Mid-Term Exam

Mid-Term Exam


Deadline:  Tuesday, March 8, at 5:00. Exams are due in paper and electronic format. Paper versions must be handed in to my office by 5:00 on March 8. Electronic versions must be emailed to me at jdean@hws.edu by 5:00 on March 8.  Exams must be typed, double-spaced, with citations and page numbers. The paper version must be stapled in the top left corner. Both versions must be handed in by the deadline. I will not accept late exams.

You may use your books and consult with others in the class. As a preface or introduction to your exam, explain how you went about answering the questions. Did you work with others? With whom did you work? How did you organize yourselves? What was the process? Be as specific as possible. Failure to provide this account will result in a ten point penalty (that is, ten points deducted from your total exam points).

Note: As stated on the syllabus, there are group projects due on March 31, April 5, April 7 and later. You need to form yourselves into groups and choose one of the topics. You must designate which group you are in (by topic and date) on your mid-term exam. Failure to do will result in 10 point penalty (that is, ten points deducted from your total exam points).


Each question is worth 10 points.


1.  Jaron Lanier argues against cybernetic totalism. What are the key features of cybernetic totalism? What arguments does Lanier offer against it?

2.  What is "lock in" and why does it matter? Make sure that your answer includes technical and cultural/political components.

3. Why does Lanier think that flat information networks threaten creativity?

4.  Why does free choice make stars inevitable? Be as thorough as possible.

5.  Several authors (Lovink, Dean, Terranova) criticize the 'late eighties "Californian" mindset'. What is that mindset and why do they criticize it?

6.  How does Terranova describe the "mass"? What makes the mass a feature of contemporary network culture? How does the concept of the mass inform or figure in Terranova's critique of the idea of a rational, deliberative public sphere?

7.  Terranova emphasizes that a cultural politics of information, "as it lives through and addresses the centrality of information transmission, processing, and communication techniques" extends beyond the distinction between signal and noise. It encompasses a wide array of objects and interfaces, choices and designs, that organize our perceptions and influence the transmission and receipt of information/signals. What aspects of contemporary life come to mind? Come up with a vivid, detailed example to illustrate Terranova's point. Be sure to attend to what she calls the "level of distracted perception . . [that] informs habits and percepts and regulates the speed of a body by plugging it into a field of action." In your answer, begin with a schematic account formulated in terms of Shannon's diagram and then add to and enrich that schematic with more atmosphere and detail. After you have a detailed example in mind, consider the political implications and for whom: police, surveillance, or state apparatuses? for those seeking to resist or change a political formation? for the general field or norm that establishes the base point or expectations for political action (that is, the level of everyday habit and normal life)?

8.  According to Terranova, some specific features of the architecture of the internet induce divergence and differentiation. What are these specific features? How are the challenges met? And, what features or qualities does addressing divergence and incompatibility give to the internet?

9.  What is the decline of symbolic efficiency? Why does it matter?

10.  What are the key features of blogs? What do they have in common with search engines?

11.  What are the differences between the ways that cinema and networked media produce subjects?

12.  How do affective networks capture users?