Fast Media, Media Fast
How to Clear Your Mind and Invigorate Your Life In an Age of Media Overload
by
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MEMORABLE QUOTES FROM FAST MEDIA, MEDIA FAST: Our deepest danger is that we would ignore truth and not care, that we would persist in belief and hope, and thus avoid evidence. The longing for truth unites the spirit of education, religion, philosophy, science and journalism. If fast media were to ring true, not attract through the cosmetic, there would be less need for a media fast. It is to that quest for the ongoing discovery of truth, as best we may determine it, that this book, fast and life are dedicated. One and the truth are a majority. So one of the deepest purposes of a media fast lies in the pursuit, and even the revelation, of truth. What is the truth of myself beneath my programming? Whatever your purpose in a media fast—novelty, learning, meditation, change, retreat, clarity, inventory, education, rest, direction, focus—there is the possibility of pushing your experience further, to life’s most important questions. Indeed there is the possibility that, upon reflection, you are one of life’s most important answers. ******* My bias is balance. The balance between reasonable speed-up and reasonable slow-down, between practical fasting and sensible immersion, between accelerated thinking and measured contemplation, elevates thinking to wisdom and existence to living. ******* Fasting from any substitute for living can be liberating and empowering. The transition from consumer to creator can increase effectiveness and influence simultaneously. ******* “Am I thinking or are externally generated thoughts thinking me?” Media are not necessarily antithetical to creative thinking. All media may be used to extend the creativity of individuals to others. ******* If I am truly concerned about media influencing our behavior, then this book must genuinely encourage creative thought and freedom of choice. ******* Never underestimate your influence.
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About the Book
FAST MEDIA, MEDIA FAST is an exciting guide for taking a liberating media fast in an age of increasingly fast media. It is the first book to provide readers a practical, user-friendly and thought-provoking guide to gaining a newfound control and understanding of their relationship with the media. This researched, seasoned manual provides specific guidelines, important areas for thought, creative options and life-changing opportunities.
FAST MEDIA, MEDIA FAST also shows how to take control of the media choices in our lives. This book is not a judgmental, media-bashing sermon, but rather an inspiring guide to cultural nutrition. In fact, most people do not typically choose to eliminate all media from their lives when they return from a fast, but rather make more informed and conscious choices about what to consume, how much, when, and why. Fasters also return more rested, revitalized, and thoughtful, often excited about new directions and purpose, or about being better organized and centered.
The reader of FAST MEDIA, MEDIA FAST will find out how to eliminate or minimize problems – stress, overwork, waste, burn-out, fuzziness, speed-up, apathy, emptiness, ebbing relationships -- which come from media overdoses in our modern world. She will learn that there are alternatives which allow us to regain control over our lives. FAST MEDIA, MEDIA FAST acquaints us with how fast media are changing our lives, and what we can do about it. Many readers will rediscover original thinking, creativity, what they always wanted to do, and to become deeply fulfilled in their lives.
About the Author
Dr. Thomas Cooper is currently a tenured Professor of Visual and Media Arts at Emerson College, and was recently guest Professor at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland and Union University. His most recent research was at Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and five other leading universities. He has taught at Harvard University, the University of Hawaii, the University of Maryland, Middle Tennessee State University and Temple University. As founder and co-publisher of Media Ethics magazine, author of seven books and over one hundred and twenty other publications, Dr. Cooper actively addresses topics in new media, communications, journalism, speech, ethics, and the arts. Tom was an assistant speechwriter in the White House and was one of the first producers of audio spacebridges among U.S. and Soviet communication professionals. As a graduate student at the University of Toronto, Tom was mentored by Marshall McLuhan and served as one of his assistants. With Dr. Clifford Christians, Dr. Cooper co-convened the first Media Ethics Summit Conference in 1987 and the second Media Ethics Summit Conference in 2007. Cooper has won or raised nearly one million dollars in awards, grants and fellowships, and has been selected a King, East/West, Massey, and Young Fellow. He received his B.A. (magna cum laude) from Harvard and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. An international speaker at the University of Moscow, Oxford, Harvard and other leading institutions, he is also a musician, poet, playwright and Black Belt who founded the Association for Responsible Communication, which was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.