The Digital Turn

The Digital Turn is an indispensable aid for every twenty-ﬁrst century citizen. It provides a helicopter view of digital media and their impact on our lives. It explains how the ever-growing flood of digital media affects our understanding of the world. The book analyses the world of Twitter, Apple, Facebook and Google and describes how our digitally-enhanced biotope alters our behaviours, social interactions, the economy, and culture as a whole. It explains the mechanisms and consequences of engaging in online spaces and investigates how we can avoid losing grip of our identity, friendship, social engagement, and eventually life at large. The book offers an accessible means for attaining a better understanding of the ways digital media inﬂuence our existence. It is a compact guide to becoming media literate and to preparing us for the advanced digital services that are yet to come.

The Digital Turn. How the Internet Transforms Our Existence
Wim Westera
310 pages
Authorhouse, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4772-5032-7 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4772-5033-4 (e)

Hardcopies and e-books are available on multiple online booksellers, e.g. at Authorhouse UK Online Book Shop, £12.95 ($19.76); E-book version: $3.99 for Kindle, NOOK, iPhone, iPad, Ipod, KOBO eReader, Bluefire, Stanza, Sony eReader, and PDF.

The Digital Turn
Preface Chapter 1 The Unique Collection of Cells We Are How long it took How we made it What is supposed to make us different Chapter 2 How Far We Got The birth of writing Spreading the words Speeding up communication Mediated mind Chapter 3 Our Precious Mind Mind versus body Enhancing our performance The advent of the computer Getting a hold on human cognition The brain as a supercomputer Towards superhuman intelligence Chapter 4 Living with Technologies Our innovation bent Techno-pessimism Unlocking the world Lost in apathy Us and our devices Chapter 5 Conveying Meaning Different roles of media Our unrivalled expressive power The incompatibility of channels Media as self-establishing means of expression The encoding challenge Message distortion Our truncated perception Failing communication Chapter 6 The Mystery of True Knowledge The power of knowledge The nature of knowledge The hidden treasure Limits to truth Media and truth Chapter 7 Getting Wiser Every Minute Our precious memory The mystery of brain functioning Getting it all into our heads The mind as an association machine The mind as an information processor The mind as a subjective truth producer Chapter 8 Media as Cognitive Prostheses Exploiting our environment The boundaries of mind Our cognitive capacity Connecting computers to our nervous system The location of self Chapter 9 The Educational Battlefield The loss of our inquisitive mind The school film fiasco School’s tyranny Conservatism explained The need for reform Chapter 10 The Stories of Media Being fooled by commercials Touched by the screen Modern myths The illusion of reality Chapter 11 The Gossip Revolution The network concept The shared pattern of sharin Exploiting the crowds’ wisdom Who are we? The flawed promise Chapter 12 The Worldwide Online Game What’s in a game? Why we play at all The immersive nature of games The gamification of life The pitfall of realism Chapter 13 The Struggle of Media Research The case of media violence Controlling the uncontrollable Comparing the incomparable Chapter 14 Free Copy Economics The costs of replication The rationale of free online services Digitising business A matter of scale The open everything philosophy Ideals under attack Chapter 15 The Game of Technology Meeting the Internet’s growth Welshing on the rules Securing the Internet’s openness The limits to growth Chapter 16 The Mental Delusions of Media Within or beyond our control Fooled by our brain Fooled by media Fooled by the artificial Chapter 17 Coping with New Realities Drowning in information Recording life Our unconditional friends Imbued with guile Thoughtful but fake conversations Boosting our cognition Preserving our understanding of the world Epilogue Bibliography Index of terms

The Digital Turn

Preface
Chapter 1 The Unique Collection of Cells We Are
How long it took
How we made it
What is supposed to make us different
Chapter 2 How Far We Got
The birth of writing
Spreading the words
Speeding up communication
Mediated mind
Chapter 3 Our Precious Mind
Mind versus body
Enhancing our performance
The advent of the computer
Getting a hold on human cognition
The brain as a supercomputer
Towards superhuman intelligence
Chapter 4 Living with Technologies
Our innovation bent
Techno-pessimism
Unlocking the world
Lost in apathy
Us and our devices
Chapter 5 Conveying Meaning
Different roles of media
Our unrivalled expressive power
The incompatibility of channels
Media as self-establishing means of expression
The encoding challenge
Message distortion
Our truncated perception
Failing communication
Chapter 6 The Mystery of True Knowledge
The power of knowledge
The nature of knowledge
The hidden treasure
Limits to truth
Media and truth
Chapter 7 Getting Wiser Every Minute
Our precious memory
The mystery of brain functioning
Getting it all into our heads
The mind as an association machine
The mind as an information processor
The mind as a subjective truth producer
Chapter 8 Media as Cognitive Prostheses
Exploiting our environment
The boundaries of mind
Our cognitive capacity
Connecting computers to our nervous system
The location of self
Chapter 9 The Educational Battlefield
The loss of our inquisitive mind
The school film fiasco
School’s tyranny
Conservatism explained
The need for reform
Chapter 10 The Stories of Media
Being fooled by commercials
Touched by the screen
Modern myths
The illusion of reality
Chapter 11 The Gossip Revolution
The network concept
The shared pattern of sharin
Exploiting the crowds’ wisdom
Who are we?
The flawed promise
Chapter 12 The Worldwide Online Game
What’s in a game?
Why we play at all
The immersive nature of games
The gamification of life
The pitfall of realism
Chapter 13 The Struggle of Media Research
The case of media violence
Controlling the uncontrollable
Comparing the incomparable
Chapter 14 Free Copy Economics
The costs of replication
The rationale of free online services
Digitising business
A matter of scale
The open everything philosophy
Ideals under attack
Chapter 15 The Game of Technology
Meeting the Internet’s growth
Welshing on the rules
Securing the Internet’s openness
The limits to growth
Chapter 16 The Mental Delusions of Media
Within or beyond our control
Fooled by our brain
Fooled by media
Fooled by the artificial
Chapter 17 Coping with New Realities
Drowning in information
Recording life
Our unconditional friends
Imbued with guile
Thoughtful but fake conversations
Boosting our cognition
Preserving our understanding of the world
Epilogue
Bibliography
Index of terms

The Digital Turn

Table of contents