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Gadget Consciousness
Book

Gadget Consciousness

Collective Thought, Will and Action in the Age of Social Media

Pluto Press, 2019 more...


Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Controversial
  • Analytical
  • For Experts

Recommendation

Gadgets like smartphones don't just reflect human thinking, they change it, copy the brain and affect consciousness, says scholar Joss Hands in this theoretical discussion framed in terms of political and social systems. Will people lift their consciousness via shared connection or let the capitalist “gadget brain” push consumerism? He explores how people use and get used by gadgets, positing two futures: rebel “gadget communism,” where tech frees people for the common good, or exploitative techno-capitalism. His best option: a socialist gadget consciousness of “care, becoming and collectivity.” 

Take-Aways

  • People use gadgets to express purpose and pursue action.
  • Techno-capitalism created the gadget and people’s experience of it.
  • Capitalism orients the gadget user toward the self-serving actions of consumerism.

About the Author

Joss Hands is senior lecturer in media and cultural studies at Newcastle University, UK. His book is part of the Digital Barricades series, which he co-edits with Jodi Dean and Tim Jordan. 


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    D. R. 5 years ago
    In capitalism, gadgets are a tool of suppression; in gadget communism, however, they will create a future of milk and honey. Yea, sure...