My professor gave me a couple of articles to read recently and I just started the first one; it's called "Why Has Critique Run Out of Steam?" by Bruno Latour. Ya gotta love a guy with a name like Bruno Latour. Anyway I am only on page two and already I had to jump out of bed and type a few sentences from the article to share with you crazies.

the example he starts with is the depressing advent of an "artificially maintained scientifc controversy" over the validity of global warming. you know, like critiquing the validity because, oh, well, we can't PROVE anything.

so he says,

"In which case the danger would no longer be coming from an excessive confidence in ideological arguments posturing as matters of fact -- as we have learned to combat so efficiently in the past-- but from an excessive distrust of good matters of fact disguised as bad ideological biases! While we spent years trying to detect the real prejudices hidden behind the appearance of objective statements, do we now have to reveal the real objective and incontrovertible facts hidden behind the illusion of prejudices?"

it's like people will miss the truth no matter what the ism.

anyway, updates to come, I'm sure.

I don't know what to think about the global warming... I just know that my peanut brittle seems to turn gooey much faster these days, even though I use less hair spray than I used to.

And a while back, I was sort of unsuccessful in trying to come up with a satisfactory definition of "postmodern." People seem to bandy that term about as though they are hip to something... but what the hell is it, anyway? An art movement perhaps... but the word "post" usually means "after," and "modern," to me, means "stuff that is going on right now." So I think of that old '50s furniture that was meant to look "of the future" when it was made, when I think of "postmodern."

But if that's not what is meant by the term, i.e. "futuristic," then what the heck are these people doing with the word "modern" in there. Come up with a different descriptive terms, for gosh sakes. Modern. Modern times. Modern people with modern attitudes. "right now, with the times." Postmodern... "ahead of its time"? Actually, if you keep repeating the word "modern" it seems to become ludicrous and lose all meaning. Dern it!

So is he saying we can't see the bull from all the poop? And are you saying postmodern means old? We really should all drive more to save the peanut brittle, and I don't think you should be putting any hairspray in it.