Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain“I didn’t decide to become anorexic. It snuck up on me disguised as a healthy diet, a professional attitude. Being as thin as possible was a way to make the job of being an actress easier . . .”
Portia de Rossi weighed only 82 pounds when she collapsed on the set of the Hollywood film in which she was playing her first leading role. This should have been the culmination of all her years of hard work—first as a child model in Australia, then as a cast member of one of the hottest shows on American television. On the outside she was thin and blond, glamorous and successful. On the inside, she was literally dying.
Humans instinctively form words by weaving patterns of meaningless speech elements. Moreover, we do so in specific, regular ways. We contrast dogs and gods, favour blogs to lbogs. We begin forming sound-patterns at birth and, like songbirds, we do so spontaneously, even in the absence of an adult model. We even impose these phonological patterns on invented cultural technologies such as reading and writing.
Critics of contemporary culture have argued that critical theory must keep pace with technological change and, in the process, have instituted a theoretical model that restricts consideration of technology's impact on human experience to those dimensions that can be captured in language. In this wide-ranging critical study of poststructuralism's legacy to contemporary cultural studies, Mark Hansen challenges the hegemony of this model, contending that technologies fundamentally alter our sensory experience and drastically affect what it means to live as embodied human agents.
Based on examination board syllabuses, the material on this disc provides comprehensive coverage of the essential Mechanics material, understanding of which is vital for success. The thirteen sections listed below each contain several topic areas, providing support for those studying modular and linear courses - sufficient for a double module in Mechanics. Immediate feedback on understanding is provided by hundreds of test questions, all of which have a model solution available if required. Testing yourself with these questions is designed to be an integral part of the learning process.
Based on the Examination Board requirements for Statistics at Advanced Level, the material on this disc provides comprehensive coverage of the essential Statistics material, understanding of which is vital for success. The material is appropriate for either modular (providing coverage of two modules) or linear courses. The seven sections listed below each contain several topic areas. Immediate feedback on understanding is provided by hundreds of test questions, all of which have a model solution available if required. Progress within each topic is reported on the final screen. Exam-style questions, with model solutions are provided in each section.
