released 7/30/2021

“Every advance in technical rationality today is surpassed by a decline in common sense and a growing irrationality, the signs of which are everywhere.” So wrote sociologist Richard Stivers in his 1999 book, Technology as Magic: The Triumph of the Irrational (Continuum). In anticipation of Volume 151’s interview with Stivers about a more recent book, Ken Myers revisits an interview with him from Volume 48 in which he describes how the hyperrationality of technological societies drives many people — by way of reaction — to lives guided by instinct, emotion, superstition, and fantasy. Also included in this Feature is an interview from Volume 35 with David Gill, who summarizes some of the key ideas in the work of Jacques Ellul, a major influence in the writings of Richard Stivers.

24 minutes

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