Sun Wei: Break through the "human scale" -the media and human civilization in the digital age

Professor of the School of Journalism of Fudan University, Director of the Information and Communication Research Center of Fudan University. In the early 1980s, the reform and opening up was admitted to the Department of Journalism of Fudan University during the surge, and was deeply realized that the public value of the news communication would promote social progress and create human well -being. The diverse and mixed atmosphere of a comprehensive and research university has stimulated academic curiosity across discipline barriers and professional borders. Personal research gradually involves news theory, communication theory, media culture research, and urban communication. As of the prosperity of new technologies, the transformation of the mass media, the rising of digital media practice, and the research interest has focused on media theory. I look forward to participating and witnessing the creation of Chinese media in the short academic career in the future.

The biggest challenge of digital media to human civilization is to break through the "human scale". The "people and machines" predicted by the father of the control theory have gradually become a reality. This has led to the huge changes in social relations, social structures, and human survival, and also triggered the thinking of human subjectivity and their civilization. The interoperability of the technical medium and the subject of human beings is deeply hidden in history, and it has increasingly affected the process of human civilization. The momentum of digital technology today has made it the most cutting -edge major proposition in the field of humanities and social sciences today.

Highlight the latest state of people and technology coupling

"Man is the scale of all things." It is the famous saying of the ancient Greek subjective idealist philosopher Provella, highlighting the dominant position of human beings as a cognitive itself and the world. This idea was creatively used during the Renaissance to oppose the "divineness" against the Middle Ages, giving "human nature" legitimate value. The European Enlightenment also established the main position of rational people and proposed the subject of epistemology. Brock summarizes the three ways of viewing people and the universe in the West: focusing on God, seeing people as part of God's creation; focusing on nature, treating people as part of natural order; focusing on people, using people's experience as the opposite man Yourself, the starting point of God, and understanding of nature. Mu Zongsan brushes it into God's book, material, and human beings. This third type of humanism is the evolution of the "human scale" idea in modern times. It is of great significance for the religious monopoly that breaks through the autocratic society. It shows a powerful force to emancipate the mind and has opened up modern civilization. However, after the establishment of modernity, Western humanism encountered challenges both in practice and theory. As Hawkheimer said, the enlightenment went to its opposite side, and rationally established its own absolute authority while removing charm. The reflection of rational subjects and humanism constitutes an important issue for the critical criteria of Western modernity. After World War II, the views of rational people, human centralism, and the main opposition of human and natural environment encountered an unprecedented crisis. In terms of media research, in the modernity of humanism, the classic understanding of the relationship between human and technical medium is: people are rational subjects, technical media are the means and tools of the main body, in the object of the object, and the subject of the people must not be overwhelmed by the people of the people. Sex, otherwise it will endanger human civilization. This also constitutes the basic theoretical prerequisite for mass communication.

The rise of the current digital technology has triggered a media revolution worldwide, and it is imperative to break through the "human scale" established by modernity. At this major historical moment of the development of human civilization, on the one hand, the crisis theory of humanism is constantly emerging, and deep concerns about threatening intelligent technology threatening human subjects; on the other hand, postmodern, post -human, technical philosophy, environmental science The theoretical trend of anthropology believes that this is the rare opportunity to reflect on the arrogant self -esteem of human rational expansion, re -examine the position of man in the universe and its relationship with the non -human subject. Habermas said that later humans decentralized the "people" who used to be a scale of all things, which is exciting and anxious. This means that the community of human destiny is facing a major turning point. How can human civilization continue and where to go, depending on the outstanding wisdom and work of all mankind.

The unprecedented breakthrough of digital technology for people's scale is that by data data, people and things are included in the information feedback system of the computer, and the organism and machine are opened. The organic body of the machine and "living" is equivalent. Contemporary Chinese system scientific researchers commented that in terms of methodology, Venna puts two different types of different objects -machines and organic bodies -placed on the same concept system, which is the most important change in thought. The technical philosophy quotes the results of archeological anthropology that there are never people who have never been essentially. Human evolution into a current form of life, precisely because human beings are species that can use and invented technology. The technology has long been deeply affected, embedded in human genes and its it. development path. The rise of the current digital medium highlights the latest state of people and technology coupling. Media research needs to surpass the existing "tool theory", "reproduction theory", "constructive theory", "communication theory", etc. Study vision.

The collapse of the two yuan opposition theory

The breakthrough of the human scale of digital media is concentrated in the collapse of the two -yuan opposition theory. Such as human — technology, past, present, individual -society, time -space, nature -culture, material, body -consciousness, subject -object, reality -virtual, human -non -human -people, etc. If the media is understood as the intermediary process between the two yuan, the digital medium is triggering the various dual -outbuilding towards intertwined fusion, and generate a new state. The role of the medium is to establish a relationship between the original existence, but this is by no means a simple addition, but the connection and conversion of multiple relationships in the process of intermediaryization, creating an unprecedented new state. Taking the two groups of dual -element theory of reality -virtual, material — spiritual -spiritual, some views pay attention to the de -materialization tendency of digital medium, and its creation of virtual space, consciousness and spirit can exist from material and reality; another other; One type of view emphasizes the materiality of the media, and believes that material is a realistic basis for any media to be separated, and has a fundamental law for virtual and psychiatric. The above -mentioned views that deliberately highlight any side are in fact to share the presets of the two -yuan opposition theory, because they only state the importance and indispens of a certain yuan in this framework. The view of breaking the dual theory is that the major revolution in the digital medium realizes the real -time interaction between physical reality and virtual space, so it creates the third type of space form of human society that coexists with physical reality and virtual space. Highlighting digital media: breakthrough the segmentation of people from the outside world, and presents a dynamic process of constant interweaving and integration of human beings. The currently discussed Yuan universe is a staged concentration outbreak of this digital media. The process of digital technology created a new type of space -time will not stop here.

In the traditional dual theory of removal of the variety of color, the most disruptive is the emergence of new types of people coupled with people and machines, which is also the most thorough breakthrough of digital medium to the human scale -breakthrough for the body's subject. Digital technologies have spawned many Paibo phenomena. Cyber ​​Space, Cyber ​​City, Cyber ​​society, etc., reflect the interoperability and integration of the technical machine system and humans in multiple aspects. The Paiberry is a new type of subject in the phenomenon of Caibo. It breaks the boundary between people and non -human beings, and regards the coupling of human and technical systems as a new type of new type of Subo's survival. This reflects the philosophical concept of "generating one -the -the -the -msline" after transcendence of traditional humanism. In the perspective of the one -dollar subject, organic biological and organic machinery systems and social systems have got rid of the situation of two yuan opposition and transformed into symbiotic autonomous systems. Dekhofv pointed out that "technological integration enhances people and machines, people and machines meet and synthesize a symbiotic body, not only partners, but also more or less organic." In this kind of nature -cultural continuous unification, the main body of human -machinery does not rule out human autonomy's demands, but the proposal and realization of this appeal should be based on the harmonious symbiosis of people and technical systems. The innovative value of this one -the -the -the - - -been -theory is that they must not only be alert to the tendency of relying on a certain category in the god's, material, and people, but also to avoid the essentialist trap of the so -called "book". It is not difficult to find that this purpose is to break the one -dollar subject of the two -yuan opposition theory, and it is in many ways and coincide with the thinking characteristics of the Chinese philosophy and the unity of the Chinese philosophy and the unity of man and nature. In fact, many critical theories that are involved in the opposite of modern western modern sexuality have learned a large number of ideological resources of Chinese philosophy and history and culture. The important inspiration of this view is that breaking through human scale does not mean that the autonomy of human beings is inevitable; on the contrary, the organic connection between people with nature, technology, and the world will oppose people with universe and non -human subjects. It is an important reason for the crisis of human civilization.

At present, the richness and extensive global attention of digital media practice, digital China, network power, and urban digital transformation have become a major strategy of national development. In this context, China's communication scholars have achieved fruitful results. At present, it is necessary to take the foundation of the land, to excavate the rich resources of Chinese ideology and culture, create a discourse system and theoretical paradigm for Chinese media research, and actively promote in -depth exchanges in the world. At the historical moment of digital technology sweeping the world and entering the new era of human civilization, we deeply examine the role of human beings in the universe, adjust the relationship between people and the outside world, and seek a better and broad development prospect for human civilization. With responsibility, Chinese communication researchers have arduous and important mission.

Source: China Social Science Network-Journal of Social Sciences of China

Author: Sun Wei

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