Babel and Babble in Benjamin and Burke

Drawing on the works of Walter Benjamin and Kenneth Burke, this essay argues that the philosophical conditions and conclusions of rhetoric and translation are the same: both trace their origins to the primal fall of language, whether after the Fall from Eden or the curse of Babel, and both find their horizons in an ultimate linguistic motive that, oddly enough, typifies ordinary language use

“O que você diz de toda a minha falácia está errado”: sobre o determinismo tecnológico

O ensaio reflete sobre o chamado determismo tecnológico, discutindo-o como uma “falácia” e um termo pejorativo utilizado por acadêmicos para criticarem seus adversários. Mostra as origens intelectuais do conceito e seus desenvolvimentos, concluindo que, no momento atual, continuar a denúncia do determinismo tecnológico é arriscar-se a cometer um erro mais grave do que dar agência a dispositivos – o de desistir da crítica. Num momento em que o significado das técnicas é, indiscutivelmente, uma das questões mais essenciais enfrentada pela humanidade, é importante fazer questionamentos sobre a tecnologia e seu papel histórico. Essa temática é particularmente importante para o campo de estudos de mídia, pois se explicações cuidadosas do papel decisivo da mediação tecnológica são descartadas, a razão de ser do campo é prejudicada.The essay reflects on the so-called technological determinism, discussing it as a “fallacy” and a pejorative word used by academics to criticize their opponents. It shows the intellectual origins of the concept and its developments, concluding that, at the present time, continuing the denunciation of technological determinism is to risk committing a more serious error than giving agency to devices – or to give up criticism. At a time when the meaning of technology is undoubtedly one of the most essential issues facing humanity, it is important to question technology and its historical role. This theme is particularly important for the field of media studies, because if careful explanations of the decisive role of technological mediation are discarded, the raison d’être of the field is impaired

Action at a Distance

The mediality of transmission and the materiality of communication result today more than ever in "acting at a distance" - an action whose agency lies in a medium. This book provides an overview into this crucial phenomenon, thereby introducing urgent questions of human interaction, the binding and breaking of time and space, and the entanglement of the material and the immaterial. Three vivid inquiries deal with histories and theories of mediality and materiality

La libertad de expresión en el mercado de las ideas

El ensayo presenta una reflexión histórica y critica de las premisas teóricas y culturales del principio clave del liberalismo, la libertad de expresión, de sus desarrollos y de los retos actuales que lo desafían. A partir de la exposición de los tres elementos principales (una creencia en el carácter sagrado de la vocación de la prensa y de la comunicación en general como vehículo para la iluminación pública; una visión estoica y humanista de la mente humana y de los deberes del ciudadano, y una filosofía de la historia según la cual finalmente el error conducirá a la verdad y el mal producirá el bien), el autor expone los problemas que considera decisivos en el próximo futuro: el olvido de la antigüedad clásica y de la noción elegante del ciudadano-soldado (ligado a la decadencia de la cultura de la imprenta); la pérdida de confianza en el progreso moral; la globalización; la transformación de la infraestructura de los medios y de la comunicación; el resurgir de la religión.The article presents a historical and critical reflection of the theoretical and cultural premises of the key principle of liberalism, freedom of expression, its developments and the current challenges that challenge it. From the exposition of the three main elements (a belief in the sacredness of the vocation of the press and of communication in general as a vehicle for public enlightenment, a stoic and humanist vision of the human mind and the duties of the citizen, and a philosophy of history according to which the error will eventually lead to truth and evil will produce good), the author exposes the problems he considers decisive in the near future: forgetting classical antiquity and the elegant notion of the citizen-soldier (linked to the decadence of the culture of the printing press); loss of confidence in moral progress; the globalization; the transformation of media infrastructure and communication; the resurgence of religion

The reality of construction

Stemming from a reflexion on the distrust or denigration of images that characterizes many philosophical or religious doctrines, from Moses' and Plato's condemnations, to empirist doctrines (Bacon, Locke, Hobbes, Hume), this paper proposes a general theoretical argument about the nature of communication and discourse about it. The argument is motivated by some issues in media studies, but is not limited to them. In fact, we suggest that the media, rather than ruining communication (via the manipulation of images), reveal something profound about communication that was easier to leave implicit in earlier times. Thus they reactivate some of the fears that were present in various iconodastic traditions. What is being revealed is closely related to the well-known thesis of the social construction of reality. Our argument, here, is that this constructed character does not entail any need for generalized scepticism, and does not call for a hermeneutics of suspicion intent on unmasking manipulation or artifice. In fact, the social constructedness of social phenomena is in no way antithetic to their reality. If one recognizes that there is a "construction of reality", one can recognize as well that there is a reality to the construction, and finally admit with Lewis Mumford that... "all that can be called 'real' is the outcome of a multitude of sustained transactions and interrelations between the human organism and the environment".A partir d'une réflexion sur la méfiance ou la réprobation à l'égard des images que manifestent plusieurs traditions philosophiques ou religieuse, notamment la Loi mosaïque, la théorie platonicienne, et la tradition des empiristes anglais Bacon, Locke, Hobbes, Hume, cet article propose une analyse plus générale de la nature de la communication et des discours qui s'y rapportent. Cette analyse s'appuie sur quelques exemples empruntés au domaine des médias, mais elle ne porte pas exclusivement sur ce domaine. Elle vise à démontrer que la production d'images à laquelle se livrent les médias, loin d'éliminer la possibilité d'une communication véritable, révèle en fait certaines des caractéristiques propres à toute communication. Ces caractéristiques étaient longtemps restées implicites. Avec l'événement des médias, elles émergent au grand jour, réactivant les craintes qui sous-tendent les grandes traditions iconoclastes. Ces caractéristiques renvoient à la thèse bien connue d'une construction sociale de la réalité. La position défendue ici est que, loin de devoir mener à un scepticisme généralisé, ou à une herméneutique du soupçon avant tout soucieuse de démasquer l'artifice ou la manipulation, le caractère construit des phénomènes sociaux ne s'oppose en rien à leur réalité. On peut alors parler non seulement d'une « construction de la réalité » mais aussi d'une « réalité des constructions », et soutenir avec Lewis Mumford, que ce qu'on baptise le « réel », n'est rien d'autre que le « résultat d'une multitude de transactions et d'échanges continus entre l'organisme humain et son environnement »

50 Jahre UNDERSTANDING MEDIA

Vor 50 Jahren erschien "Understanding Media" von Marshall McLuhan. Das aktuelle "Navigationen"-Heft nimmt in fünf Beiträgen das Jubiläum zum Anlass, dieses Buch systematisch und historisch unter die Lupe zu nehmen. Die Beiträge setzen dazu an, die Situation des Buches zu verstehen, um etwas über seine Medien zu erfahren. Die Dramaturgie der Texte reicht von der handwerklichen Bearbeitung des Buches und seine Weitsicht hinsichtlich der Zukunft der Bücher über das Fernsehen seiner Zeit bis hin zur Rezeption seiner Inhalte in der deutschsprachigen Presse und seinem technikphilosophischen Kontext

CfA3: 185 Type Ia Supernova Light Curves from the CfA

We present multi-band photometry of 185 type-Ia supernovae (SN Ia), with over 11500 observations. These were acquired between 2001 and 2008 at the F. L. Whipple Observatory of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). This sample contains the largest number of homogeneously-observed and reduced nearby SN Ia (z < 0.08) published to date. It more than doubles the nearby sample, bringing SN Ia cosmology to the point where systematic uncertainties dominate. Our natural system photometry has a precision of 0.02 mag or better in BVRIr'i' and roughly 0.04 mag in U for points brighter than 17.5 mag. We also estimate a systematic uncertainty of 0.03 mag in our SN Ia standard system BVRIr'i' photometry and 0.07 mag for U. Comparisons of our standard system photometry with published SN Ia light curves and comparison stars, where available for the same SN, reveal agreement at the level of a few hundredths mag in most cases. We find that 1991bg-like SN Ia are sufficiently distinct from other SN Ia in their color and light-curve-shape/luminosity relation that they should be treated separately in light-curve/distance fitter training samples. The CfA3 sample will contribute to the development of better light-curve/distance fitters, particularly in the few dozen cases where near-infrared photometry has been obtained and, together, can help disentangle host-galaxy reddening from intrinsic supernova color, reducing the systematic uncertainty in SN Ia distances due to dust.Comment: Accepted to the Astrophysical Journal. Minor changes from last version. Light curves, comparison star photometry, and passband tables are available at http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/supernova/CfA3

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead