Electronic Literature

So after class on Thursday I went pursuing around the second volume of the Electronic Literature Collection. I happened to stumble upon a creation called Brainstrips. (And I apologize now because I am unaware of how to properly identify these works. Do they require quotes or underling? Grammar is not moving quite as fast as literature I suppose.) Defiantly look at it. Here is the link:

http://collection.eliterature.org/2/works/bigelow_brainstrips.html

While I worked through it I was thinking about the propaganda adds of during World War II time frame. They were very striking to people and most had not seen things like them before. McLuhan talks a little about this. What you say is changed by how you say it and who hears it. That’s basically the bottom line of his book. It made me wonder, would he say the same things about these forms of literature? The one in particular that I am referencing is basically propaganda. It take something like irrational numbers and uses it to comment on the idea of divorce or rather how divorce is used and looked at in our society. People would rather run than try to talk things out anymore. The author takes subjects from math and science as well as a random group of social issues who’s titles do not match their true content. How does displaying divorce as an irrational number affect how we view it? It makes us question our values in a way that has not yet happened. Thus far, technology, specifically information technology, has been blamed for creating an uncaring, sarcastic, valueless society of broken families. What if someone had the bright idea to use that uncaring, sarcastic, valueless tone to create change? How effective would it be to use a developing form of entertainment to create awareness? I should also clarify for offense’s sake that these are not necessarily my personal opinions about society, but more my ideas on how we can use the new tools that will likely dominate our adult lives.