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Category Archives: technoscience
Flesh Machine in the 21st century
Critical Art Ensemble wrote a book that massively impressed me, back in the day. In “Flesh Machine” (1998) they pointed out that there were three overlapping sets of technologies around being able to see things (vision machine), modify bodies (flesh … Continue reading
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The Panopticon, the Panspectron – look at Gaza and see how the world will be…
Have just read a fascinating and terrifying academic article called “The Gaza Strip as Panopticon and Panspectron: The Disciplining and Punishing of a Society.” [pdf] It’s by Michael Dahan (PhD) of Sapir College, Israel. The take home is that Gaza … Continue reading
Posted in activism, apocalypse, bureaucracy, climate, death, economics, fear, politics, technoscience
Tagged Deleuze, Michael Dahan, Michel Foucault, panopticon, panspectron, participatory surveillance, surveillance
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Nazis, space shuttles and the end of things
Narratives of decline and imminent ‘apocalypse’ (meaning ‘the revealing of the truth’) are, of course, as old as the hills. Spengler wasn’t the guy who invented them. So, at the gym, on the stepper, reading an issue of “London Review … Continue reading
With our X-ray specs, we see what we want…
Scientists can be just as myopic. In 1956, the Oxford-based epidemiologist Alice Stewart demonstrated, with startling data, that the chances of childhood cancer were vastly increased by X-raying pregnant mothers. At the time, these cancers were killing one child every … Continue reading
You Must Read This: The Slippery Slope of Oil Addiction
Via Sharon Ede, writing over at Post-Growth This guy (26 years old??!!) absolutely nails it. The whole piece is brilliant. This leapt out for me; Based on my experience, what I learned was that the global system of infinite growth … Continue reading
Posted in apocalypse, economics, fear, technoscience
Tagged Lee Brain, Oil Addiction, Sharon Ede
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Nulture; butterflies, watches and amputees
Using images to make (spurious) arguments; that is to say, putting the “con” back into icon…. Our techno-kit is as beautiful, intricate and as “natural” as nature #1 Our techno-kit is as beautiful, intricate and as “natural” as nature #2 … Continue reading
The control room of the future? Man and dog
The machine softly hums. A man and a dog are in the room. The man is there… to feed the dog. The dog is there … to bite the man if he tries to touch the machine. Hat-tip to Sarah. … Continue reading
Film Review: Contagion
SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT. I don’t just tell you that Gwyneth Paltrow dies very early in the film (an encouraging trend, to be sure) but EVERY OTHER THING THAT HAPPENS. This Stephen Soderbergh film (him from “Sex, Lies and Videotape, … Continue reading
Rats pass Voight-Kampff test. And humans??
Seems the crude “social Darwinist” (1)stories about animals lacking empathy is a load of crap. And boffins have proved it with an experiment involving rats that consistently help fellow trapped rats. At this juncture, I can only propose we dig … Continue reading
Posted in natural world, science, technoscience
Tagged BF Skinner, Macaques, nulture, solidarity, Voigt-Kampff test
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Abuse screws the brain. Who knew?
Yes, fMRI gets called the new phrenology. And yes, I’m confirmation biasing here – the idea that kids who’ve been abused have brains like soldiers after wars (all hyper-vigilance and threat perception) is (too?) obvious to me. From Wired The … Continue reading
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