@article{1451327,
      recid = {1451327},
      author = {Ervik, Andreas,},
      title = {Becoming human amid diversions : playful, stupid, cute and  funny evolution /},
      pages = {1 online resource},
      abstract = {This book develops a philosophy of the predominant yet  obtrusive aspects of digital culture, arguing that what  seems like insignificant distractions of digital technology  - such as video games, mindless browsing, cute animal  imagery, political memes, and trolling - are actually keyed  into fundamental aspects of evolution. These elements are  commonly framed as distractions in an economy of attention  and this book approaches them with the prospect of  understanding their attraction, from the starting point of  diversions. Diversions designate not simply shifting states  of attention but characterize the direction of any system  on a different course, a theoretical perspective which  makes it possible to investigate distractions as not only  by-products of contemporary media and human attention. The  perspective shifts from distractions as the unwanted and  inconsequential to considering instead the function of  diversions in the process of evolutionary development.  Grounded in media theory but drawing from diverse  interdisciplinary perspectives in biology, philosophy, and  systems theory, this book provocatively theorizes the  process of diversions of the playful, stupid, cute, and  funny as significant for the evolution of a range of  organisms. Andreas Ervik holds a PhD in Media studies from  the University of Oslo, Norway. He is an independent  researcher and artist.},
      url = {http://library.usi.edu/record/1451327},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13877-5},
}