Page 176 - Culture Technology Communication

Attitudes toward Technology and Communication 159

However, this eloquent fact as yet clarifies nothing. And here,
we are confronted with the limits of empirical social research and
move towards philosophy. There are philosophers and historians
who believe that German scepticism towards progress has a histori-
cal basis. The Romantic period in particular led to an enlightened
approach to nature and a rejection of science and technology
(Abrams 1971, 181; Heiland 1992, 47–61; Sieferle 1984, 30–56). This
could be one explanation.
I also support one of Carleen Maitland’s propositions (1999).
According to her Proposition Five, cultures marked by low ethno-
centrism will begin diffusion of interactive networks before cultures
marked by high ethnocentrism. This proposition fits with the results
for the Swiss referendum on membership in the European Economic
Area (mentioned above), which shows that the French part of
Switzerland is more open to international collaboration. In the
terms of Maitland’s Proposition Five, French-speaking Switzerland
is thus far less ethnocentric than its German-speaking counterpart.
In this connection, it is also interesting to see that Basel—the first
Swiss commune with an Internet site—voted in favor of membership
in the European Community.
Perhaps, too, these differences derive from something much more
commonplace: it is possible that the inclination to play is more wide-
spread in the French-speaking area, and that this takes the form of a
less inhibited approach to the new media and technologies. Seen in
this way, the results reflect a certain French “lightness of being.”

Note

The exciting and inspiring CATaC conference would not have oc-
curred without the initiative of Charles Ess and Fay Sudweeks. I want to
thank both of them for their great efforts, as these led to both a humanly en-
riching exchange of ideas and empirical progress. I also want to thank them
for their help with developing the English version of this text. In addition, I
want to warmly thank Hans-Ulrich Zaugg at the Bundesamt für Statistik
[Federal Office for Statistics], who developed the cartographic representa-
tions of my analyses. Finally, I also thank Hans-Peter Meier (cultur prospec-
tiv), who let me draw generously from his wealth of experience and
sociological findings.
This manuscript appeared originally in the Electronic Journal of
Communication/La revue electronique de communication, 8 (3 & 4), 1998
(see <http://www.cios.org/www/ejcrec2.htm>) and is reprinted by kind per-
mission of the editors.