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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20151113T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20151113T163000
SUMMARY:John Durham Peters “Celestial Databases: The Case of Joseph Smith’s Medi
a Theology”
DESCRIPTION:\nFantasies of omniscience and total records haunt the age o
f Big Data. Many data-processing corporations cloak themselves in the c
elestial rhetoric of “the cloud” and Google co-founder Sergey Brin once
stated that “a perfect search engine would be the mind of God.” Media h
istorians interested in forerunners of digital computation have pointed
to a number of book-keeping and data-gathering projects\, both bureaucra
tic and religious\, that point to our moment of superabundant documentat
ion. In this talk\, I will review such fantasies of heavenly and earthl
y paperwork\, focusing in particular on the case of Joseph Smith\, the M
ormon prophet\, whose startling ideas about linking the living and dead
through records both cast light on and offer a counter-narrative to the
Big Data projects of our time.\n\nFor more details: https://events.la.ps
u.edu/event/john-durham-peters-celestial-databases/
X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:
Fantasies of om
niscience and total records haunt the age of Big Data. Many data-proces
sing corporations cloak themselves in the celestial rhetoric of “the clo
ud” and Google co-founder Sergey Brin once stated that “a perfect search
engine would be the mind of God.” Media historians interested in forer
unners of digital computation have pointed to a number of book-keeping a
nd data-gathering projects, both bureaucratic and religious, that point
to our moment of superabundant documentation. In this talk, I will revi
ew such fantasies of heavenly and earthly paperwork, focusing in particu
lar on the case of Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet, whose startling ide
as about linking the living and dead through records both cast light on
and offer a counter-narrative to the Big Data projects of our time.
