This week had us reading part 2 of our textbook Holding on to Reality which is comprised of chapters 6 through 10. Chapter 6 addresses the writing and structure of information in language. According to Borgmann (1999), “Structure, of course, is crucial to information, and the search for structure is the quest for the secret of the nature of reference—the tie between signs and things” (p. 59). Here we are introduced to the concept of the alphabet and its letters are elements of a structure that can be analyzed. The author also suggests that the creation of the alphabet helped to synthesize language into grammar and that by writing things down, language is given stability and structure. This part of the chapter was really illuminating to read, more so then the part about the Pythagorean Theorem and using geometry. That part was a bit more confusing as math is not my strong suit, but on the whole I can understand its relevance to showing the importance of structure and how the letters that we use every day help us to express ourselves with clarity and uniqueness.
Chapter 7 introduces us to measures and grids. According to Borgmann (1999), “The first trace of an actual and mundane grid was the reference line that the philosopher Dicaearcus, a follower of Aristotle and contemporary of Euclid, drew across a map of the ancient world, beginning in the East at the straits of Gibraltar, the “Pillars of Hercules” through the Mediterranean basin and across Asia Minor to the Indian or “Eastern” Ocean. Eratosthenes added a meridian, anchored in Alexandria, and additional lines to produce a rough grid. In the second century C.E., Ptolemy produced a regular grid that reflected the earth’s spherical surface. It amounted to the imposition of Euclidean lines and arcs on what Ptolemy took to be a habitable world” (p. 75). The development of grids is important because they provided information that made reality survey able. This is interesting to me because I know that grids play a large part in helping us to get around and explore our world. They can provide information to sites like MapQuest and Yahoo Maps that create maps for users as well as GPS devices (which I utilize heavily).
The text also discussed how grids are used to measure time and contributed to our present method of writing in horizontal lines and later expanded to mathematical and astronomical tables. While I had never given any real thought to grids being used in these areas, I can see how they do fit, particularly in math in areas like statistics (an area I am all too familiar with).
In chapter 8, the author discusses the importance of reading and how a person’s life can be shaped by their aptitude for it. According to the textbook (1999), “Reading of whatever sort is a many-storied skill, both in the sense that you must read many stories to acquire it and in the sense that it is composed of many layers” (p. 86). Reading not only provides information and gives us the ability to comprehend and group words together in a way that makes sense, but it also helps with learning, provides entertainment, and can also facilitate public interaction and discussion with events like poetry readings and book clubs. I very much agreed with the author and his view that while reading can appear to be a private activity, it instead connects us and influences our world view.
The topic of chapter 9 is “playing” with much of the focus being on music. According to Borgmann (1999), “Traditional music involves a different way of realizing information. Music highlights the structure of signs rather than the context of things and chiefly converts time into events rather than confinement into possibility” (p. 93). I had never before thought of music having a structure, but after reading this chapter, this concept makes complete sense. Music is comprised of a score, notes, chords and at times lyrics. Music can be great sources of information. For example, operas have information in the sense that they are telling a story. Or in the sixties with the rise of the “message song” which, at that time, talked about equality, the anti-Vietnam war movement and other controversial topics. Music to me is very important because it connects people, shows off different cultures, and can inspire emotion and discussion.
Chapter 10 discusses building with emphasis on construction and contingency. According to Borgmann (1999), “Contingency is inherently meaningful and so makes significant information possible. Contingency comes to us as misfortune or good luck, as disaster or relief, as misery or grace. Only when contingency is artificially confined or refined is there something like strict randomness. Building, more so than playing or reading, runs into the perils and favors of contingency. Any attempt to show this generally however, would be self-defeating” (p. 105-106). Much of this chapter was devoted to the Freiburg Minster in the Upper Rhine Valley which the author used as his primary example. This was an interesting example and illustrated the concepts very well, as the building and the town around it has been subjected to hardship and yet it still stands and continues to inspire the populace.
This week we were also required to read a review of Holding on to Reality. This review is by Charles Ess and is titled “Borgman and the Borg: Consumerism vs. Holding onto Reality.” I found the review to be largely positive and supportive of the textbook and it really provides readers with comprehensible outline of Borgmann’s thoughts and goals in writing the text. I was really intrigued by Ess’s views on virtual reality and agree with his concerns about the public’s growing immersion in virtual reality. It seems like there are numerous games available that allow people to create characters, lives and environments that are different from what they now have and to me that is just ridiculous. It seems that so many people view these games as ways to lose themselves in another life and it also gives them the freedom to behave in ways that may not be appropriate in the real world. I believe his concerns have been validated. Recently, I read a news report about a woman who shook her baby to death because its crying was distracting her from playing a virtual game called Farmville on the Facebook.com website. This kind of immersion is not good for people as we are social creatures and are meant to live in the real world and experience all that it has to offer. While these games can be a fun diversion, they should not replace the life we have.
References:
Borgmann, Albert. (1999). “Holding on to Reality: The Nature of Information at the Turn of the Millennium.” Chicago, IL. The University of Chicago Press.