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    Holding On to Reality: The Nature of Information at the Turn of the Millennium
    Holding On to Reality: The Nature of Information at the Turn of the Millennium
    Holding On to Reality: The Nature of Information at the Turn of the Millennium
    Ebook262 pages5 hours

    Holding On to Reality: The Nature of Information at the Turn of the Millennium

    By Albert Borgmann

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    About this ebook

    Holding On to Reality is a brilliant history of information, from its inception in the natural world to its role in the transformation of culture to the current Internet mania and is attendant assets and liabilities. Drawing on the history of ideas, the details of information technology, and the boundaries of the human condition, Borgmann illuminates the relationship between things and signs, between reality and information.

    "[Borgmann] has offered a stunningly clear definition of information in Holding On to Reality. . . . He leaves room for little argument, unless one wants to pose the now vogue objection: I guess it depends on what you mean by nothing."—Paul Bennett, Wired

    "A superb anecdotal analysis of information for a hype-addled age."—New Scientist

    "This insightful and poetic reflection on the changing nature of information is a wonderful antidote to much of the current hype about the 'information revolution.' Borgmann reminds us that whatever the reality of our time, we need 'a balance of signs and things' in our lives."—Margaret Wertheim, LA Weekly
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press
    Release dateDec 1, 2007
    ISBN9780226066226
    Holding On to Reality: The Nature of Information at the Turn of the Millennium

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    • 3/5
      I set the thing down for months, and then picked it back up again. Its not especially interesting, but it has its moments.It took me 180 pages to truly appreciate the main theme of the book, that there are 3 kinds of information: Natural, what is around us. The signs that preliterates use to understand what nature brings us.Cultural: Man's first step into the recording of information and Instructions, which puts a premium on literacy.Technical: Copies of some aspect of reality that is captured and replayed by technical devices.

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