Let Them Eat Data: How Computers Affect Education, Cultural Diversity, and the Prospects of Ecological Sustainability [Paperback]

C. A. Bowers (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 082032230X | ISBN-13: 978-0820322308 | Publication Date: October 20, 2000

Do computers foster cultural diversity? Ecological sustainability? In our age of high-tech euphoria we seem content to leave tough questions like these to the experts. That dangerous inclination is at the heart of this important examination of the commercial and educational trends that have left us so uncritically optimistic about global computing.

Contrary to the attitudes that have been marketed and taught to us, says C. A. Bowers, the fact is that computers operate on a set of Western cultural assumptions and a market economy that drives consumption. Our indoctrination includes the view of global computing innovations as inevitable and on a par with social progress--a perspective dismayingly suggestive of the mindset that engendered the vast cultural and ecological disruptions of the industrial revolution and world colonialism.

In Let Them Eat Data Bowers discusses important issues that have fallen into the gap between our perceptions and the realities of global computing, including the misuse of the theory of evolution to justify and legitimate the global spread of computers, and the ecological and cultural implications of unmoving knowledge from its local contexts as it is digitized, commodified, and packaged for global consumption. He also suggests ways that educators can help us think more critically about technology.

Let Them Eat Data is essential reading if we are to begin democratizing technological decisions, conserving true cultural diversity and intergenerational forms of knowledge, and living within the limits and possibilities of the earth's natural systems.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Not so fast, says Bowers, who believes that the media's infatuation with computers has blinded us to their negative effect on world cultures and the environment. An educator and author of The Culture of Denial (1997), Bowers asks readers to tune out the hype and focus on the motivations behind and consequences of the spread of computer technology, which he equates with nineteenth-century colonialism. Computers are a product of the Industrial Revolution's mindset, the belief that defines "humans as the dominant species and Nature as an economic resource." This distorted perspective, coupled with the push to computerize every aspect of life, has led to environmental degradation, cultural homogenization, and economic inequities that are now giving globalization a bad name. To compound the problem, our educational system does little to challenge assumptions that value the marketplace and technology more than communities and ecological well-being. Academic in tone but humanistic in content, Bowers' probing and nuanced critique provides a much-needed catalyst for serious debate about the state of the planet now and in the near future. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Bowers provides us with a lucid analysis of how computer-enforced cultural patterns contribute to the global ecological crisis and suggests alternative ways of integrating computers into education. I highly recommend this book to all who are concerned about creating sustainable futures."--Fritjof Capra, author of The Web of Life

"Let Them Eat Data is one of the most substantial and compelling works of technology criticism yet. This book might just rescue education from the moral sterility and ecological illiteracy of cyber-mindedness. A vital read. Pass it on."--Stephanie Mills, author of In Service of the Wild

"Once again, C. A. Bowers has provided an important, profound, and disturbing critique, this time of computer technology. We cannot afford the luxury of ducking the questions and implications he raises because they go to the heart of the cyberworld, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence that are pressing into our lives. Bowers made me ponder what life is all about and why the inevitability and unalloyed benefits of the technology are so uncritically adopted. This book is certain to make tangible the discomfort many feel with new and rapidly changing technology and to infuriate the believers and profitmakers from the same technology.”--David Suzuki

"Bowers's original and highly insightful discussion of the forms of knowledge, relationships, and skills that cannot be communicated through computers alerts us to the dangers of letting technologists determine the future direction of education, communities, and our cultural identities. Parents, citizens, activists, and academics will find Let Them Eat Data a vital antidote to the techno-optimism that now dominates the media and public decision making."--Richard E. Sclove, author of Democracy and Technology

“Bowers' probing and nuanced critique provides a much-needed catalyst for serious debate about the state of the planet now and in the near future."--Booklist

"Essential reading if we are to begin democratizing technological decisions, conserving true cultural diversity and intergenerational forms of knowledge, and living within the limits and possibilities of the Earth's natural systems.”--International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education

“Bowers makes his ideas concrete though a critical analysis of three popular computer programs commonly used in public schools nationwide. . . . In a field where the prevailing attitude toward students is 'let them eat data,' Bowers gives teachers food for thought."--Radical Teacher

"Bowers forcefully dismisses the views of those who claim that talk of an ecological crisis is but a liberal ruse used to control the lives of others. . . . Let Them Eat Data is a welcome relief from the hubris exhibited by such digital devotees as Bill Gates, who unabashedly proclaim computers to be an Open Sesame to a brighter future for all mankind."--Gard Binney, The Ecologist

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: University of Georgia Press (October 20, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 082032230X
• ISBN-13: 978-0820322308
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #938,821 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative, insightful, & thought-provoking, January 23, 2001

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Let Them Eat Data: How Computers Affect Education, Cultural Diversity, and the Prospects of Ecological Sustainability (Paperback)

In Let Them Eat Data: How Computers Affect Education, Cultural Diversity, And The Prospects Of Ecological Sustainability, C.A. Bowers discusses the issues that arise from the gap between common perceptions and the realities of global computing. These issues include the misuse use of the theory of evolution to justify and legitimate the global spread of computers. Bowers also covers the ecological and cultural implications of unmooring knowledge from its local contexts as it is digitized, commodified, and packaged for global consumption. Let Them Eat Data is informative, insightful, thought-provoking, and highly recommended reading for those with an interest in how the computer and the Internet are influencing popular culture, education, as well as creation and dissemination of information.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A social analysis of the computer's effects on life, April 27, 2001

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Let Them Eat Data: How Computers Affect Education, Cultural Diversity, and the Prospects of Ecological Sustainability (Paperback)

How do computers affect such diverse social issues as cultural diversity, educational quality and ecological systems? Let Them Eat Data provides a social analysis of the computer's effects on life, considering how computer-enforced cultural patterns contribute to global ecological problems. A unique, involving probe of some unusual effects of the new computer world.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Extreme, but very interesting and certainly worth reading, September 18, 2005

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Joseph C. Stack - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Let Them Eat Data: How Computers Affect Education, Cultural Diversity, and the Prospects of Ecological Sustainability (Paperback)

I personally do not agree with a lot that Bowers has to say in this book, but it is worth reading to get the "other sides" point of view. If you can wade through all the apocalyptic rantings, he has some very interesting commentary on how computers and science has affected our culture. I only really liked reading chapters 2-4 (out of 6 total I think), but they were certainly worth it. Pick this book up if you have a chance, at the very least it will stimulate you to rethink your own arguement for or against technology.