Reckoning with technology means reckoning with the fact that we no longer can rely on authority figures and moral templates to define the boundaries of our experiences. We must navigate our own path through the newfound cultural space, and this means trusting in our own ability to act appropriately in new situations.
Predictor: Rushkoff, Douglas
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 essay for New Perspectives Quarterly titled “Coral Reef Culture,” Douglas Rushkoff writes: ”Our televisions and computers give us unprecedented access to information and other human beings. As individuals – thanks to the global media, the Internet and satellite communications – we have finally come to the moment in human cultural history when each one of us, quite literally, has the whole world in his or her hands (or computer screen) and we know for whom this privilege has been reserved: God Himself. Reckoning with technology means reckoning with the fact that we no longer can rely on authority figures and moral templates to define the boundaries of our experiences. We must navigate our own path through the newfound cultural space, and this means trusting in our own ability to act appropriately in new situations.”
Biography:Douglas Rushkoff, an author, social theorist, journalist and software developer, wrote the book “Cyberia: Life in the Trenches of Hyperspace,” (Harper San Francisco, 1994) a best-selling portrait of the 1990s cyberculture. He edited “The Gen X Reader” (Ballantine, 1994), a collection of writings by the elusive, media-wary “slacker” generation. He also wrote “Media Virus! Hidden Agendas in Popular Culture” (Ballantine, 1994). In the 1990s, he regularly contributed features about pop-culture, media and technology to magazines. (Author/Editor/Journalist.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Community/Culture
Subtopic: Ethics/Values
Name of publication: New Perspectives Quarterly
Title, headline, chapter name: Coral Reef Culture
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Vol. 12, Issue 4, Page 28 ISSN: 08937850
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Stewart, Ben L.