{"id":8490,"date":"2016-02-03T13:13:47","date_gmt":"2016-02-03T13:13:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lab.wrkshp.fi\/huopaniemi\/?p=8490"},"modified":"2018-01-10T14:11:04","modified_gmt":"2018-01-10T12:11:04","slug":"2-3-frag-15-r","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/2-3-frag-15-r\/","title":{"rendered":"2.3 Fragment 15"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><em>2.3<\/em> Fragment 15<\/h1>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 100%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style><div id=\"gallery-1\" class=\"gallery galleryid-8490 gallery-columns-1 gallery-size-large\"><dl class=\"gallery-item\"><dt class=\"gallery-icon landscape\">\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1024\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Fragment-15-1024x640.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-6480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Fragment-15-1024x640.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Fragment-15-300x188.jpg 300w, https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Fragment-15-768x480.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class=\"wp-caption-text gallery-caption\" id=\"gallery-1-6480\">\n\t\t\t\tFragment 15, <em><a class=\"glossaryLink\" aria-describedby=\"tt\" data-cmtooltip=\"&lt;div class=glossaryItemBody&gt;Nicholas Carr in&nbsp;&amp;lt;em&amp;gt;The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains&amp;lt;\/em&amp;gt; (2010) argues that [changes in brain functioning associated with web interactions] are imperiling our ability to concentrate, leading to superficial thought, diminished capacity to understand complex texts, and a general decline in intellectual capacity. He relates them to feelings of being constantly distracted, so that instead of focusing on a task for a relatively long time, one feels compelled to check e-mail, search the web, break off to play a computer game, and so forth. (Hayles 2012, 2)&lt;\/div&gt;\" href=\"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/glossary\/adapted-from-hayles-passage-13\/\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">adapted from Hayles passage 13<\/a><\/em>\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\"><\/div>\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Fragment-15.jpg\">Fragment 15<\/a> marks a significant shift in DAR&rsquo;s Hayles adaptation. In response to this fragment, I am going to compare DAR&rsquo;s take on a source that they, like Hayles&mdash;or rather: at Hayles&rsquo;s instigation&mdash;, refer to: Nicholas Carr&rsquo;s <em>What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains<\/em>&nbsp;(2010). Despite all its problems, above all its sensationalism, Carr&rsquo;s book is intriguing. In this context, it is of particular importance, as both DAR and Hayles argue against it, with different emphases.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of attempting to deal with Carr&rsquo;s complex argumentation as a whole, I will confine myself only to DAR&rsquo;s and Hayles&rsquo;s reading of it, in light of this (admittedly brief) fragment. First, DAR: what exactly are they doing in <a href=\"http:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Fragment-15.jpg\">fragment 15<\/a>? Two things seem obvious: DAR is, on the one hand, doing exactly what they have been doing all along, i.e. following Hayles closely (the timing of DAR&rsquo;s decision to deal with Carr&rsquo;s book in his adaptation coincides with Hayles&rsquo;s corresponding&nbsp;decision in her book).<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, DAR&nbsp;also deviates&nbsp;from Hayles&rsquo;s interpretation, if only to a certain&nbsp;degree (this, too, is already familiar DAR). In other words, by presenting their interpretation of a common source, the result of close reading, DAR adopts and adapts Hayles&rsquo;s position in order to make their own position clear. This would all seem undeniable.<\/p>\n<p>A much more complicated situation appears when we look at how DAR and Hayles present Carr&rsquo;s book. Unlike Hayles, DAR describes a&nbsp;context for the book and a&nbsp;method Carr has used before putting forward their view on his central argument: &ldquo;Carr surveys a wide array of mostly North American studies in support of his assertion that the Internet has become the universal medium of our age&rdquo; (see <a href=\"http:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Fragment-15.jpg\">fragment 15<\/a>). Hayles, in contrast, does not address context and methodology in this connection, but instead goes directly into her interpretation of Carr&rsquo;s main claim: &ldquo;[Carr] argues that [changes in brain functioning associated with web interactions] are imperiling our ability to concentrate, leading to superficial thought, diminished capacity to understand complex texts, and a general decline in intellectual capacity. He relates them to feelings of being constantly distracted, so that instead of focusing on a task for a relatively long time, one feels compelled to check e-mail, search the web, break off to play a computer game, and so forth&rdquo; (<a class=\"glossaryLink cmtt_refer-fi cmtt_refer-en\" aria-describedby=\"tt\" data-cmtooltip=\"&lt;div class=glossaryItemBody&gt;Hayles, N. Katherine. 2012.&nbsp;&amp;lt;em&amp;gt;How We Think: Digital Media and Contemporary Technogenesis.&amp;lt;\/em&amp;gt; Chicago &amp;amp;amp;&nbsp;London: The University of Chicago Press.&lt;\/div&gt;\" href=\"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/glossary\/hayles-2012\/\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">Hayles 2012<\/a>, 2).<\/p>\n<p>In the following, I disregard the obvious flaw that Hayles&rsquo;s passage is significantly longer than DAR&rsquo;s, precisely 295 characters longer. The reason for this is simple: only about 300 characters fit in the columns of the translation boxes that house the fragments of DAR&rsquo;s adaptation (<a class=\"glossaryLink cmtt_note-2-3en\" aria-describedby=\"tt\" data-cmtooltip=\"&lt;div class=glossaryItemBody&gt;At the bottom right of the text input field in the Google Translate webpage, the characters for each text are displayed (300 characters for fragment 13). Significantly more characters could be entered into the field, up to 5000, but capturing a screenshot of texts consisting of more than 300 characters is impractical for this study, as the font size decreases and the text continues beyond the bottom of the screen view.&lt;\/div&gt;\" href=\"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/glossary\/2-3en1-5\/\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">2.3EN1.5<\/a>). It is odd that DAR makes a subtle value judgment of the studies Carr has surveyed, which is more evident in their Finnish translation of their adaptation than in the English version. There, in place of &ldquo;a wide array&rdquo; is &ldquo;monenlaisia,&rdquo; a slightly ambiguous adjective that translates as &ldquo;various&rdquo; but that also connotes &ldquo;multi-quality&rdquo; or &ldquo;multi-kind&rdquo; (i.e. something of potentially inferior quality). This ambiguity&nbsp;despite the fact that, as I am in a position to know, DAR is not&mdash;with a few exceptions&mdash;familiar with these studies.<\/p>\n<p>Also, DAR seems to call into question the universality or relevance of the studies cited by Carr&mdash;and, thus, indirectly also his claims&mdash;by mentioning the geographic location where they for the most part originate, North America. This, again, despite the fact that DAR has not gone through Carr&rsquo;s bibliography in order to verify the matter. Even more interesting, however, is how DAR describes Carr&rsquo;s key argument: &ldquo;the internet has become the universal medium of our age&rdquo; (see&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Fragment-15.jpg\">fragment 15<\/a>).<\/p>\n<h3>Parasitic Relationship<\/h3>\n<p>DAR&rsquo;s reading is not unfounded, as Carr does indeed characterize the Internet as our universal media, albeit only five times in his 280-page book (<a class=\"glossaryLink cmtt_note-2-3en\" aria-describedby=\"tt\" data-cmtooltip=\"&lt;div class=glossaryItemBody&gt;Here are two of these descriptions: 1) &amp;quot;Of all the sacrifices we make when we devote ourselves to the Internet as our universal medium, the greatest is likely to be the wealth of connections within our own minds&rdquo;; 2) &amp;quot;As a universal medium, a supremely versatile extension of our senses, our cognition, and our memory, the networked computer serves as a particularly powerful neural amplifier.&rdquo; (Carr 2010, 195, 213.)&lt;\/div&gt;\" href=\"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/glossary\/8en\/\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">2.3EN2<\/a>). However, the difference to Hayles&rsquo;s depiction, which reflects the everyday, recognizable experience of someone working on their computer, is significant. It raises the question, what is DAR aiming at in reading Carr against&nbsp;Hayles in this way. My own interpretation, as I implied earlier, is that DAR engages here in a form of <em>writing with and against Hayles<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, they opportunistically follow Hayles&rsquo;s textual movements&mdash;for example, references, arguments, and other familiar gestures&mdash;in order to, having first mimicked and adopted these gestures, assert their own claims, which differ from Hayles&rsquo;s to varying degrees and which, importantly, emerge from DAR&rsquo;s&nbsp;own artistic practice. In this sense, DAR&rsquo;s relationship to Hayles (and by extension&nbsp;to Carr and other sources that Hayles cites) is symbiotic, perhaps even parasitic (depending on whether their&nbsp;adaptation is deemed, in some way, beneficial or detrimental to Hayles&rsquo;s work). This tension may pertain to&nbsp;the relationship between the artistic and the humanist researcher more&nbsp;generally.<\/p>\n<div class=\"viitteet\">\n<h5>Notes<\/h5>\n<p>2.3EN1.5<br>\nAt the bottom right of the text input field in the Google Translate webpage, the characters for each text are displayed (300 characters for fragment 13). Significantly more characters could be entered into the field, up to 5000, but capturing a screenshot of texts consisting of more than 300 characters is impractical for this study, as the font size decreases and the text continues beyond the bottom of the screen view.<\/p>\n<p>2.3EN2<br>\nHere are two of these descriptions: 1) &ldquo;Of all the sacrifices we make when we devote ourselves to the Internet as our universal medium, the greatest is likely to be the wealth of connections within our own minds&rdquo;; 2) &ldquo;As a universal medium, a supremely versatile extension of our senses, our cognition, and our memory, the networked computer serves as a particularly powerful neural amplifier.&rdquo; (<a class=\"glossaryLink cmtt_refer-fi cmtt_refer-en\" aria-describedby=\"tt\" data-cmtooltip=\"&lt;div class=glossaryItemBody&gt;Carr, Nicholas. 2010.&nbsp;&amp;lt;em&amp;gt;The Shallows:&nbsp;&amp;lt;\/em&amp;gt;&amp;lt;em&amp;gt;What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains&amp;lt;\/em&amp;gt;. New York &amp;amp;amp;&nbsp;London: W. W. Norton &amp;amp;amp; Company.&lt;\/div&gt;\" href=\"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/glossary\/carr-2010\/\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">Carr 2010<\/a>, 195, 213.)<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2.3 Fragment 15 Fragment 15 marks a significant shift in DAR\u2019s Hayles adaptation. In response to this fragment, I am going to compare DAR\u2019s take on a source that they, like Hayles\u2014or rather: at Hayles\u2019s instigation\u2014, refer to: Nicholas Carr\u2019s What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains\u00a0(2010). Despite all its problems, above all its [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[25],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8490"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8490"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20326,"href":"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8490\/revisions\/20326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}