I'm reading up on Americanism and checked _America Now_ out of the library. As I was reading through the introduction, a sentence caught my attention and made me think: "Now there's a definition for technologism."

By the time he was writing in the 60s, America seemingly had developed a little more pessimism, but in his introduction, John Kirk writes that America had long had certain "assumptions" that were "expressed in terms of a characteristic 'national style.'" Among these was "faith in progress, optimism, pragmatism, a nearly limitless sense of the possible, respect for achievement, a belief that rising wealth and expanding technology would ultimately dissipate most individual and social problems..." (x). Based on Burke's essay on Helhaven and what I've found otherwise to supplement my understanding a bit, I think that this last clause could apply to technologism.

The concept holds technology in high esteem, placing great faith in its ability to solve problems.

Burke's discussion of surveys in relation to hypertechnologism made me think of the "tests" people take online to find out what superhero they are most like. The results can very handily be posted on blogs and myspace pages.

Every once in a while I get sucked into that vortex and keep clicking on tests. I have found, as a result, that I am Batman and my 1920s name is Ivy Eddie. What value this has, I little know. But I was thinking of this when Burke said that he took surveys that didn't really have options that allowed him to answer as he really felt. I find such things frustrating and limiting.

Here's an example of how this concept plays out in the blog survey world. You can find a personality test at http://www.blogthings.com/howrareisyourpersonalityquiz/. Included in this is a prompt that reads: "In high school, you were most likely to be voted:" The options are: "1) Most Popular Kid. 2) Quietest Kid." I didn't really have to guess on this. I really was voted quietest (which probably will not be terribly shocking). But most people, I think, fall somewhere in the accursed middle and wouldn't feel totally comfortable selecting either option--though this is a rather weak example on my part, for there are times when I end up thinking, "None of the above apply to me. Does that mean I just stop taking this thing?" It would probably be wise on my part. These types of things are addictive, and it's not often that you really need to know what kind of food you are.

Perhaps we've freed up some time in order to have more leisure time to waste doing meaningless things such as taking tests at blogthings.com.