When we are alone reading a book, we are more aware than usual of how we process the information. We are aware of the information being transferred from the book into our minds, that our mind then receives the information as a thought and how we subjectively associate these with information already stored in our brain. Certain events may emphasise this consciousness, such as moments of misunderstanding where we need to reflect on the meaning of a words, the implications of what is being said, or taking a moment to remind ourselves of the context in which we are taking the information.<\/p>\n
We may not be conscious of how written text as a communication device is working; That we are translating symbols, letters of the alphabet arranged into words we have associated with meaning and through this contemplation develop into ideas, and relating them to form concepts. In the early days of Language, or even in the early days of our individual experience of language, as we first experience it and begin to learn how it works then we are more aware of this process. Language can be seen as a form of technology by definition and explanation, that has become so immersed in our culture and daily lives that we do not think of it as such.<\/p>\n
A recent experience provides a great anecdote to this effect\u2026<\/p>\n
Whilst comfortably invigilating in a Gallery and reading the book \u2018Things I didn\u2019t know\u2019 by the Late art historian Robert Hughes, I came upon a most appropriate section describing his revelation of the value of reading in solitude. \u00a0As I relate to his revelation, occurring at a similar stage in his life as myself, I am nodding in agreement when reading statements such as, \u201cSolitude is, beyond question, one of the worlds greatest gifts and an indispensable aid to creativity\u201d.<\/i> P108. Amongst supporting quotes from Anthony Storr and Thomas De Quincey, Hughes provides us with a few precise words of his own, championing the value of freely chosen solitude against, what he describes as our contemporary cultures \u2018enormous emphasis on \u201cSocialization\u201d\u2019<\/i>P108; a claim that was about to be exemplified by my experience.<\/p>\n
Be aware that I was reading this book \u2018Things I didn\u2019t know\u2019 on an e-book reader, a device I was still getting accustomed to, and there was something about it that I did not know. Rather than making any pencil marks I digitally \u2018highlighted\u2019 a few quotes of the \u2018E Ink\u2019 text and used the feature allowing me to \u2018underline\u2019 certain sections, one of the multiple e-reader features that replicate physical books. I intended to underline and mark quotes such as \u201cTo be out of the Rattle and Clang of quotidian life, to be away from the garbage of other people\u2019s amusements and the overflow of their unwanted subjectivities, Is the essential escape\u201d<\/i> because they related perfectly to my reading experience up to that moment. P108<\/p>\n
However It was then that the e-reader began to suggest \u2018Popular Highlights\u2019 that other e-readers\u2019 had made, and further to inform me of the number of other people that had highlighted them, \u2018You, 4 highlighters\u2019<\/i> it stated under the quote above. The device had connected through the Galleries public WIFI and this had enabled this \u2018Popular Highlights\u2019 feature that displays the passages that are most frequently highlighted by other users. At this moment my consciousness of reading in solitude was shattered, as the very \u2018Rattle and Clang\u2019<\/i> that Hughes had alluded to evading crashed into my experience, and along with it came the aforementioned \u00a0\u2018overflow of their unwanted subjectivities\u2019.<\/i><\/p>\n
It seemed that our contemporary cultures \u2018enormous emphasis on \u201cSocialization\u201d\u2019<\/i>P108, that Hughes described to be \u2018Linked by a hundred cords and filaments to his or her fellow-humans and discovering fulfilment in relations with others\u2019<\/i>P109<\/i>, had caught up with me even when reading in solitude. Whilst the author acknowledges the dangers of increased Connectivity on human virtues such as solitary study, the e-reader is oblivious to the irony as it \u2018popular highlights\u2019 a quote that does just that. Paradoxically, rather than providing that \u201cessential escape\u201d <\/i>that I was relating to, essentially this experience made me question when do we escape. As we begin to question our ability of achieving this \u2018escape\u2019 in our increasingly technically mediated culture today, the incongruity of this experience may become all to familiar. As we continue with the increasing rate at which we develop technology and it is and swallowed up by society, It could become more appropriate to think that it is society that is swallowed up by technology.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When we are alone reading a book, we are more aware than usual of how we process the information. We are aware of the information being transferred from the book into our minds, that our mind then receives the information as a thought and how we subjectively associate these with information already stored in our…<\/p>\n