Let Them Eat Data: How Computers Affect Education, Cultural Diversity, and the Prospects of Ecological Sustainability
Not so fast, says Bowers, who believes that the media's infatuation with computers has blinded us to their negative effect on world cultures and the environment. An educator and author of The Culture of Denial (1997), Bowers asks readers to tune out the hype and focus on the motivations behind and consequences of the spread of computer technology, which he equates with nineteenth-century colonialism. Computers are a product of the Industrial Revolution's mindset, the belief that defines "humans as the dominant species and Nature as an economic resource." This distorted perspective, coupled with the push to computerize every aspect of life, has led to environmental degradation, cultural homogenization, and economic inequities that are now giving globalization a bad name. To compound the problem, our educational system does little to challenge assumptions that value the marketplace and technology more than communities and ecological well-being. Academic in tone but humanistic in content, Bowers' probing and nuanced critique provides a much-needed catalyst for serious debate about the state of the planet now and in the near future.Donna SeamanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.