Finding an antidote to the media Apps and society 尋找媒體解藥—社會生活裡的App
Last year, a leading Taiwanese academic sparked off a storm of criticism by warning young people that “Successful people don’t use Weibo (a popular micro-blogging site)!” Recently, famous lyricist Fang Wen-shan and author Huang Ch’un-ming have made similar comments, suggesting that people should spend more time reading physical books, because when you access content in media format the images are already there for you; you are not forced to use your imagination as you are when reading a book.
去年國內知名學者曾對年輕人提出「成功的人不會去玩微博」的批評，引起網民很大反彈。日前，著名作詞家方文山與鄉土文學作家黃春明也談到，建議大家注重書本的閱讀，因為任何感官化的媒體都已為讀者準備好現成的圖像視訊與媒體，反而使閱讀者自己內心主動的想像力無法活動。
Clearly, people working in culture and the arts feel that hi-tech media can cause serious harm. They believe that it can have negative effects that range from the relatively minor (such as difficulty in concentrating) to reduced mental activity, to physical injury, and even, in extreme cases, to death.
看來在文化工作者眼中，這種媒體可能傷害的幅度很大。從最微細的意識專注力，到心智的活動力，以至最具體的身體傷害，甚至生命傷害都可能發生。
There has been many empirical studies and critiques produced by sociologists showing how the media (including movies, TV, etc.) uses the flow of visual and aural images to manipulate the senses and manipulate symbols, directly impacting on the audience’s conscious and subconscious mind, and causing emotional disturbance and even abnormal or unhinged behavior. Nevertheless, despite these warnings from experts and academics, the fact remains that, throughout history, human society has developed not in the safest direction, but rather in pursuit of its passions and enthusiasms. We need to be ready to coexist with this kind of media-induced harm; we cannot eliminate it from our lives, but we can think about ways to mitigate the problem.
當代社會學者對於電影電視等媒體工業如何用視聽流程操弄感官與符號，直接衝擊閱聽者的意識與潛意識，使得自我陷入情緒亂流而產生行為失當或失控等，早已有無數的實證研究與批評。但不管先知與大師如何警告，人類歷史的發展卻一直不是朝著最安全的方向，而是朝著熱情追逐的方向。所以我們應該準備與這種可能的媒體傷害共處，不可能從生活中免除，但可以轉而思考如何改善它們。
Much the same applies to online media and computer gaming. It seems safe to assume that, with the passage of time, they will evolve into an open, autonomous, wide-reaching form of media that meets our daily needs for reading and communication, rather than merely being something we use for short-term sensory and emotion stimulation when we are tired or stressed.
網絡媒體或是電玩也都是一樣，我相信在時間進程下，它們必然可以創造發展為一種開放自主的寬媒體。以符合日常生活每天的閱讀與溝通使用，而非疲憊時刻的感官刺激使用。
Caption：Despite these warnings from experts and academics, the fact remains that, throughout history, human society has developed not in the safest direction, but rather in pursuit of its passions and enthusiasms.
去年國內知名學者曾對年輕人提出「成功的人不會去玩微博」的批評，引起網民很大反彈。日前，著名作詞家方文山與鄉土文學作家黃春明也談到，建議大家注重書本的閱讀，因為任何感官化的媒體都已為讀者準備好現成的圖像視訊與媒體，反而使閱讀者自己內心主動的想像力無法活動。
Clearly, people working in culture and the arts feel that hi-tech media can cause serious harm. They believe that it can have negative effects that range from the relatively minor (such as difficulty in concentrating) to reduced mental activity, to physical injury, and even, in extreme cases, to death.
看來在文化工作者眼中，這種媒體可能傷害的幅度很大。從最微細的意識專注力，到心智的活動力，以至最具體的身體傷害，甚至生命傷害都可能發生。
There has been many empirical studies and critiques produced by sociologists showing how the media (including movies, TV, etc.) uses the flow of visual and aural images to manipulate the senses and manipulate symbols, directly impacting on the audience’s conscious and subconscious mind, and causing emotional disturbance and even abnormal or unhinged behavior. Nevertheless, despite these warnings from experts and academics, the fact remains that, throughout history, human society has developed not in the safest direction, but rather in pursuit of its passions and enthusiasms. We need to be ready to coexist with this kind of media-induced harm; we cannot eliminate it from our lives, but we can think about ways to mitigate the problem.
當代社會學者對於電影電視等媒體工業如何用視聽流程操弄感官與符號，直接衝擊閱聽者的意識與潛意識，使得自我陷入情緒亂流而產生行為失當或失控等，早已有無數的實證研究與批評。但不管先知與大師如何警告，人類歷史的發展卻一直不是朝著最安全的方向，而是朝著熱情追逐的方向。所以我們應該準備與這種可能的媒體傷害共處，不可能從生活中免除，但可以轉而思考如何改善它們。
Much the same applies to online media and computer gaming. It seems safe to assume that, with the passage of time, they will evolve into an open, autonomous, wide-reaching form of media that meets our daily needs for reading and communication, rather than merely being something we use for short-term sensory and emotion stimulation when we are tired or stressed.
網絡媒體或是電玩也都是一樣，我相信在時間進程下，它們必然可以創造發展為一種開放自主的寬媒體。以符合日常生活每天的閱讀與溝通使用，而非疲憊時刻的感官刺激使用。
Caption：Despite these warnings from experts and academics, the fact remains that, throughout history, human society has developed not in the safest direction, but rather in pursuit of its passions and enthusiasms.
