaint I had with the book was that it is fairly dated - he did little revision of the 1986 edition and there are points where this is obvious. His point though is as relevant as it was when the book first arrived 22 years ago and very few of his ideas have been proven wrong - on the other hand the AI-hypers look sillier and sillier. Definitely worth reading.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Data, data everywhere and not a thought to think", September 13, 1998

By 

[e-mail] Victoria T. (phx, az) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cult of Information: A Neo-Luddite Treatise on High-Tech, Artificial Intelligence, and the True Art of Thinking (Paperback)

I enjoyed the book and welcomed the thoughts of the author concerning the limitations and dangers of allowing the computer to become the important locater of "knowledge". Unfortunately, one of our main concerns today is that many people don't know how to think, or don't like to think and prefer to believe they are thinking. Maybe computer data will be likened to "it must be true fact because it was in Reader's Digest". This book should be included in computer courses to allow each mind to dwell on "thoughts" and recognize them. A quote I loved, "Human memory is the self portrait we paint from all we have experienced".