Author Question: Discuss the ways in which high technology and the information explosion have influenced late ... (Read 65 times)

nelaaney · **on:** Sep 28, 2018

Discuss the ways in which high technology and the information explosion have influenced late twentieth and early twenty-first-century culture.

What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

A classic kind of total art, ________, was pioneered by the American artist Allan Kaprow (19272006). Kaprow, who coined the name for this conceptual genre, called it a performance that occurs in a given time and space.

A. the Happening
B. the Be-in
C. performance art
D. total art

nyrave · **Reply #1 on:** Sep 28, 2018

Answer to Question 1

The information explosion had massive effects on the culture of the late twentieth-century. Television and computersthe primary vehicles of the information explosionhave altered almost every aspect of life in our time. Both of these technologies have allowed for instant access to extreme amounts of information. Computer technology, in particular, accelerated the process of information production, storage, and retrieval. Virtually unlimited amounts of information are available in various data banks, united by the World Wide Web and accessed by way of a series of interconnected computer networks known as the Internet. Out of this global digital infrastructure, companies such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter, have created online social networking sites through which billions of people receive news and other information. These sites also collect data on each unique user, selling that information to advertisers or providing it to government agencies.
In many ways, access to vast amounts of knowledge has created an extremely literate and educated society. People can research almost any topic they wish at a moment's notice. On the negative side, large portals, such as Google or Facebook, serve as gateways and are thus responsible for what the masses see. This phenomenon creates what sociologist Jacques Ellul calls a psychological collectivism that robs human beings of freedom and self-esteem. Further, the availability of personal data raises complex cultural issues that have drawn the attention of those concerned with the right to privacy.

Answer to Question 2

A