Hello! I am very interested in this thread. I am curious what scholars/theorists/readings people are using to help make sense of cult-formation, myth-making, etc. I know a few that I find helpful and have taught include: - Kenneth Burke's dramatism - MacIntyre, Alasdair. *After Virtue*. (In particular his insights on the role of characters.) - Bormann, Ernest G. "Fantasy and rhetorical vision: The rhetorical criticism of social reality." *Quarterly journal of speech* 58, no. 4 (1972): 396-407. - Fisher, Walter R. "Narration as a human communication paradigm: The case of public moral argument." Communications Monographs 51, no. 1 (1984): 1-22. - Ernst Cassirer, *Language and Myth*. Misti Yang Doctoral Candidate and Instructor *Pronouns: she, her, hers* www.mistiyang.com Department of Communication | The University of Maryland 0107 Skinner Building, 4300 Chapel Lane College Park, MD 20742 On Sat, Oct 24, 2020 at 3:15 AM Sharon Traweek <traweek@history.ucla.edu> wrote:
Hi Thank you very much for the link to an article by *Joshua Roebke [MS, Theoretical High Energy Physics, *McGill University, Montréal], Institute for Historical Studies, Univ of Texas, Austin
https://www.joshuaroebke.com/ https://www.joshuaroebke.com/articles/ https://ugs.utexas.edu/tsi/faculty-profiles
*“Opinion: **Scoundrels, Saints, and the Fiction of Individual Genius*. In the shadows of every celebrated scientist, there are other contributors who may be more deserving of our adulation.” *Undark,* 20 Oct 2020 *https://undark.org/2020/10/22/the-fiction-of-individual-genius/ <https://undark.org/2020/10/22/the-fiction-of-individual-genius/>*
I also recommend this Roebke article on race and gender in high energy physics*:* “The Standard Model,” *Joyland*, Issue 10, Oct 2020 https://joylandmagazine.com/uncategorized/standard-model/?fbclid=IwAR1VALqsw...
Sharon Traweek, Ucla ------------------------------ *From:* Members <members-bounces@lists.sigcis.org> on behalf of Barbara B Walker <bbwalker@unr.edu> *Sent:* Thursday, October 22, 2020 8:41 AM *To:* members@lists.sigcis.org <members@lists.sigcis.org> *Subject:* [SIGCIS-Members] Debunking the myth of individual genius
Hi, everybody,
Hope everyone is safe and well.
Here is an article on the importance of looking beyond the mythologies and cults of genius in the history of science and tech.
https://undark.org/2020/10/22/the-fiction-of-individual-genius/ <https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fundark.org%2f2020%2f10%2f22%2fthe-fiction-of-individual-genius%2f&c=E,1,zSJ4vpB4KaeiSCfDXUtpGaDeuowkE6aW4gmiCvCUYOWdr0NSn0T9QMaeE5BWGQuxbb8a5nA1upjF8wWloVC9E9hulaD6G7pfuau27-4OCg,,&typo=1>
However, I would argue that in computer history as everywhere else in the history of science and tech, debunking is not enough – we must understand the reasons, cultures and process of cult-formation and myth-making that plays such an influential role in our understanding of the past. That’s something I’m exploring in an article on John von Neumann that I recently submitted for publication review (“Creation Myths”). Am also looking at the formation of political personality cults in a seminar I am teaching this semester.
Barbara Walker
Barbara Walker
Associate Professor
Department of History/308
University of Nevada, Reno
Reno NV 89557
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