Technology Strikes Back

O conceito de Rückschlag, ou contra-ataque, parece sintetizar a fase mais madura da teoria da técnica de Vilém Flusser. O artigo tenta revelar os diferentes níveis de significado contidos no conceito, relacionando-o com concepções similares como a ideia de exteriorização teorizada pelo paleoetnólogo francês André Leroi-Gourhan, o conceito de feedback, desenvolvido pelo inventor da cibernética Norbert Wiener, e o conceito de interação pensado por Walter Benjamin.

The concept of Rückschlag (relapse / striking back) seems to synthetize Flusser’s theory of technic. This paper tries to disclose the different layers of meaning of this concept by relating it to similar approaches such as the idea of externalization theorized by the French paleoanthropologist André Leroi-Gourhan, the concept of feedback as it was developed by the inventor of cybernetics, Norbert Wiener, and the concept of interplay (Zwischenspiel) as proposed by Walter Benjamin.