Does Social Media Have Limits?

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxvi

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Camila Mozzini-Alister

   Pages 1-19

3. Mediation and the Process of Outer Expansion

   • Camila Mozzini-Alister

   Pages 21-61

4. Meditation and the Process of Inner Expansion

   • Camila Mozzini-Alister

   Pages 63-94

5. Medi(t)ation and the Desire for Omnipresence

   • Camila Mozzini-Alister

   Pages 95-124

6. Limits

   • Camila Mozzini-Alister

   Pages 125-138

7. Back Matter

   Pages 139-164

   PDF

This book is a vibrant investigation on a deeply human subconscious desire: the desire for omnipresence, or in a nutshell, the desire to be here, there, and everywhere at the same time. After all, why is it not enough just to be in the offline ordinariness of the here and now? To answer this question, Camila Mozzini-Alister does the crossing of two seemingly distant universes: mediation and meditation. Throughout a vigorous archaeology of the relationship between screen and mind allied with an engaging first-person narrative, the author raises awareness of the risks of becoming addicted to social media and obsessed by meditation. This brings forth a vital question: what are the limits for the desire to be more than a body? 

  

• facebook
• whatsapp
• twitter
• instagram
• social media

“In this book, Camila Mozzini-Alister sets the path for pursuing both the work of Vilém Flusser and Tantra Yoga’s practical philosophy proposed by P. R. Sarkar. A profoundly serious examination of the post-human condition in the age of social media, this work is as moving as it is insightful. Mozzini-Alister’s incisive questioning is relevant for the fields of humanities, social media and technology studies as well as indispensable for a new understanding of the meaning and value of meditation.”  (Fabian Ludueña Romandini, Professor of Philosophy, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina)

“In this fascinating book I am reminded of the brilliant works of William Irwin Thompson, and his classic, The Time Falling Bodies Take To Light.”  (Sohail Inayatullah, Inaugural UNESCO Chair in Futures Studies, Tamkang University)

“Consciousness and subjectivity will never be the same!”  (Marcus Bussey, Deputy Head of the School of Social Sciences and Senior Lecturer in History and Futures Studies, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia)

“Bodies of Light is a living testemony of an artist who gave her own life and body to her work. It is difficult to categorize Camila Mozzini-Alister’s work since it is, at once a work of philosophy, biography, performing arts, media archeaology, science fiction, as well as an innovative way of bringing together mind and screen through the practices of mediation in social media and spiritual meditation. One of the most interesting aspects of this book is how the author uses her own voice and experience to relate to any other voice in the same quest to becoming more than just a body. Grounded in a rigorous phenomenological exercise, she calls attention to our deep subconscious 'desire for omnipresence' and brings forth a crucial question for humanity: after all, what are the limits of our ‘progress?'” (Josepa López Poquet, Professor of Fine Arts, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain)

“The book Bodies of Light, by Camila Mozzini-Alister, is original from any perspective we approach it. The originality is revealed by the relationship that the author establishes between mediation and meditation, leading her to propose the term 'medi(t)ation.' Its originality is consolidated by the writing style, combining a refined study on the best philosophers of technological mediation with transformative personal experiences with meditation. Mozzini-Alister’s text is a living proof that objectivity and subjectivity either interpenetrate and become fruitful or do nothing at all.However, the striking originality of the essay does not imply, as the most ingrained traditionalists might think, any loss of quality. The combination of refined study with the assumption of subjectivity itself, therefore of the I-who-speaks, amplifies the quality of the hypotheses raised and the arguments that she defends. When the author sees, for example, 'in the act of continually touching screens the search for a common desire in meditation practices: the desire for limitlessness, or enlightenment,' she literally enlightens our reading, helping us to understand our everyday life gestures, in front of the screens that surround us, as part of the search for transcendence. This is a rare work, worthy of being read and reread again and again.” (Gustavo Bernardo Krause, Professor of Literary Theory, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) 

“Camila Mozzini-Alister’s work is a daring combination of traditional scholarship and personal experience. Her approach to digital life highlights the non-evident spiritual components and possibilities of our technological existence.” (Erick Felinto, Professor of Media Studies, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

“Camila Mozzini-Alister’s book is an honest work about our societies’ addiction to communication devices and social networks. The author focuses on the mediation between screens – or technical images after Vilém Flusser – and our minds, which is described from a media philosophical/archaeological perspective. However, Mozzini-Alister’s work is not only a theoretical investigation but it also shows a spiritual and philosophical way out of being trapped in black-box-like apparatuses. She finds arguments for changing these habits in meditation and joyfully plays with the relationship between the terms ‘mediation’ and ‘meditation’. Hereby a new aspect of Vilém Flusser’s thought is also introduced to the reader: how Indian philosophical influences can be traced back in his media philosophy.” (Anita Jóri, Research Associate at the Vilém Flusser Archive, Berlin University of the Arts, Germany)

“Bodies of Light reads like a scholarly piece with first-person reflections. Mozzini-Alister critically analyses the current obsession with social media technologies: acknowledging our daily struggles to constantly check our ‘screens’ in a desire to be omnipresent, to be superhuman. This book is easy to read and will appeal to scholars of social media, particularly those who study social media addiction.” (Pavica Sheldon, Chair of Communication Arts at the University of Alabama in Huntsville)

“’The Social Dilemma’ meets somaesthetics meets the 21^st-century body electric. Camila Mozzini-Alister’s Does Social Media Have Limits? is a deeply reflected and profoundly inspiring tale of traversing the distance between our rabbit holes of social media and the black holes of seeking a self in the universe of technical images. An indispensable experience for those looking to find the singularity or just looking to regain consciousness.” (Anke Finger, Professor of German Studies, Media Studies, and Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies, University of Connecticut, USA)

• University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, Australia

  Camila Mozzini-Alister

Camila Mozzini-Alister works as a Social Media Educator and an Adjunct Research Fellow at the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC), Australia.

Policies and ethics