Toward a New Future of “Whatever”
Jul 17th, 2009 by Prof Wesch
Here is the video from my recent talk at the Personal Democracy Forum at Jazz at Lincoln Center. About 10 minutes of it is a minor update (rehash) of An Anthropological Introduction to YouTube, but the rest is new. The gathering may have been the highest concentration of amazingly creative and concerned global citizens I have ever been around. Hallway conversations were different than your typical conversations. Instead of lots of people saying, “You know, somebody should … ” there were lots of people saying, “So I did this, this, and this, and now I’m working on doing this, this, and this and we should collaborate … ” In other words, it was a bunch of people blessed with what I once heard Yochai Benkler and Henry Jenkins call “critical optimism.” Nobody there was blindly optimistic, thinking technology was going to make everything better. They were all continually trying to figure out where we are, where we might be going, and the possible downsides and dangers of new technologies so we can use the new technologies to serve human purposes. In other words, it was my kind of crowd.
Congratulations! What a great combination of entertainment and enlightenment. I enjoyed your presentation very much.
Great presentation! So many fresh insights are revealed here and I want to share it with others in my social networks. But I can’t find the social bookmarks…Thanks a lot!
I really enjoyed this presentation a lot when I was up at PDF. I was a philosophy major in college, so I loved that you used Taylor’s book - I used to quote it in papers, and it even made its way into my thesis. Overall, I thought it was the best presentation of the conference.
I did have one issue with it though - the generational theory you presented, presumably from “Generation Me,” is pretty faulty. I recommend “Millennial Makeover” as a corrective - in addition to making it more accurate, I think this will actually fit better with the arc of the story you tell. Of course, as a Millennial myself I may be biased, but I know the authors and they really know their stuff.
Thanks again for the presentation, and I’m glad the video’s up - I’ll pass it around.
-Dan
Mike,
As always, another great presentation. Being a good Kansas boy I must thank you for single-handedly making Kansas the coolest state in the union. But then again, I’m not really one to judge “cool”.
The question/thought that I would be interested in your thoughts on is how faith/religion/spirituality plays into this new culture, is shaped by technology, shapes the technological landscape, and is dealt with in general by these new online social worlds.
The reason that I ask is that I am a pastor working in south central Kansas. The last couple of years I have been involved in some rather pointed discussions relating to the intersection of faith and technology, primarily the effect of the latter on the former. We’ve primarily engaged the work of Albert Borgmann but have also done work with the field in general. There is more to be said, but that might be saved for a later discussion.
On observation that I would add to the larger discussion is the impact of social media on the culture of rural communities. On one hand, many are still quite traditional and, quite frankly, isolated from the “outside” world. On the other hand, the internet is providing ways for people to interact with the “outside” world in very immediate ways. Perhaps this is one of the side effects of context collapse. In anycase, it’s creating some very interesting situations in which worldviews that typically have stayed relatively separate are colliding in sometimes significant ways.
alan
Thanks Michael. A thoughtful presentation. I’m going to show it to my students this fall. I was interested in your use of the concept of “whatever,” particularly in the context of identity. Giorgio Agamben’s The Coming Community takes up the idea of whatever in a complex way that is related to what you’re going here. You might find it useful.
@ Alex Reid - Agreed. Agamben hints at this idea at the end of Homo Sacer as well, though just very briefly. I think he’s talking about “whatever” in a somewhat different way than Michael invokes at the end of the talk, but the idea of “whatever” as a response to biopolitical control and fragmentation is definitely relevant.
Another exciting and interesting video. Thank you and thanks for the introduction to Neil Postman.
@Alex and Dan, Thanks for the tip. I’ll pick up Agamben asap. I read a bit online and think his ideas of “whatever being” may a great way to merge the “whatever” pieces of this piece with the more phenomenological self-awareness pieces. I’m excited to read more.
@Alan, that’s where I’m hoping to go with this in the Fall since I will be teaching Religion In Culture. I’m especially interested in working with my students to study religious change as a change in the cultural perceptions or personal understandings of the self and its relation to the divine/sacred (however that might be conceptualized across different cultures). We’ll spend most of the semester digging into the past and other cultures, but our final project will be focused on contemporary Kansas, probably using college students as the core study population (maybe even using each other as the core population so we can always have easy access to our research subjects). Let me know if you have any ideas about what we should read or a particular direction you think we should consider taking this.
Very nice. I’ll be sharing this with my high school students to get their responses. We did an activity in my class fashioned after the thought experiments on http://www.signtific.org/ where students would imagine and discuss the positive outcomes and the dark outcomes of a particular technology. It was a great project. I can see this topic being discussed in the same way. Thank you for your work.
Interesting combination of amusing, touching, and deep.
For one thing, it’s a more insightful use of McLuhan than most of what I’ve seen in the past fifteen years, providing some context for the buzzphrases.
And it addresses quite directly a perceived need (across “generations”) to get involved in social change.
A few years ago, there was an interesting discussion about individualism and solidarity among younger people in a Télé-Québec show called «Méchant contraste». Some scholars were comparing the brand political engagement by young Québécois to that of their Baby Boomer parents. The individualistic tendency of current youths was acknowledged but it was also associated with a relatively new form of solidarity. Something of the opposite of the flock mentality. This show was produced a relatively short time after a major student strike.
In a way, the move from representative democracy to participatory democracy goes hand-in-hand with the move from large group identity (the “tribe,” the “Nation,” the “generation,” the “party”…) to more self-focused identities. According to several models, the disengagement most people notice has to do with formal political institutions of representative democracy, not with disengagement from social politics.
As Vernon Bogdanor has it: “the age of the mass political party is over”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00kpw9j#synopsis
Teenagers and young adults may be at the forefront of this move away from the institutions of the nationalist era, but the change is probably deeper than a mere generation gap.
I enjoyed both your Introduction to You Tube presentation and The Machine Us video. I may share both with faculty at my high school in KC. As a school administrator it still amazes me how often technology is limited in the educational learning environment. You are one of the most technologically advanced educators at the post-secondary level that I have met in all my years as a student. Keep up the good work!
@Prof Wesch
In terms the shifting nature of the church (this is specifically related to Christianity, although flows out into other religions as well) there is a lot of discussion about large scale sweeping shifts, specifically relating to post-modernity. (I realize that that’s a bit of a complicated term but it’ll have to do for now). It’s mostly related to the breakdown of absolute Truth (capital T) into relative truth. There is a fair bit up upheaval and change going on in most denominations regarding this cultural shift. Phylis Tickle has a good concise overview of the 500 year cycle that the church is undergoing in “The Great Emergence”. I would tie the emergence of post-modernity, or at least the speed up of it in recent years, to the advent of communication technology. In the same way that Modernity (foundationalism and objectivity, primarily) were made possible by the printing press, the awareness of the relative nature of our cultures of origin brought on by mass communication technology has allowed for the rise of relativism. Within the N. American Christian world there are some interesting responses to post-modernity. The two most interesting to me are the Emergent Church and New Monasticism. Both kinds of renewal movements but New Monasticism would be more critical of the push of technology that the EC would be. Tony Jones, Brian McLaren, Stuart Murray would all provide some interesting stuff to look at, at least from a Christian perspective.
Connection to others who are different than us brings about both a critical view of our own culture of origin but also allows for blending and mashing of belief systems. The form of technology (youtube and other sites) still has simultaneous connecting and individualizing effects that you’ve dealt with before. Religiously, this allows for people to connect like never before but still remain at a distance. Some denominations (Mennonites, Amish, Church of the Brethren and other Anabaptists) hold a very high view of the gathered body of believers, not only for worship but also for accountability to each other. The distance that online media creates complicates the ability for individual believers to be in true community. My critique is that while churches with a low level of commitment have existed for a while, the digital form has given rise to things like multi-site churches where the preacher is piped in via video to multiple locations and people gathering in second life to watch video from a real life live service being piped into second life. It brings up questions like, what does digital communion mean, what does it mean to spend time in a monastery in Second Life, and what is the connection between the physical body and the experience of God and how does context collapse effect it? It would also be worth asking the question of how certain versions of theology are reinforced by certain cultural shifts. There are some denominations that have always had a very individualistic understanding of theology and faith, but how does the individualistic nature of social media fuel that particular theological understanding?
In terms of the impact of the internet on rural life, I think the most important thing to look at is context collapse. What does it mean for young people to suddenly have access to ideas and people who may often expose them to radically different ideas than the often closed communities that they inhabit?
Other resources… Albert Borgmann has been influential in my thought in the last couple of years. The book “Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life” is the core of his work. Most everything else builds off of that. While he names a lot of the issues, he also starts to provide a critique and possible ways to resist the flow of technology. You might have already engaged some of his stuff though.
So those are my two cents. I would love to talk with you more sometime. I might even be able to come up your way if you’re interested. (digital contact is do-able, but I still prefer face to face) I’ve used a fair bit of religious language up above, which I’m perfectly willing to acknowledge is relative to my perspective both as a Christian and an Anabaptist, but I hope it was helpful anyway. I also have more thoughts on post-modernity, specifically in that the absolute relativism that has come to be known as “post-modern” really is more “hyper-modern”. True post-modernity is more about recognizing the relativism but still trying to build some larger meaning out of it. Anyway, I hope that helps. Since you’re the admin on this blog, hopefully you’ve got access to my email, if not let me know.
Alan Stucky
Fascinating stuff, Alan. I have become increasingly interested in the emerging church lately, especially as it has become more controversial with a wider number of people. It seems to put a name to the type of Christianity I see more and more of here on campus, though I don’t think very many students use (or even know) the term “emerging.” There also seems to be a backlash in the works (see “Why we’re not emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be”). I have not read Borgmann, but I’ll read some of his stuff soon. You have certainly named many of the issues we would like to address in our study this semester. I’ll try to keep you posted as the semester proceeds.
Hi Mike.
That was really good presentation (both form & content). I usually don’t watch anything over 3 minutes on YouTube, and I watched the whole thing.
Is it time to write OH WHAT ANOTHER BLOW…?
I went back to the village in Nepal this Spring, showed HIMALAYAN HERDERS again, and we tried to deal with leaving photo collections in the village. Everyone said to put them on the web. A week after I got home, I found all of HIMALAYAN HERDERS on YouTube (in 8 parts) put up by a villager. It was irritating at first, since I still have a basement full of DVDs, but his “about” paragraph said it was a really important film about the true way the village used to be. And i thought- what better compliment for an ethnographic film that to be pirated by the subjects of the film.
all the best
John Bishop
Hi John,
Yes, I have been thinking of writing something like Oh what another blow …
It is great to see Himalayan Herders up on YouTube, and great that a villager posted it originally. I’m sure many of my students (and other students around the world) will be finding it and using it now that it is more readily available.
Thanks for stopping by our little corner of the web!
~ Mike
I have to say, every time I hear some pundit gushing about the latest in “social networking” sites, my gut reaction is, “Who cares?” Then I watch one of your talks or videos and say, “Oh, that’s why people do this stuff.” It very nearly inspires me to put up my vlog about “nothing” because there might be the remote chance that what I have to say could resonate with someone. Because the answer to “Why?” is “Why not?”
Something else I think you might enjoy, because it ties into using the Web as a “human” place for coming together, is the Playing For Change project (http://www.playingforchange.com). Being a musician, this resonated very strongly with me. Every couple of weeks they publish a new video, and now have a touring group featuring some of the musicians.
Thanks for your continued insight into the wild and wooly web.
Seth
Mike, I rediscovered your work at the perfect time, right when I have decided to have a go at being more active online
I have a question for you. Is the phenomenon of “context collapse” more pronounced for vlogs than for other forms of social media? Because it seems to me that there is a much bigger difference between talking to your computer in a room by yourself and talking on a phone or face to face versus writing an email or a letter and maintaining a blog. In other words, the loss of context is so much more important for speech than it is for written text. People have kept journals and diaries for centuries. But it is (generally speaking) the eccentric who regularly talk to their mirror.
Thanks for sharing your work!
Cheers,
-jeff
Congratulations Michael!
We love your speechs and videos about internet community. They are optimistic and enlightening.
Best from Barcelona (Spain)
Jorge Raedo
“What is Architecture?”
Awesome presentation and I forwarded along the link to your site to a number of friends.
I’m curious as to whether it was a conscious or unconscious occurrence on your part that the presentation contains a very limited amount of non-European/Anglican faces, voices, or hands?
While your pool of students to choose from may be limited by a variety of factors, Youtube and certainly the internet is not. Even in MadV’s clips, there were seemingly few diverse ‘hands’ for such a worldly message.
Would we say then that digital ethnography is as representative of ‘world wide web’ culture as we think? Or does it represent, perhaps reinforce, the increasing division of wealth (and thus resources) in the world? Do we see this changing anytime soon?
I was at your talk at EdUI 2009 and when you touched about this subject all i could think of is this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz7_3n7xyDg
this was really popular when it came out overseas, not sure if it was known in the US or not (wasn’t here at the time).
just thought i would share
It`s great, thank you !!
I stand here today humbled by the task before dofus kamas, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our cheap dofus kamas. I thank President dofus for his service to buy dofus kamas, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.
Dear Mike,
I have thoroughly enjoyed much of what you have posted up on this site. If I had plans to go to K-State I would most certainly look into joining your class. It is a shame that this course is not offered at other schools as well.
Having looked at much of your material, I am now finding myself wondering if I should create a Vlog myself. It would be an interesting experiment, as all of your students have discovered. It is an intriguing subject matter that you teach. There are so many changes, some are easy to see, many are not easy to see. Some are good, some are bad, others are indifferent. Sometimes I find that I challenge myself with trying to incorporate only the good changes into my life while avoiding the negative changes. I don’t want to loose my real life to the virtual life, yet I also want, and frankly need, the benefits of using the internet and several of it’s various functions.
I look forward to your future works with great anticipation.
Hey mike,
just curious is how the semesters class on religions and the internet is going. Hope all is well.
Alan Stucky
Interesting presentation. Mander’s classic “Four Arguments For The Elimination of Television” springs to mind, which as I recall re-minds us that questions about technology are only truly asked & answerable outside technology itself. (But where is ‘outside’ - the Matrix? - to be found today?)
As Audre Lorde correctly states, “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” The thing is though, perhaps the ‘master’ is and always was the ‘final illusion’ at the unhappy & aggressive heart of all our worldly suffering - the ‘Self’.. an intrinsically Malignant User Illusion..
-Why is it I can never seem to ’switch off’ or ‘unplug’… is it perhaps that this would eventually (that is, from the very outset) imply switching off ‘Self’ itself??
That is: “Internet” as (troubled, networking-process) metaphor for “Me”.
Feeling cool & philosophical, with just a dash of ontological
Henry Swanson
Check it out: “Technological evolution is leading to something new: a worldwide, interlocked, monolithic, technical-political web of unprecedented negative proportions” - Jerry Mander
Hello,
I would like to congratulate you on preparing an outstanding presentation and sharing it here. It is informative, and entertaining and I have never seen such a brilliant effort on internet community.
Hi,
Chris, I would like to add a few words to your comment. The presentation is splendid and I love the idea because it’s a complete package of learning.
Hi Mike, I really enjoyed your presentation. Excellent style.
As an artist who works with engagement + is interested in social inclusion and social capital it has given me great food for thought.
Your talk throws the context of all this Web 2 communication into sharp relief for me. How is this new language and communication experienced and developed culturally not just for commerce and entertainment but for improving the quality of our lives.
Web 2.0 creates new platforms for open innovation + creativity + self expression + marketing. But will it translate into more?
Then and only then will we stop amusing ourselves to death and activate our personal power.
I will be sharing the video with others and I am looking forward to discovering more about your work. Thanks. Regards Roisin
This video is definitely inspired by yours
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KThyfeV01X4
It worked for me, I definitely have more insights about myself. Hope that my students in Spring Semester will get to view this. Thanks
Que buena conferencia, le dan a uno ganas de seguir profundizando en el tema de la etnografía digital y tiene partes esperanzadoras de que a traves de lo digital todavia queda mucha humanidad.
No soy muy buena escribiendo en ingles, pero hice mi mejor esfuerzo para entender todo lo dicho, incluso recurri a traducir ciertas frases que no entendia.
Muchas gracias por su información
that’s exactly the way of the US culture, just careless and pointless entertainment is the new god, that’s why US would wither away while Europe and China would continue the technology and science of the new world