社会经济学杂志

抽象的

Modernity and Social Change: Perversion, Commoditization and Closure

Antonio L Rappa*

Man believes in modernity and technology because he fears death. Man is likely to cling on to anything that will give him comfort, gratification or security in the world; a world in which culture and ritual play distinct and critical functions for human survival. Modernity for man used to be about understanding how the customization of societies and how things ought to come into play. But modernity is the realization of the question of what it means to be alive today? Modernity moves man towards resolution and closure within artificial landscapes designed out of contradictions and consequences. There are clear ambiguities, contradictions and consequences throughout the modern experience. This is discoverable in reality as well as the nonreality of academia, of cultural anthropology, political theory, political science, and computer science