Epistemology the study of the nature, origin, and

limits of human knowledge. How do we know things? How do we understand something to be

the truth?

Media as Epistemology “the content of much of our public

discourse has become dangerous nonsense”

Epistemology is concerned with the origins and nature of knowledge

Definitions of truth and the sources where such definitions come

Resonance: metaphor is a generative force—that is, the power of a phrase, a book, a character

There is no universal way to know truth, but rather that a civilization will identify truth largely based on its forms of communication.

primitive oral culture great stock in a man who

remembers proverbs, since truth is passed on through such stories

culture of the written word Will find oral proverbs quaint The rationality of written arguments

would be considered superior to a proverb

Television limited our discourse to where all of our

serious forms of discussion have turned into entertainment. Television has influenced the way we live off the screen.

Metaphors that Resonate Athens=intellectual excellence Hamlet=brooding indecisiveness

Every medium of communication has resonance, for resonance is metaphor writ large”

--A medium has the power to fly beyond that context into new and unexpected ones, because of the way it directs us to organize our minds and integrate our experience of the world

Medium of TV Creates new forms of truth-telling The epistemology of TV is inferior to a

print based one Amusement (and pleasure) is how TV

communicates

Emotional Power Emotional power so great that it could

arouse sentiment against the Vietnam War or against Racism

We must be careful in praising or condemning a medium because the future may hold surprises for us

Literate Culture Common Sense by Thomas Paine

published 1776 The popularity of that book at the time

is close to an event like the Superbowl Different classes were all interested in

reading about a variety of subjects Printed matter was all that was available American was founded by intellectuals

Literate Culture Approaches the world from a rational

perspective based around a series of rational

propositions that challenge a reader or audience to judge them as true or false, the entire society was founded around the idea of rational discourse.

(Going back to the telegraph) “Peek a Boo world”

“The Age of Exposition" defined Typographic America Exposition: a comprehensive description

and explanation of an idea or theory. replaced by a spectacle that prizes flash

and entertainment over substance. The message itself is less important

than the entertainment value of its delivery.

TV demands rapid-fire editing, non-stop

stimulation, and quick decisions rather than rational deliberation

Also, the pleasure of an ending that ties everything up into a bow

No spoilers either! The pleasure of a surprise ending that ties everything up.

Serial: The Alibi (Exposition) Jay recounts the entire day of the

murder the entire case hinges on just 21

minutes the window of time in which Hae is killed About those 21 minutes, precious little

is known.  "The Alibi," lays out the day of the

murder and Adnan's alibi that would clear him of killing Hae.

Adnan says he was in the library after school and a letter from a friend, Asia, a year later, corroborates that story. But she never testifies because Adnan's defense attorney never reaches out to her.

The Break-Up What is the exposition? Character exposition? What does it say about the case?

The Corner To look backward across thirty years on the

Fayette streets of this country is to contemplate disaster as a seamless chronology, as the inevitable consequences of forces stronger and more profound than the cities themselves. Cursed are we with a permanent urban underclass, an unremitting and increasingly futile drug war, and Third World conditions in the hearts of our cities, the American experiment seems, at the millennium, to have found a limit.

Wealth In neighborhoods where no other wealth

exists An economic engine so powerful they

will sacrifice everything to it A “wealth generating structure” “Lives without any obvious justification

are given definition through simple, self-sustaining capitalism”

Purpose They all do it not so much for the cash-

which they will piss away anyhow-but for a brief sense of self

The disaster of the American rust belt Shut down the assembly lines, devalued

physical labor, and undercut the union pay scale

Some of the current addicts used to “make steel”

Exposition in The Corner Character Exposition and structural

context combined Baltimore (at the time of the book)

700,000 Highest rate of intravenous drug use in

the nation (50-60,000) More than a hundred corners

Wealth neighborhoods where no other wealth

exists (aside from the drug trade) An economic engine so powerful “they”

will sacrifice everything to it A “wealth generating structure” “Lives without any obvious justification

are given definition through simple, self-sustaining capitalism”

Purpose They all do it not so much for the cash-

which they will piss away anyhow-but for a brief sense of self

The disaster of the American rust belt Shut down the assembly lines, devalued

physical labor, and undercut the union pay scale

Some of the current addicts used to “make steel”

William McCullough Gary’s father and DeAndre’s grandfather Mechanization of crops marginalized black

rural life In the 40’s the black labor force in the South

was expendable Industrial cities like Baltimore were an

alternative Overt racial conflict: segregation By the end of the war WM moved to “the

bottom” of Pennsylvania Ave

WM Moved to Baltimore as a teenager and

ended up working at American Standard Had a big family Immigrant success Public housing, riots in the 60’s

accelerated a decline along Fayette street.

In the mid 1970’s American Standard closed their Baltimore plant

WM Had many children Lives in a different community now (one

with drug crime, and middle class flight He has played by the rules Collects a small pension Sometimes drives a cab to make ends

meet Two of his children are addicts and his

grandson is dealing

The Bag 1960’s” prohibition of public drinking Paper bags allowed police to ignore

public drinking Hiding the alcohol gave police respect Allowed the government to ignore petty

offenses

War on Drugs With nothing like “the bag” on the

corners, then there can’t be the same type of equilibrium of priorities

Creates alienation of underclass from the government

“rather than focus on the truly dangerous—the murders and the shootings we have indulged our furies”

“Statistical Charade” Placates public 20,000 prison beds (at the time of the

book) in Maryland In Baltimore 15,000-20,000 drug arrests Build more prisons? “You could bankrupt the state

government—and still not have enough prisons”

Federal vs. State Budget Federal prisons can be built by running up

the deficit States have to balance their budgets and

they carry 90% of the burden of incarcerations

For all of the arrests only a small percentage will go to jail

State budgets devote a great deal of resources to the arrests, courts, legal aids etc

Current Numbers 2,418,352 70 Billion spent on prisons annually

California numbers: 2006 Oakland spends 8,000 per student

annually CA spends 216,000 on one juvenile

inmate

War on Drugs Hasn’t taken back a single corner Community folks (who vote) complain about drugs Local government reacts Fed and State government can’t be honest about how

ineffectual the war on drugs is Arrests and convictions for violent crimes, rapes,

burglaries, and armed robbery goes down So many resources go to generating stats about drug

crime Leads to police brutality

Bad morale: hate between police and corner kids Leads to meaningless arrests for things like loitering