Postmodernism Generator
{{Short description|Computer program}}
{{Infobox website
| name = Postmodernism Generator
| screenshot = Postmodernism Generator (cropped).png
| caption = An example of a randomly generated title.
| url = [https://www.elsewhere.org/journal/pomo/ Postmodernism Generator]
| commercial = No
| type = Parody generator
| language = English
| owner = Andrew C. Bulhak
| author = Andrew C. Bulhak
| launch_date = 1996
| current_status= Active
}}
The Postmodernism Generator is a computer program that automatically produces "close imitations" of postmodernist writing. It was written in 1996 by Andrew C. Bulhak of Monash University using the Dada Engine, a system for generating random text from recursive grammars.{{Cite web|last=Bulhak|first=Andrew C.|date=April 1, 1996|title=On the Simulation of Postmodernism and Mental Debility using Recursive Transition Networks|url=http://www.elsewhere.org/journal/wp-content/uploads/2005/11/tr-cs96-264.pdf|publisher=Monash University|series=Department of Computer Science Technical Report 96/264}} A free version is also hosted online. The essays are produced from a formal grammar defined by a recursive transition network.{{Cite book |url=https://tertulia.com/book/postmodernism-generator-jesse-russell/9785511429694 |title=Postmodernism Generator, by Jesse Russell |date=2013-01-21 |isbn=978-5-511-42969-4 |language=en}}
Responses
The Postmodernism Generator was mentioned by biologist Richard Dawkins in the conclusion to his article "Postmodernism Disrobed" (1998) for the scientific journal Nature, reprinted in his book A Devil's Chaplain (2004).
After he "produced the first two [lines] using a 'Postmodernism Generator,' and the second two using an 'Analytic Philosophy Generator{{' "}}, philosophy of information and information ethics researcher Luciano Floridi stated, that {{blockquote|"So many resources are devoted to internal issues that no external input can be processed anymore, and the system stops working. The world may be undergoing a revolution, Rome may be burning, but the philosophical discourse remains detached, meaningless, and utterly oblivious. Time for an upgrade."{{cite web |author=Luciano Floridi |title=Why Information Matters |url=https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/why-information-matters |publisher=The New Atlantis |access-date=1 January 2023 |date=Winter 2017}}}}
See also
References
{{Reflist|refs=
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External links
- {{official website}} (generates a random article each time loaded)
{{Criticism of postmodernism}}
Category:Criticism of postmodernism