Against the Machine: Being Human in the Age of the Electronic Mob - Lee Siegel

Welcome to the Youniverse. (122) For all its positive aspects, the internet has a dangerous and destructive side. Few people are brave enough to express criticism toward this new technology. Lee Siegel is one such brave individual. In Against the Machine: Being Human in the Age of the Electronic Mob, he argues that “a rhetoric of freedom, democracy, choice, and access has covered up the greed and blind self-interest that lie behind what much of the Internet has developed into today” (3). Because of the convenience of the internet – a value that its advocates tout with great passion – our every “impulse is only seconds away from its gratification” (175). Quoting Al Cooper, “‘The Internet provides immediate gratification that affects one’s ability to inhibit previously managed drives and desires.’ In other words, the Internet creates the ideal consumer” (175). For my extended analysis, click HERE.