Technobiophilia : nature and cyberspace / Sue Thomas.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Thomas, Sue, 1951- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cyberspace--Social aspects.

Cyberspace.

Nature (Aesthetics).

Nature, Healing power of.

Shared virtual environments.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (273 p.)

Place of Publication:

New York : Bloomsbury, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"Why are there so many nature metaphors - clouds, rivers, streams, viruses, and bugs - in the language of the internet? Why do we adorn our screens with exotic images of forests, waterfalls, animals and beaches? In Technobiophilia: Nature and Cyberspace, Sue Thomas interrogates the prevalence online of nature-derived metaphors and imagery and comes to a surprising conclusion. The root of this trend, she believes, lies in biophilia, defined by biologist E.O. Wilson as 'the innate attraction to life and lifelike processes'. In this wide-ranging transdisciplinary study she explores the strong thread of biophilia which runs through our online lives, a phenomenon she calls 'technobiophilia', or, the 'innate attraction to life and lifelike processes as they appear in technology'. The restorative qualities of biophilia can alleviate mental fatigue and enhance our capacity for directed attention, soothing our connected minds and easing our relationship with computers.Technobiophilia: Nature and Cyberspace offers new insights on what is commonly known as 'work-life balance'. It explores ways to make our peace with technology-induced anxiety and achieve a 'tech-nature balance' through practical experiments designed to enhance our digital lives indoors, outdoors, and online.The book draws on a long history of literature on nature and technology and breaks new ground as the first to link the two. Its accessible style will attract the general reader, whilst the clear definition of key terms and concepts throughout should appeal to undergraduates and postgraduates of new media and communication studies, internet studies, environmental psychology, and human-computer interaction."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

Contents:

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Preface

Chapter 1. A place so new that some things still lack names

Chapter 2. How nature soothes our connected minds

Chapter 3. Cybernetic meadows: The California connection

Chapter 4. An enormous, unbounded world

Chapter 5. Organisms Chapter

6. Living deliberately

Notes

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 225-244) and index.

ISBN:

9781472596758

1472596757

9781849660402

1849660409

OCLC:

1194877988