Surviving Technopolis: Essays on Finding Balance in Our New Man-Made Environments

by Arthur W. Hunt III, Anthony Selvaggio (Foreword by)

Overview

Technopolis has no end in view other than bigger, faster, newer, and more. While giving us many material benefits--at least in the short run--in its wake are spiritual loss, alienation, and devastation. These essays not only evaluate Technopolis, but also seek wisdom to cope with our new human-made environments. Positively stated, they offer suggestions on how to bring us back into balance. Some of our best wisdom in analyzing Technopolis can be found in the voices of the Christian humanists. Unlike Enlightenment humanism, which tends to be human-centered, Christian humanism is concerned with the role of humankind within God's created order. G. K. Chesterton, T. S. Eliot, J. R. R. Tolkien, and C. S. Lewis represent this tradition. They, and others like them, understood that technological progress with no clear telos obscures what Eliot called "the permanent things." Surviving Technopolis means restoring the things closest to us--those old identity-forming institutions of home, church, and community.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781621899211
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	09/24/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	128
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Arthur W. Hunt III is Associate Professor of Communications at The University of Tennessee at Martin. He is the author of The Vanishing Word: The Veneration of Visual Imagery in the Postmodern World (2003). His articles have been published in Touchstone, Modern Age, Christian Research Journal, and Explorations in Media Ecology.
Arthur W. Hunt III is associate professor of communications at The University of Tennessee at Martin. His writings have been featured in Touchstone, Modern Age, The Christian Research Journal, and Explorations in Media Ecology: The Journal of the Media Ecology Association. He is the author of Surviving Technopolis: Essays on Finding Balance in Our New Manmade Environments (Pickwick Publishers) and serves on the editorial board of Second Nature, an online journal for critical thinking about technology and new media in light of the Christian tradition.

Table of Contents

Foreword Anthony Selvaggio ix

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction: Meet George Jetson xiii

1 Remembering Marshall McLuhan: The Probes of the Media Guru Are Still Relevant for Us Today 1

2 Neil Postman and the Evangelicals 12

3 The Image Versus the Word-Old Story, New Twist: A Lament from a Christian Media Ecologist 26

4 Why I Am Not Going to Teach Public Speaking Online 37

5 Progress: What Happens When We Get Too Big for Our Britches 52

6 What's a Person to Do? Work Beyond the Yellow Brick Road 62

7 Oikos: A Case for Reviving the Household Economy 77

8 Back to the Shire: From English Village to Global Village, and Back Again 93

Permissions and Credits 105

Bibliography 107

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"The pressures of our current technological trajectory raise the very real possibility of a resurgent Gnosticism in the church. In this lucid collection of essays, Hunt sets the table for a crucial conversation about the significance of the incarnation for a life that is fully human and more humane. Hunt offers a banquet of wisdom in an age of starvation by technological foolishness."
—Justin Barnard, Associate Dean for Intellectual Discipleship and Associate Professor of Philosophy, Union University

"Arthur Hunt provides a needed guide through the maze of digital technology. Neither technophobic nor technophiliac, Hunt is 'technosophic,' desirous of understanding technologies and how they shape us as individuals and cultures. His counsel is as sage as it is timely."
—T. David Gordon, Professor of Greek and Religion, Grove City College

"This collection of essays from Christian media ecologist Arthur Hunt offers a broad and rich overview of some of the more tantalizing intersections of faith, media, culture, and technology. . . . With influences from Wendell Berry to C. S. Lewis to Jacques Ellul, there is something here for everyone. Hunt's summary and synthesis of key ideas from media ecology and the Judeo-Christian narrative are accessible, enjoyable, and provocative."
—Read Mercer Schuchardt, Associate Professor of Communication, Wheaton College

"In this collection of essays and articles, Arthur Hunt offers a series of comments on modern life. Covering topics from Marshall McLuhan to Middle Earth, this is a fascinating and eclectic example of Christian op-ed, polemic, cultural commentary, and provocation. The thoughtful reader will be challenged, stimulated, and entertained by this kaleidoscopic tour of modern life."
— Carl R. Trueman, Professor of Historical Theology and Church History, Westminster Theological Seminary

Editorial Reviews

"The pressures of our current technological trajectory raise the very real possibility of a resurgent Gnosticism in the church. In this lucid collection of essays, Hunt sets the table for a crucial conversation about the significance of the incarnation for a life that is fully human and more humane. Hunt offers a banquet of wisdom in an age of starvation by technological foolishness."
—Justin Barnard, Associate Dean for Intellectual Discipleship and Associate Professor of Philosophy, Union University

"Arthur Hunt provides a needed guide through the maze of digital technology. Neither technophobic nor technophiliac, Hunt is 'technosophic,' desirous of understanding technologies and how they shape us as individuals and cultures. His counsel is as sage as it is timely."
—T. David Gordon, Professor of Greek and Religion, Grove City College

"This collection of essays from Christian media ecologist Arthur Hunt offers a broad and rich overview of some of the more tantalizing intersections of faith, media, culture, and technology. . . . With influences from Wendell Berry to C. S. Lewis to Jacques Ellul, there is something here for everyone. Hunt's summary and synthesis of key ideas from media ecology and the Judeo-Christian narrative are accessible, enjoyable, and provocative."
—Read Mercer Schuchardt, Associate Professor of Communication, Wheaton College

"In this collection of essays and articles, Arthur Hunt offers a series of comments on modern life. Covering topics from Marshall McLuhan to Middle Earth, this is a fascinating and eclectic example of Christian op-ed, polemic, cultural commentary, and provocation. The thoughtful reader will be challenged, stimulated, and entertained by this kaleidoscopic tour of modern life."
— Carl R. Trueman, Professor of Historical Theology and Church History, Westminster Theological Seminary

From the Publisher