a short introduction to the Nacirema (American spelled backwards) for my Introduction to Cultural Anthropology class (uses several slides from my Personal Democracy Forum talk)

1. Introduction to the Nacirema

17. 1984 A.D.

22. Media Ecology

23. Media are not just tools.

24. Media are not just means of communication.

25. Media mediate our conversations

26. Media change

27. Media our conversations change change

28. “ We shape our tools, and thereafter our tools shape us.” - Marshall McLuhan

31. the conversations of our culture happen here

32. the conversations are controlled by few

33. the conversations are controlled by few and designed for the masses

34. the conversations are always entertaining

35. the conversations are always entertaining (even the serious ones)‏

36. the conversations are punctuated by 30 second commercials

37. the conversations create our culture

38. the conversations create our culture of irrelevance incoherence and impotence

39. “ What steps do you plan to take to reduce the conflict in the Middle East?”

40. “ Or the rates of inflation, crime, or unemployment?”

41. “ What do you plan to do about NATO, OPEC, the CIA, etc.?”

42. “ I shall take the liberty of answering for you: ...

43. “ You plan to do nothing.”

44. “ You plan to do nothing.” - Neil Postman 1984

45. “ The public has adjusted to incoherence and been amused into indifference.” - Neil Postman 1984

46. 25 years later ...

50. “ What we are encountering is a panicky, an almost hysterical, attempt to escape from the deadly anonymity of modern life ... and the prime cause is not vanity ... but the craving of people who feel their personality sinking lower and lower into the whirl of indistinguishable atoms to be lost in a mass civilization."

51. “ What we are encountering is a panicky, an almost hysterical, attempt to escape from the deadly anonymity of modern life ... and the prime cause is not vanity ... but the craving of people who feel their personality sinking lower and lower into the whirl of indistinguishable atoms to be lost in a mass civilization." - Henry Seidel Canby 1926

53. Assembly line

57. It's a one-way conversation

58. You have to be on TV to have a voice

59. You have to be on TV to be significant

65. “ in the midst of a fabulous array of historically unprecedented and utterly mind-boggling stimuli ...

66. “ in the midst of a fabulous array of historically unprecedented and utterly mind-boggling stimuli ... whatever.”

67. “ in the midst of a fabulous array of historically unprecedented and utterly mind-boggling stimuli ... whatever.” - Thomas de Zengotita

69. “ I find it hard. It's hard to find, oh well, whatever, nevermind.”

70. “ I feel stupid, and contagious. Here we are now. Entertain us.”

76. flattering

83. the search for identity and recognition

85. the search for the authentic self

86. the search for the authentic self Charles Taylor's “Ethics of Authenticity” (1991)‏

87. Two Slides: Charles Taylor's “Ethics of Authenticity” (1991)‏

88. Two Slides: towards ... Charles Taylor's “Ethics of Authenticity” (1991)‏

89. Two Slides: towards ... 1. “self-centered modes of self-fulfilment” Charles Taylor's “Ethics of Authenticity” (1991)‏

90. Two Slides: towards ... 1. “self-centered modes of self-fulfilment” 2. “negation of all horizons of significance” Charles Taylor's “Ethics of Authenticity” (1991)‏

91. Two Slides: towards ... 1. “self-centered modes of self-fulfilment” disengagement 2. “negation of all horizons of significance” Charles Taylor's “Ethics of Authenticity” (1991)‏

92. Two Slides: towards ... 1. “self-centered modes of self-fulfilment” disengagement 2. “negation of all horizons of significance” fragmentation Charles Taylor's “Ethics of Authenticity” (1991)‏

94. If the conversations of our culture now happen here ...

98. Research Ethics

102. “ If you wish to remain anonymous or speak off the record at any time, inform the researcher on site and they will honor your request. Feel free to work with the researcher to present or hide your identity as you wish. In the final production of the documentary you can have your face blurred or anonymity otherwise protected in any way you choose.”

103. Informed Consent requires:

113. What are some key cultural trends that you think our documentary should cover?