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Technobiophilia: Nature and Cyberspace 1st Edition, Kindle Edition

by Sue Thomas (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 out of 5 stars 8 ratings
Why are there so many nature metaphors - clouds, rivers, streams, viruses, and bugs - in the language of the internet? Why do we adorn our screens with exotic images of forests, waterfalls, animals and beaches? In Technobiophilia: Nature and Cyberspace, Sue Thomas interrogates the prevalence online of nature-derived metaphors and imagery and comes to a surprising conclusion. The root of this trend, she believes, lies in biophilia, defined by biologist E.O. Wilson as 'the innate attraction to life and lifelike processes'. In this wide-ranging transdisciplinary study she explores the strong thread of biophilia which runs through our online lives, a phenomenon she calls 'technobiophilia', or, the 'innate attraction to life and lifelike processes as they appear in technology'. The restorative qualities of biophilia can alleviate mental fatigue and enhance our capacity for directed attention, soothing our connected minds and easing our relationship with computers.

Technobiophilia: Nature and Cyberspace offers new insights on what is commonly known as 'work-life balance'. It explores ways to make our peace with technology-induced anxiety and achieve a 'tech-nature balance' through practical experiments designed to enhance our digital lives indoors, outdoors, and online.

The book draws on a long history of literature on nature and technology and breaks new ground as the first to link the two. Its accessible style will attract the general reader, whilst the clear definition of key terms and concepts throughout should appeal to undergraduates and postgraduates of new media and communication studies, internet studies, environmental psychology, and human-computer interaction. www.technobiophilia.com
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  1. ISBN-13
    978-1849662161
  2. Edition
    1st
  3. Publisher
    Bloomsbury Academic
  4. Accessibility
    Learn more
  5. Publication date
    26 Sept. 2013
  6. Language
    English
  7. File size
    3.7 MB
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Product description

Review

The book is about a powerful subliminal urge by our entire species to hang onto our connection to the natural world, as we are pulled deeper into the digital age...It is good to find someone like Thomas who loves nature but is not an anti-technologist. Her book is the beginning of a line of thinking that needs to be expanded by those who are deeply concerned about the effects of our addiction to technology. The book reinforces the idea that if human problems are exacerbated by technology, as they certainly are, doesn’t it make sense to use technology to ameliorate human problems...Thomas book is filled with well-documented, transdisciplinary, theoretical arguments for the many researchers who should begin working in this field;, but it is a good read for general audiences...I kept reading because I want to see where the personal story leads. What happens to her suggest some things that we ought to make happen for ourselves far more often than we do. -- George Davis ― PsychologyToday.com

At a time when our technological environment has become so intricate, omnipresent and autonomous that we have started to perceive it as a nature of its own, such sensibilities are desperately needed. -- Koert van Mensvoort, author of Next Nature: Nature Changes Along with Us

Sue Thomas has taken a very personal and broadly interdisciplinary look at one of the most important issues of our time -- the tension between the natural and digital worlds. This book provides a useful lens for seeing where we are, who we are, and where humans, our digital creations, and the natural world are heading. We need to learn to make fulfilling lives without abandoning either the world of technology or the world of biology. Technobiophlia shows the way. -- Howard Rheingold, Lecturer, Stanford University, US, and author of Net Smart

About the Author

Sue Thomas is a Research Professor of New Media in the Institute of Creative Technologies and the Faculty of Art, Design and Humanities at De Montfort University, UK. Her research interests include biophilia, social media, transliteracy, transdisciplinarity and future foresight. Her previous books include Correspondence (1992), short-listed for the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, and Hello World: travels in virtuality (2004), a travelogue/memoir of life online. She lives in Bournemouth, Dorset. www.suethomas.net

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00EWOLDJW
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bloomsbury Academic
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ 26 Sept. 2013
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ 1st
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3.7 MB
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 383 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1849662161
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Customer reviews:
    4.6 out of 5 stars 8 ratings

About the author

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Sue Thomas

Sue Thomas

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Sue Thomas's most recent book is 'Nature and Wellbeing in the Digital Age' (2017). Other books include 'Technobiophilia: nature and cyberspace' (2013), a study of nature metaphors in internet culture and language; the cyberspace memoir/travelogue 'Hello World: travels in virtuality' (2004); the novels 'Correspondence' (short-listed for the Arthur C Clarke Award for Best Science Fiction Novel 1992, The James Tiptree Award, and the European Science Fiction Award) and 'Water' (1994); an edited anthology 'Wild Women: Contemporary Short Stories By Women Celebrating Women' (1994), and 'Creative Writing: A Handbook For Workshop Leaders' (1995). She has written for a wide range of publications including The Guardian, Orion Magazine, Slate, and many others.

She was born in Leicestershire, England, in 1951. She founded the trAce Online Writing Centre at Nottingham Trent University in 1995, and became Professor of New Media at De Montfort University in 2005. She left academia in 2013 and now lives in the seaside town of Bournemouth, UK.

She is currently writing 'The Fault in Reality', her first novel in 25 years.

Web: http://www.suethomas.net

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suethomas/

Medium: https://suethomas.medium.com/

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4.6 out of 5 stars
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Top reviews from United Kingdom

  • soundtracks geek
    5.0 out of 5 stars UX designers please read this!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 November 2013
    Verified Purchase
    For my Masters project in Computer Science, I decided to go a little renegade and create a topic that seemed a little out there. I was determined to examine the use of Biophilia and see if it could influence GUI design fusing the natural with man-made design. (If you're not sure what Biophilia is, here's a crude breakdown: Man has an evolutionary advantage by looking after the environment and has an innate connection with nature.) However, there was next to nothing when going to google scholar regarding the mention of the Biophilia Hypothesis. More or less two weeks from hand-in date this book popped into the results which was lucky and extremely useful in backing up some claims I had regarding the calming influences of nature. The author was incredibly helpful in pointing out several references that were relevant to my project.

    It is the first book that I have really seen that uses the Biophilia Hypothesis as a starting point to thoroughly examine nature's influence on technological design.
    If you are a UX designer, this may be a point of interest and potentially full of new ideas to take onboard.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Charles Oppenheim
    4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, wide-ranging study
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 October 2013
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    This book provides a fascinating and wide-ranging overview of a topic that many will have been aware of, but never properly thought about - the fact that so much of our use of modern IT relies on metaphors related to nature. For example, the terms such as web, spider, crawl, mouse, safari, bug, cloud, and the concept of cyberspace as a place you can explore and interact with. The author has created a fascinating and very personal account of these phenomena and her interpretation of why we tend to use such metaphors, drawing from an incredibly wide range of sources together with her interpretation of her interviews with some of the key players. The result is an intelligent, challenging, very personal and thought-provoking book.

    I would have liked to have learned if anyone had studied the use of nature-based images on screen savers; the author says there has been nothing written on the subject, but I find that hard to believe. Recommended for anyone interested in exploring the concept of the reliance of IT on metaphors based on nature. This book claims there is something fundamental in our psyche which makes this so. Read it, and see if you agree.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Ceejayem
    5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating book by a key figure in some of ...
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 April 2016
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    A fascinating book by a key figure in some of the most exciting aspects of digital and literary culture.
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  • M. Yip
    4.0 out of 5 stars Accessible and engaging synthesis of research from research on technology, biophilia and health
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 December 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Technobiophilia brings together many disciplines to explore the convergence of exposure to nature and technological use in our modern world. Whilst the term technobiophilia is, as Thomas admits herself, rather clumsy, and ill-defined, it opens the much needed discussion, and in particular raise awareness to the innate affiliation we have to nature, which needs nurturing.

    The book brings together many examples, anecdotes and case studies which is interesting and accessible, though is not the first on these topics. Peter Kahn has done extensive research on the effects of technological nature and health in his book of the same name. What Thomas does successfully here is synthesise many areas of interest through years of research and present them coherently.
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Top reviews from other countries

  • M. T.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Concerned about health in the digital age? Technobiophilia made me rethink the impact of my devices
    Reviewed in the United States on 27 January 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Sue Thomas provides a unique perspective on the evolution of technology and its relationship to our health and the natural world. Having lived in San Francisco for the last few years, I found in technobiophilia a particularly insightful conversation especially as it is becoming more and more relevant with companies like Apple incorporating technobiophilia into their products in response to growing consumer demand. I would recommend technobiophilia to anyone with an interest in health, technology or the environment (and especially if you have an interest in all 3). If you mostly want tips on how to improve your health using (or not using) your digital devices, then check out the last chapter.
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  • jean marie larson
    5.0 out of 5 stars virtual nature and wellbeing
    Reviewed in the United States on 23 February 2014
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    This provocative book examines how nature is our grounding force even while we race away from it towards the newest and best technology.
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