Re: <nettime> No Soap! Radio?

[Ryan Griffis <ryan.griffis@gmail.com>]

On Apr 30, 2013, at 5:00 AM, nettime-l-request@mail.kein.org wrote:

> Not HOT (like radio,  although with many similar qualities) and not COOL 
> (like television, against  which it is most directly opposed), the INTERNET 
> brings with it a new set of  behaviors and attitudes.

Hi Mark,

I'm wondering if you can elaborate on something here, as I find what
Iyou're saying to be important, of course. n applying language,
Ilike McLuhan's "environment" to technologies or media, how do you
Idisentangle "our" understanding of them from the "environment"
Iitself?

Isn't the environment (composed OR created by?) the Internet
partially constitutive of our current understanding of it (or lack of
understanding, if you prefer)?

Of course, I'm not suggesting that "we" don't try to understand
a given technology, but why not apply some of the same thinking
that's challenging ecological frameworks to this conception of
technological environments? What are the boundaries of the Internet,
as an environment?

In the end, your calls for "understanding" seem to assume a universal
subject that I think is far from a given. I don't think it's
sufficient to assume that "humans" are composed of a unified mass,
excepting those "exceptional" individuals that can "break from the
mold" and understand things more precisely. There's also an odd
juxtaposition of a kind of simultaneous immanence and call for action
in your posts, that I have a hard time reconciling. Just to be sure,
none of these questions/statements are rhetorical. I am really
interested to hear your, and others', thoughts, if it's at all useful.


Best, ryan


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