Biography:
Edward McGushin earned his PhD in Philosophy at Boston College before becoming a Professor of Philosophy at Stonehill College for 11 years now.
Previously, he has spent two years in Paris working in archives on the unpublished manuscripts of the twentieth century French philosopher Michel Foucault.
At Stonehill, he enjoys teaching his Philosophy of Film course as well as other courses on philosophy and psychoanalysis, imagination, dreams, and most recently a course on environmental ethics.
The Overproduction of Media and An Analysis
of the Film, Her
with Professor McGushin
Episode Synopsis:
In this episode, Professor McGushin and Jenna examine what it means for many things today to be an "image of an image" and how the overproduction of images has resulted in the problem of too much media replacing reality. The creation of the Metaverse is analyzed in regards to how it might influence more people to stay inside online and not psychically connect with others. They then end off by discussing the movie Her and how this film foreshadows much of how technology will continue taking over our lives.
Key Takeaway:
"Our lives become more saturated by digital images, social media, virtual realities we risk losing touch with our embodied presence in the world, before others, in our own skin -- maybe we are becoming less capable of tolerating embodied presence, it may now be paradoxically over-stimulating and under-whelming in comparison to the virtual and digital worlds we are increasingly compelled towards."
Soundbite: