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  3. The trend toward rationality and enlightenment was endangered long before th

The trend toward rationality and enlightenment was endangered long before th

游客2023-08-05  26
问题     The trend toward rationality and enlightenment was endangered long before the advent of the World Wide Web. As Neil Postman noted in his 1985 book Amusing Ourselves to Death, the rise of television introduced not just a new medium but a new discourse: a gradual shift from a typographic (印刷的) culture to a photographic one, which in turn meant a shift from rationality to emotions, exposition to entertainment. In an image-centered and pleasure-driven world, Postman noted, there is no place for rational thinking, because you simply cannot think with images. It is text that enables us to "uncover lies, confusions and overgeneralizations, and to detect abuses of logic and common sense. It also means to weigh ideas, to compare and contrast assertions, to connect one generalization to another."
    The dominance of television was not confined to our living rooms. It overturned all of those habits of mind, fundamentally changing our experience of the world, affecting the conduct of politics, religion, business, and culture. It reduced many aspects of modern life to entertainment, sensationalism, and commerce. "Americans don’t talk to each other, we entertain each other," Postman wrote. "They don’t exchange ideas; they exchange images. They do not argue with propositions; they argue with good looks, celebrities and commercials."
    At first, the web seemed to push against this trend. When it emerged towards the end of the 1980s as a purely text-based medium, it was seen as a tool to pursue knowledge, not pleasure. Reason and thought were most valued in this garden—all derived from the project of the Enlightenment. Universities around the world were among the first to connect to this new medium, which hosted discussion groups, informative personal or group blogs, electronic magazines, and academic mailing lists and forums. It was an intellectual project, not about commerce or control, created in a scientific research center in Switzerland. And for more than a decade, the web created an alternative space that threatened television’s grip on society.
    Social networks, though, have since colonized the web for television’s values. From Facebook to Instagram, the medium refocuses our attention on videos and images, rewarding emotional appeals—’like’ buttons—over rational ones. Instead of a quest for knowledge, it engages us in an endless zest (热情) for instant approval from an audience, for which we are constantly but unconsciously performing. (It’s telling that, while Google began life as a PhD thesis, Facebook started as a tool to judge classmates’ appearances.) It reduces our curiosity by showing us exactly what we already want and think, based on our profiles and preferences. The Enlightenment’s motto (座右铭) of ’Dare to know’ has become ’Dare not to care to know.’ [br] What do we learn about users of social media?
选项 A、They are bent on looking for an alternative space for escape.
B、They are constantly seeking approval from their audience.
C、They are forever engaged in hunting for new information.
D、They are unable to focus their attention on tasks for long.
答案 B
解析 根据题干中的信息词social media，答案线索可以定位至第四段，social media是对第四段首句中Social networks的同义转述。第四段首句指出，社交网络为了电视的价值而对网络进行了“殖民”，第二、三两句论证了该观点：从脸书到照片墙，网络将我们的注意力重新集中在视频和图像上，奖励情感诉求——如“点赞”按钮——而不是理性诉求。它不追求知识，而是让我们对受众的即时认同产生无尽的热情，为此我们不知不觉地持续进行着这种行为。选项B是对原文表述的总结概括，其中的constantly、approval from和audience都是文中的原词复现，故本题选B。第三段最后说，网络创造了一个替代空间，而不是社交媒体用户一心想寻找可供逃避的替代空间，故排除A。选项C中的hunting for new information与原文最后一段的描述不符，故排除。选项D文中未提及，故排除。
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