 Researched between
1999 and 2004, Interpersonal Divide
continues to prove prophetic and influential, cited by major media
around the world in documenting how
Internet and other digital technologies have failed to deliver the
fabled
global village. Far from feeling connected to a wider world, author Michael Bugeja analyzes how we
fell into the
"interpersonal divide" — the void that develops when we spend too much
time in virtual rather than real communities, neglecting our primary
relationships and with that, our sense of self. In this innovative
book,
Bugeja traces media history
to document how other generations coped with similar social problems
during great
technological change and makes a compelling case for face-to-face
communication in
an increasingly technological world.
Interpersonal Divide,
which won the Clifford G. Christians Award for research in media
ethics, documents how long-standing theories—including ones by Marshall
McLuhan—no longer hold in the wake of new media and technology. Rather
than extending the human senses, as McLuhan believed, Bugeja documents
how media and technology split consciousness and diminish the senses,
placing users in virtual environments at odds with physical ones.
Bugeja's work, based in part on the philosophy of Jacques Ellul,
reaffirms and advances contributions of Theodore Roszak (The Cult of Information), James
Howard Kunstler (Geography of Nowhere),
Neil
Postman (Amusing Ourselves to Death and
Technopoly)
and
Robert Putnam (Bowling Alone).
Bugeja
investigates
profit-minded media ecosystems polluting Internet and
digital devices
with marketing ploys, delivering to consumers a global mall rather than
a global village. He asks consumers to
analyze consumer technologies and gain control over them by
understanding the marketing motives seamlessly interwoven in the
interface or application. The text also promotes
"interpersonal intelligence," knowing when, where and
for what purpose technology may be appropriate or inappropriate. This
means shutting off the portable devices that endanger us while driving,
that distract us in class or at conferences, and that interrupt us
during outings and vacations. He advocates for educational and
informational uses,
safeguarding our technological investment.
Interpersonal
Divide has been cited in The New York Times, USA Today, the
Washington Post,
the Christian Science Monitor, The Futurist, The Economist (UK), The Guardian
(UK), The Ecologist (UK), The Sunday Post (Ireland), Toronto Globe & Mail (Canada), Die Welt (Germany), China Daily, The International Herald
Tribune (France), The
Independent (Malta), Forbes, Business
Week, Inside Higher Ed and the Chronicle of
Higher Education as well as online news editions of CBS, NBC,
ABC, CNN, MSNBC and Fox
News.
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