Decoding Digital Culture with Science Fiction : Hyper-Modernism, Hyperreality, and Posthumanism

How do digital media technologies affect society and our lives? Through the cultural theory hypotheses of hyper-modernism, hyperreality, and posthumanism, Alan N. Shapiro investigates the social impact of Virtual/Augmented Reality, AI, social media platforms, robots, and the Brain-Computer Interface. His examination of concepts of Jean Baudrillard and Katherine Hayles, as well as films such as Blade Runner 2049, Ghost in the Shell, Ex Machina, and the TV series Black Mirror, suggests that the boundary between science fiction narratives and the »real world« has become indistinct. Science-fictional thinking should be advanced as a principal mode of knowledge for grasping the world and digitalization.

Critic''s Reviews

»Shapiro believes that creative software coding and re-coding must not only be a new way of resistance but a positive vision for new embodiments, new poetic modulations, and new music-like resonances. If this is one way to read Shapiro''s seminal book on Digital Culture Studies, another way is to read it as a post-art performance of Creative Coding. He is one of the contemporary trailblazers in the designing and implementation of digital software re-coding. He resists and transforms the social, political, and cultural "reality" by playing the risky game of hyper-modernism, hyperreality, and post-humanism. What makes him a new critical theorist is that he pulls together material that ranges from physics and digital technology to mainstream philosophy and science-fiction literature. Shapiro achieves an understanding of digital processing, software design, and code poetry with a radical theory of writing that goes beyond Barthes and Derrida. Creative Coding is an interdisciplinary informatics in which coding and re-coding are contextualized with philosophical, poetic, political, aesthetic, and design knowledge.« (Spiros Makris, Asst. Professor of Political Theory, University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece)

»Shapiro''s vast knowledge of current media theories is amazing. His book is highly recommended for students in the discipline. I am most inspired by Part Three where he reveals his competence in computer science derived from his practice as a software developer. He does not simply write "about" coding but knows its practices. With his emphasis on Creative Coding, he defends the human-centered approach. I congratulate him on his book, and may it get the attention it deserves!« (Wolfgang Ernst, Professor of Media Theory, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany)

»I am writing to express my excitement about your phenomenal work Decoding Digital Culture with Science Fiction. Your book has provided me with so much new knowledge and information to build upon and learn from! I find your book incredibly well thought out, planned, structured, and explained. It offers so much to learn and is very multidisciplinary. Finding your book was incredibly meaningful to me and a significant breakthrough. It felt like someone finally understood my line of thought and the kind of interdisciplinary research I am passionate about! I love the way that you apply media studies theories to literary works and science fiction. This kind of comparative and interdisciplinary research is quite rare and challenging.« (Nanditha Krishna, M.A., English Language and Literature, Amrita University, Coimbatore, India)

»Shapiro''s poetics of coding certainly enriches the scientific and philosophical debate in view of the fact that artificial intelligence (AI) is now considered a sparring/ jarring partner. Thanks to Shapiro''s background in the philosophy of science, the book mobilises an impressive array of theoretical references bridging any so-called divide between Continental and Analytic Philosophy. His manifesto-like style is energetic, and his rhizomatic framing is original…  As a software developer, Shapiro is an insider to computing, coding and AI, and he infuses an important interdisciplinary perspective. Those interested in technology will find themselves reading about unexpected aspects of art, history and culture, while readers interested in philosophy, culture and history will gain an understanding of the various aspects of digital media technologies coding as well as debates in AI.« (Vanessa A.C. Freerks, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Fort Hare)

»Alan N. Shapiro is one of the sharpest thinkers on culture today. Like the French philosophers he refers to in this book, he is ahead of his time. While most critics are still looking at hyper-reality and post-truth through the false/true lens, Shapiro addresses our crisis of reality with a new awareness of our own position in it, acknowledges the role of technology, informatics and capitalism in all that we do. His defence of Baudrillard is long overdue, and so is his update of concept of Simulacra, bringing it into the now. If you are looking for a better and deeper understanding of times, I think you must read this book. The text is full of references to films and stories, creating moments of lightness and entertainment among the big ideas. (Bette Adriaanse, novelist, author of the book »What Art Does«, a collaboration with Brian Eno )