The Idea of the New

What describes the idea of the new is, of course, not new. In this sense, what cannot be seen, felt or expressed, already exists among a constantly recycled potential turning throughout the universe. The investigation into the various components, uses and attitudes surrounding the interdisciplinary, sometimes controversial, and often-complex nature of New Media begins with the following two assertions: First, a capacity of knowledge is gained through experiential learning. Second, self-awareness mandates that all experience, and therefore all knowledge, is limited.

Experiences of New Media dovetail aspects of Visual Culture. The idea or experience of media is a function of culture, in that the language of culture is the medium by which an ability of expression and communication is made possible. The advantages of New Media studies are accessible not simply through a description of media which is new, but through a further understanding and development of the self. As this disposition suggests whatever means, medium, or series of disciplines one may encounter, all knowledge is transmitted by, through and is, ultimately, of the self.

The struggle of identity is much a struggle of culture. What once defined the practical necessities of survival may have little or no relevance to the concerns of today, much as the experiences of today will not always be the concerns of tomorrow. The arrangements of culture continually bring forth common concerns demanding a specific literacy. Understanding history is understanding a connection of these concerns.

“The chief function of literacy is to make us masters… of knowledge and communication…”(2), writes .E. D. Hirsh, whose primary concern is conveying a breadth of educational and cultural values. Hirsh knew cultural literacy to be, “the basic information needed to thrive in the modern world,”(xiii) and believes that collective world knowledge provides a necessary context allowing the comprehension of specific meanings from the widest variety and complexity of discourse. Values associated with the collective concerns of cultural are elemental structures by which every choice, attitude, or judgment is informed.

The products of identity are collective ideas imbedded within cultural values. The idea of an individual is an idea forged in a collective mind, as identified in the products of culture. Language, as a product of culture, is a literacy created to assist with the concerns of culture. Identified by Hirsh, the role of language fulfills the need of a higher functioning mind, while underscoring primal instincts necessary for survival. These dual roles can quickly be assessed in an examination of daily tasks necessary for definition, adaptation, or navigation. Completing the various tasks and purposes of communication relies on assumptions of structure and the meanings of meaning.