Metaphors

"Long live invocational media"

Viewing invocational media - the current technology - as a living creature is only somewhat accurate. It grows and evolves much like actual organisms do, adapting to its environment. However it does not act independently; it follows a set of commands that it was programmed to do. All invocated media returned to the invoker is media that has been made accessible by other users. The technology does not think on its own, and it does not maintain its vital processes. Users are required to update the invocational media to keep it "living."


"Communication, and even thought itself, is constrained by the limits of what can be expressed in language."

This idea is very much relevant to digital media. Language is a barrier that is impossible to overcome when one is trying to achieve objective reality or understanding. As Heidegger says in "What Is Called Thinking?," the closer we try to get to this understanding, the more it retracts from our grasp. And even if everyone spoke the same language, and had the opportunity for higher education, the way we express our thoughts and the way others interpret our words will always remain a barrier, unless we develop telepathy. "Metaphors We Live By" explains this concept well equating words to containers for the objects that are our ideas, and communication is how we send these containers. In the context of technology today, complete understanding of one another has become increasingly difficult. Instant messaging, emails, and text messages reduce a user to mere words, and intonation as well as body language are extremely important for more accurate understanding. We have developed tools to try and diminish this challenge, such as emoticons, but text smiley faces pale in comparison to face-to-face interaction.


"[P]runing or cleansing that supposedly create objective truths"

The idea that objective truth is clean is a metaphor we frequently use. When we achieve an understanding of something, we commonly refer to the idea as being "clear." Even more commonly we describe complicated ideas that are not so objective as "fuzzy" or "messy." Objective truths are usually seen as black and white issues, implying a clear line between what is true and what is false. On the other hand, "messy" ideas are considered to have "gray areas;" our clean line between truth and falsehood has become grimy and smudged.

EDIT:
I wanted to reply to Wolf's question of "what is in a term?" We have become very interested in semantics, often times too focused. I agree that replacing the term "digital computers" with "invocational media" seems petty, especially when changing the name of the tool we use does not change how it functions. However, this relates back to the idea of language as an impediment to understanding, and the more accurate we are with our words allows us to better understand eachother.