So there’s a bit of a backlog on this section. This one is from last week and later I will write on another one from the same day. Hopefully this will fill in the gap in the event nothing else of note happens in the class.
Now this quote was spoken by a man (based on all the perceptual information one could gather from hearing a voice and looking over your shoulder in a lecture hall), so this kind of illustrates the idea that it isn’t sorority girls that are the sole victims of this kind of behavior, but that this kind of behavior activates this (stereotypical) mental frame about how sorority girls behave in these contexts.
Anyway here goes:
So the course is taught by two professors, both of whom in covering the history of print and other information technologies have 1) gone to great depths to ensure that these very large technological “revolutions” are not taken to be reducible to a single event, institution, technology, rather the result of the interaction of all these things in a specific context among other social, political, economic, societal factors 2) Have talked at length about how no single institution, in particular capitalism, can be pointed to as the cause of these changes 3) Have admitted that the case of the press is one in which this very early form of capitalism aids in its rapid growth and is in many ways responsible for its rise to prominence, but the previous two points still hold, and 4) have illustrated the silliness of the reduction by comparing this situation to an identical one with different outcomes.
Professor: { Explaining how print rose to prominence in European society, the process involving these very early capitalist practices. }
Sorority Girl: So, it looks like technology only comes about because of capitalism.
Professor: …
Class: …
Sorority Girl: { Awaits response, Thoroughly impressed with himself for stumping the professor’s premises with his carefully crafted argument. In actuality the Professor and the class are dumbfounded at the fact that after hearing the premises and seeing why the premises are true that he would make such a statement with neither explanation nor qualification and be proud of himself. }
At this point the professor, out of his kindness of heart, can do nothing but repeat himself, albeit more briefly, and continue the lecture.
There will be more sorority girls later this week, and possibly a rant about how Sonja Sharp’s (and in fact, most people’s) complaints about LA are baseless and stupid. Possibly about how her column specifically and the Daily Cal in general are really lame.
In any case, more to come…
