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Nadin, Mihai, 1938-

"The Civilization of Illiteracy"


Quality in virtual reality is also pursued as scientists try to
give a coherent image of the very first minutes of the universe.
Physics, genetics, biophysics, biochemistry, geology, and all
else integrated in this multi-mediated effort are turned from
science into natural history or philosophic ontology. To explain
why physicists needed an indestructible proton for explaining
matter is not an issue of numbers, precision, or equations, but
of common sense: If protons could decay, mountains, oceans,
stars, and planets would crumble and turn back into neutrons and
electrons, and a reversal of the Big Bang might occur. Is this
predictive rationality? Is validation of this type of
experimentation a subject of language? As a possible explanation,
which facilitates a new array of experiments in computer
simulation, particle accelerators, and radio- astronomic
observations, virtual reality facilitates new forms of human
praxis and is embodied in new theories of physics.
Obviously, the efficiency factor, one of the major elements in
the transition from one dominant literacy to partial literacies,
plays an important role in this endeavor. This generalized
notion of efficiency has several components in the case of
science. One is the efficiency of our attempts to make science
productive. Compared to the efficiency of the lever and the
pulley, the efficiency of the electric engine reaches a different
scale of magnitude.


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