digitial humanities

The question asked of us intrigues me because I believe that “digital humanities” is a contradiction. Professor Urban taught us that the humanities are skills we need to live in a democratic society. Such as analytical thinking, moral reasoning, and problem solving; they are the skills that make us sophisticated humans that can coexist. However, I don’t believe these skill are necessary in the digital world, or at least no where near the degree they’re needed in “real” society. In real societies, people are forced to coincide and work together. They often do not have the option to leave. In the digital world, people are able to pick and choose they communities they wish to be a part of. This leads to much less tension, because people can easily leave if they have an issue with the community. I suppose digital humanities lies in how the members of a community decide a website should be run. An example of this being reddit, where commenters can make their needs heard to moderators, who will (hopefully) modify the community to fit everyone’s needs.

One thought on “digitial humanities

  1. I think it’s a very good point that you see it as a contradictory. In real societies however, I might point out that you’re not fully “forced” to work together but rather are definitely limited. I do agree though that it’s much easier to join and leave a digital community, as you have no obligation, and have the option to join and leave multiple communities without trouble. The one thing I dislike about digital communities is how people in the community can sometimes create a different identity and an alter ego for themselves (eg: “trolling”, acting like somebody else). To me this can distort a digital community from it’s true purpose.

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