The Postmodernism Generator is a
computer program
A computer program is a sequence or set of instructions in a programming language for a computer to Execution (computing), execute. It is one component of software, which also includes software documentation, documentation and other intangibl ...
that automatically produces "close imitations" of
postmodernist
Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, Culture, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting ...
writing. It was written in 1996 by Andrew C. Bulhak of
Monash University
Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...
using the Dada Engine, a system for generating random text from
recursive grammars. A free version is also hosted online. The essays are produced from a
formal grammar
A formal grammar is a set of Terminal and nonterminal symbols, symbols and the Production (computer science), production rules for rewriting some of them into every possible string of a formal language over an Alphabet (formal languages), alphabe ...
defined by a
recursive transition network
A recursive transition network ("RTN") is a graph theoretical schematic used to represent the rules of a context-free grammar. RTNs have application to programming languages, natural language and lexical analysis. Any sentence that is constructe ...
.
Responses
The Postmodernism Generator was mentioned by biologist
Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) is a British evolutionary biology, evolutionary biologist, zoologist, science communicator and author. He is an Oxford fellow, emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, and was Simonyi Professor for the Publ ...
in the conclusion to his article "Postmodernism Disrobed"
[ (1998) for the scientific journal '']Nature
Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...
'', reprinted in his book ''A Devil's Chaplain
''A Devil's Chaplain: Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science, and Love'' is a 2003 book of selected essays and other writings by Richard Dawkins. Published five years after Dawkins's previous book '' Unweaving the Rainbow'', it contains essays cov ...
'' (2004).[
After he "produced the first two ]ines
Ines or INES may refer to:
People
* Ines (name), a feminine given name, also written as Inés or Inês
* Saint Ines or Agnes (), Roman virgin–martyr
* Eda-Ines Etti (stage name: ''Ines''; born 1981), Estonian singer
Places
* Doña Ines, a volca ...
using a 'Postmodernism Generator,' and the second two using an 'Analytic Philosophy
Analytic philosophy is a broad movement within Western philosophy, especially English-speaking world, anglophone philosophy, focused on analysis as a philosophical method; clarity of prose; rigor in arguments; and making use of formal logic, mat ...
Generator, philosophy of information
The philosophy of information (PI) is a branch of philosophy that studies topics relevant to information processing, representational system and consciousness, cognitive science, computer science, information science and information technolog ...
and information ethics
Information ethics has been defined as "the branch of ethics that focuses on the relationship between the creation, organization, dissemination, and use of information, and the ethical standards and moral codes governing human conduct in society" ...
researcher Luciano Floridi
Luciano Floridi (; born 16 November 1964) is an Italian and British philosopher. He is the director of the Digital Ethics Center at Yale University. He is also a Professor of Sociology of Culture and Communication at the University of Bologna ...
stated, that
See also
* Academese
Academese is the unnecessary use of jargon in academia, particularly in academic writing in social science and humanities; it is contrasted with plain language. The term is often but not always pejorative, and occasionally can be used to refer to c ...
* Parody generator
Parody generators are computer programs which generate text that is syntactically correct, but usually meaningless, often in the style of a technical paper or a particular writer. They are also called travesty generators and random text generato ...
* Paper generator
A paper generator is computer software that composes scholarly papers in the style of those that appear in academic journals or conference proceedings. Typically, the generator uses technical jargon from the field to compose sentences that are gra ...
* SCIgen
SCIgen is a paper generator that uses context-free grammar to randomly generate nonsense in the form of computer science research papers. Its original data source was a collection of computer science papers downloaded from CiteSeer. All elemen ...
* Sokal affair
The Sokal affair, also known as the Sokal hoax, was a demonstrative scholarly hoax performed by Alan Sokal, a physics professor at New York University and University College London. In 1996, Sokal submitted an article to ''Social Text'', an ac ...
References
External links
* (generates a random article each time loaded)
{{Criticism of postmodernism
Criticism of postmodernism
Postmodernism
Natural language generation
Internet properties established in 1996