Prosthetic Paradise (was Re: pynchon-l-digest V2 #1012

[Lorentzen / Nicklaus]

rj schrieb:

> Isn't a man using a hammer the definition of a simple machine? Isn't the
> equation something like this: Man + tool = machine ? If the human
> environment has been changed by the advent of technology to the point
> where unless a man learns to use this hammer he will no longer be able
> to function and prosper in this environment, can we not then say that
> there has been a shift, and that rather than humans using the tools they
> are, in a sense, beginning to use us.


  According to Bruno Latour's actor/network theory, a much debated approach in  
  the contemporary sociology of technology, humans and non-human artefacts can  
  both be observed as symmetric "actants" (- Aktanten) in a "socio-technical    
  network". Visitor + Automatic Door Opener = Entrance Machine.

  KFL