Hi Peter, I don't know about research specific to your question, but the philosophers may offer a place to start. Heiddeger is certainly pertinent with specific references to technology (though the relevancy to digital technologies needs to be handled carefully). Marshal McLuhan discusses electronic media as an attack for which society must become prepared. On another track, Guy Debord and Jean Baudrillard about the the place of images and their manipulation/decomposition by power factors (specifically, capitalism). They discuss effects of social-spiritual debilitation and degradation of reality and reality perception and meaning in general. Slavoj Zizek's The Cyberspace Real might be relevant for you: http://www.egs.edu/faculty/zizek/zizek-the-cyberspace-real.html. I'd join with the other responses here to note that suggesting a causal connection between computers and torture is problematic. It would probably serve you better to look at the larger picture of social and cultural trends to see in what way the development of technology interacts with - rather than causes - such phenomena. And further, to keep in mind that such effects are not going to be limited to destructive potential - although the means in which the positive comes through the negative can be complex and not at all obvious. Most contemporary media/technology philosophers are supremely pessimistic. But this may be changing. A nice quote from Heidegger in this respect: But where danger is, grows The saving power also. My personal interest is in the other side of the coin, and how the self has co-evolved with technology to become a structure that is capable of being traumatized. With respect to your question - the phenomena of dissociation that is fundamental to trauma is also fundamental to traumatizing. The ability of one human being to perpetrate horrors on another is not a natural given. Psychological research has been done on sexual perpetrators, for example, showing them to have significant levels of dissociation. Questions of development of self, society, culture and technology cannot ultimately be separated from each other. Heidegger, Martin. 1953. The Question Concerning Technology. In: The Question Concerning Technology and Other Essays. Summary: http://www.beloit.edu/~philorel/faculty/davidvessey/Heidegger22702.html Some work based on Heidegger: http://www.webcom.com/~paf/hlinks/techlinks.html Debord, Guy. 1995/1967. The Society of the Spectacle, Zone Books. Jean Baudrillard: http://www.uta.edu/english/apt/collab/baudweb.html Slavoj Zizek: http://www.egs.edu/faculty/slavojzizek.html Good luck in staying linear ;) Heidi
-----Original Message----- From: Peter T. [mailto:ptimusk@sympatico.ca] Sent: Sunday, May 29, 2005 7:41 PM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org; aoir list Subject: [Air-l] the developed world's torture
Has anyone done any research on the increase in inhumanity because of the rise of the computer? Suggesting as I do that every developed nation has torture how does IT fit this picture. Is there an increase in police brutality lately? Can domestic torture be linked to a so called information revolution?
Video games that are violent are the only likely suspects I can think of.
Peter Timusk B.Math Just trying to stay linear www.crystalcomputing.net >blog> http://logbook.crystalcomputing.net www.webpagex.org >blog> http://notebook.webpagex.org
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