ABSTRACT
A combination of forces is preventing a wider awareness of the ways in which the digital revolution represents a colonizing force in the world today. As the digital revolution relies upon the printed word and other abstract systems of representation, it reproduces key features of the printed word. The printed word appearing on the computer screen and the data-driven models and decisions have led to important gains in the quality of life, and in learning about the changes occurring in natural systems. The problem is the lack of a balanced understanding of the beneficial and destructive uses of digital technologies. The scope of the deepening ecological crisis, which includes the growing acidification of the world's oceans, extreme climate changes, droughts and wildfires, loss of species and habitats, and the poisoning of natural systems with the millions of tons of toxic chemicals, needs to be taken into account in terms of how progress is understood.
