A Book and a Webpage - Two Modes of Culture Existence

Abstract

EXAMINES TWO AREAS OF CONTEMPORARY CULTURE THAT BOTH CO­EXIST AND CONFRONT, AS THE AUTHOR ARGUES. THIS CONFRONTATION IS ALSO RELATED TO INFORMATION RELIABILITY AS THE LEVEL OF INFORMATION CONFIDENCE IN “BOOK CULTURE” IS GENERALLY HIGHER THAN THAT OF THE “NETWORK CULTURE”. THE UNCRITICAL ATTITUDE TO DATA IS SPECIFIC TO INTERNET USERS, AND GENERATES A LARGE AMOUNT OF FALSIFICATIONS ON THE INTERNET. THE MOTIF OF INTEREST REPLACES VERIFICATION AND THE FORMULA “ALL INTERESTING IS TRUE” BECOMES THE VALIDITY CRITERION FOR ANY CONTENT. THE AUTHOR DEMONSTRATES HOW A TYPICAL INTERNET­USER BECOMES MORE PASSIVE, UNABLE AND UNWILLING TO VERIFY INFORMATION VALIDITY. THE VOLUME OF INFORMATION AND DATA ON THE INTERNET NOT ONLY DEVALUES NOTIONS OF THE “TRUE” AND “FALSE” BUT DISSOLVES BOUNDARIES OF THE “REAL” AND “VIRTUAL”. THE AUTHOR BELIEVES THAT CONSTRUCTIVE USE OF COGNITIVE, RECREATIONAL, AND OTHER INTERNET FUNCTIONS IS POSSIBLE WHEN CONFRONTATION WILL BE SUBSTITUTED BY THE DIALOGUE OF “BOOK” AND “WEBPAGE” CULTURES