tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post6528136719434991977..comments2024-03-18T20:18:04.114+00:00Comments on Bruce Charlton's Notions: What is the intrinsic, core function of the Mass Media? Just: to grow...Bruce Charltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-48303721891956254042013-12-08T07:21:05.126+00:002013-12-08T07:21:05.126+00:00@ajb - I have no idea. The mass media has a mass e...@ajb - I have no idea. The mass media has a mass effect which is clearly discernible and is evil; yet of course that is a net effect, on average - and there are wonderfully Good counter-currents, among which is lds.org. So far as I can tell - online, the Deseret News is pretty much an ordinary newspaper, but with some Mormon interest magazine features and coverage. I can't imagine the Deseret News is regarded as a major missionary tool; merely not as actively-bad as some other newspapers which Mountain West Saints might be reading.Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-15986941949851685752013-12-08T03:51:30.902+00:002013-12-08T03:51:30.902+00:00The Deseret News recently added a national edition...The Deseret News recently added a national edition - curious as to whether you think this is a bad thing or a good thing for the LDS Church to pursue?ajbnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-35499992686079549152013-12-06T19:46:37.128+00:002013-12-06T19:46:37.128+00:00@WmJas - "Surely the aim of the mass media is...@WmJas - "Surely the aim of the mass media is to inform and entertain" - <br /><br />Not so, there is no system to inform (the MM has no capacity to generate information; for this it is parasitic); and entertainment is done by the arts. <br /><br />The need to survive/ grow is a constraint of all systems - a property of systems per se; but not a primary function (which distinguishes systems).Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-54497664050422856082013-12-06T18:07:34.620+00:002013-12-06T18:07:34.620+00:00Surely the aim of the mass media is to inform and ...Surely the aim of the mass media is to inform and entertain -- though of course it doesn't actually do that any more than the other systems you mentioned actually do what they're supposed to do.<br /><br />As for growth-for-growth's-sake, Darwinian mechanisms constrain all systems to pursue that to some degree. Those that don't, don't survive long.Wm Jashttp://wmjas.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com