Author: Walter

Id�es Fortes

Digital Revelation

By Richard Thieme

“Context determines content. So too with sacred space.
Whether or not God exists, the mental artifacts we relate to transcendence do – call these symbols “gods.” Though we can’t say how the digital revolution will affect God, we can say how it might impact our gods.

Look at previous shifts in communications technology. The gods worshiped in ancient oral communities vanished when their names were no longer invoked. It is no coincidence that the persons at the center of major contemporary religions – Moses, Jesus, Lao-tzu, Buddha – arose along with the emergence of writing. The invention of the printing press further extended the reach of these new, textual gods. Print enlarged the vocabulary of the community, and people could see themselves with greater subtlety. The gods, consequently, grew more subtle as well.

Now digital media are generating digital gods.
Digital gods are distributed deities, verbs and modifiers rather than nouns. ”

Id�es Fortes were the best thing about WiReD in the old days.

The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner

Contents: The difference between managers and leaders, say the authors, is like night and day. Managers like stability, control through systems, and procedures. Passion and involvement don’t fit into their thinking. Leaders thrive on change, inspiration, passion, listening and equipping.

1. When Leaders Are at Their Best: Five Practices and Ten Commitments

2. What Followers Expect of Their Leaders: Knowing the Other Half of the Story

3. Search for Opportunities: Confronting and Changing the Status Quo

4. Experiment and Take Risks: Learning from Mistakes and Successes

5. Envision the Future: Imagining Ideal Scenarios

6. Enlist Others: Attracting People to Common Purposes

7. Foster Collaboration: Getting People to Work Together

8. Strengthen Others: Sharing Power and Information

9. Set the Example: Leading by Doing

10. Plan Small Wins: Building Commitment to Action

11. Recognize Contributions: Linking Rewards with Performance

12. Celebrate Accomplishments: Valuing the Victories

13. Become a Leader Who Cares and Makes a Difference

The Leadership Challenge by James M. Kouzes & Barry Z. Posner
(San Francisco CA: Jossey-Bass, 1987) ISBN # 155542211X

Lingua Franca | Breakthrough Books

The History of Reading

We asked five scholars to recommend the best books about reading.

Interesting. For example:

Kathleen E. Welch, professor of English at the University of Oklahoma and author of (MIT, 1999).

“In Cyberliteracy: Navigating the Internet With Awareness (Yale, forthcoming), Laura J. Gurak analyzes the Internet’s four main functional components: speed, reach, anonymity, and interactivity. She uses examples from a number of Web sites to demonstrate how readers now step ‘through the screen.’ Another important book on the history of reading, Andrea Lunsford and Lisa Ede’s (Southern Illinois, 1990), predated—and in fact predicted—much of the collaborative reading and writing that now occurs in cyberspace.”

Thomas Moore “Soul Of Sex”
Interview

The Robot in the Garden: Telerobotics and Telepistemology in the Age of the Internet (Leonardo Books)

by Ken Goldberg (Editor)

“Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

It may be trite to say that new technology changes the way we see ourselves and the world, but it’s crucial that we explore those changes fully. In The Robot in the Garden, computer scientist Ken Goldberg curates a collection of essays on telerobotics by critics, philosophers, and engineers, addressing questions as fundamental as, “How does mediation affect the knowledge we acquire?”

Durlacher: Creating Community Online

The other one Aldon mentioned.

washingtonpost.com: Bearing Gifts, They Come From Afar

“A gift economy is indeed an economy — you can rationally expect that if you tender a gift, sooner or later you will receive some kind of return.

“But the return is indirect. And expectation of a return can be idealistic, even mystical.”

One of the two articles mentioned by Aldon in Psyber-l

Slashdot | Rethinking The Virtual Community: Part One

Posted by JonKatz on Thursday December 21, @10:45AM

from the –dreaming-of-cyberville- dept.

Less than a decade ago, the Virtual Community was one of the most powerful ideas emanating from the Net, and BBS’s and the nascent Internet were already providing glimpses of a better world to come. Proponents are a lot wiser — and sadder — now. Can the Virtual Community survive adolescent flamers and the dotcom era? Yes, but it will have to be dramatically reconceived. (First of a series).