Infornography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Infornography is a portmanteau word formed by the combination of the words "information" and "pornography". Infornography is used to define an addiction to or an obsession with acquiring, manipulating, and sharing information. People "suffering" from infornography are generally people that greatly enjoy receiving, sending, exchanging, and digitizing information.
The term was popularized by the cult cyberpunk anime series Serial Experiments Lain (1998), which used the word as the title of episode eleven; see Infornography (Serial Experiments Lain episode).
According to Science and Technology Studies scholar Lawrence Eng, the main idea behind the concept of infornography is that, in modern society, "information is being considered not just a valuable commodity from a practical point of view, but something that generates an almost sexual thrill, something that we lust after and enjoy hunting because it is special and gives us power."[1]
The definition (without explicitly using the term itself) is also greatly applied in most cyberpunk settings, where information can almost be considered a currency of its own, in a sense facilitating the development of an alternate world for 'escapism'. Megacorps, hackers and other kinds of people use information to strive. They can subtly be called "infornographers".
On the other hand, receiving much apparently trivial information may be educational and form useful intellectual compulsions/habits for obtaining more knowledge.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Data Disease by Tommy Bennett from The Phoenix
- The Lure of Data: Is It Addictive? by Matt Richtel from The New York Times (registration required)
- Data smog: newest culprit in brain drain by Bridget Murray from The APA Monitor
