Lee Siegel, "Against the Machine"

On Wednesday, a group of my classmates came together to give a presentation on the undoubtedly hard to swallow book, Against the Machine: Being
human in the age of the electric mob, by Lee Siegel. The group members were Kay, Devin and Samantha.

They began by painting a picture of the author as an established critic, professor and novelist. He comes across as being very harsh, heavily opinionated, and not a mainstream type of guy.
You might guess, after noting the title of the
book, he is full on against technology and the direction it is pushing us. He seems to think the rise of the Internet and all the advances in technology it has brought us are pushing us further and further away from popular culture and closure and closer towards popularity culture.

"Culture has changed from being 'passively' to 'actively' entertained."

Siegel talks about the use of the Internet to further ourselves, and says there is "too much self interest" evolving.

Siegel goes on to bash American Idol and it's contestants, comparing them to the players of the Internet, the "easy girl" and the "class clown" included, saying they just want to be big, they just want to be liked, and they'll do whatever we say to get that from us.

What it all boils down to is Siegel's elitist opinion that people should stick to what they're good at, rather than mix and intertwine. For example, corporate professionals should socialize with other corporate professionals and other groups a like. He sees people broadening their horizons as a bad thing and calls it "watering down our culture" instead.

It was personally hard for me to understand all of Siegels points and analogies, but I think there is little next to obvious about the common opinion of this critic/ author. However, it is worth noting that he has been applauded by some for speaking out of line about something valued by so many, and for some showing inertia when it comes to the fast paced changes the Internet caters to, he taps into a glimmer of hope for those who wish it'd all just rewind and go away.

I of course am out of my seat about it. Funny thing though, I kinda wanna read the book, LOL.