lanlan
in the long tail of the industrial revolution we are still living in the long tail of the industrial revolution. We are still dealing with the isolation, alienation, lack of connection, and the diminishement of the singular human hand and voice that mass production and industrialization ultimately pruduced. what does it mean?
Oct 9, 2015 2:57 PM
Answers · 3
5
The "bell-shaped curve" of the normal distribution has two long tapering ends that are called the "tails." They actually extend out to infinity, getting gradually thinner and thinner without ever dying out completely. In the last few decades, the phrase "long tail" has become popular. It describes a business or social phenomenon that fades away very gradually over a long period of time. Long after its peak, it is still there. For example, it is surprising to me that vinyl phonograph records still exist. We are in the "long tail" of vinyl records. The Industrial Revolution is often dated roughly 1760 to 1840 or thereabouts. Normally think of it as historical event that happened in the the past, and is now over. During that period of time there were excesses, such as cruel exploitation of children in factories. In 1804 William Blake wrote of "dark Satanic mills." By the 1880s the Arts and Crafts movement contrasted the beauty of handcrafted items with the dullness of mass-produced items--but, of course, most people can't afford handcrafted items. The writer says there was "isolation, alienation, lack of connection, and the diminishement of the singular human hand and voice that mass production and industrialization ultimately produced." But instead of treating this as an historical event in the past, he says that these negative effects have "a long tail." He says that a century and a half later, all of the problems caused by the Industrial Revolution may not be as bad, but still exist.
October 9, 2015
2
Well, it's written in English, lol, not sure what else I could say? Some common themes hark back to Marx's Alienation of Man and dehumanisation. A belief that workers are considered to be more as drones, thus replaceable as parts of a machine. Rather than regard for human beings as individuals with lives and rights, especially toward a hedonistic ideal of man and life.
October 9, 2015
Lol. Frequency distributions from statistics? Really? I think that's a non sequitur.
October 9, 2015
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