Overview

At the intersection of humanities and science, this book re-examines noise as a fundamental force in shaping contemporary thought and digital culture. Anchored by the republication of Steven Sands and John Ratey's influential 1986 article ""The concept of noise"", this volume explores how noise transcends its traditional definition as unwanted sound or mere signal interference to become a generative force in our increasingly complex, digitised world. The book brings together leading thinkers including Catherine Malabou, Rosa Menkman, and Yuk Hui to investigate noise across multiple domains: from semantic disruptions in Large Language Models to the algorithmic unconscious, from gaming platforms to glitch aesthetics, and from protest movements to post-semiotic French theory. Building on Sands and Ratey's pioneering concept of ""the mental state of noise"", it reveals how noise functions, also, as a catalyst for emergence, creativity, and transformative change in contemporary society. The chapters in this interdisciplinary collection challenge conventional understandings of complex systems, cognition, and computation, offering fresh perspectives on the relationship between human thought and technological advancement. By positioning noise as central to 21st-century techno-human cognition and cultural evolution, this volume opens new pathways for understanding the intersection of mind, machine, and meaning. Essential reading for scholars and students in contemporary philosophy, science and technology studies, media and cultural studies, digital humanities, and digital arts, this volume demonstrates how noise has become instrumental in reshaping our understanding of the modern world and its possibilities. It was originally published as a special issue of Angelaki.

Full Product Details

Author:   Cécile Malaspina
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Weight:   0.520kg
ISBN:  

9781041130598

ISBN 10:   1041130597
Pages:   180
Publication Date:   29 September 2025
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Not yet available  
This item is yet to be released. You can pre-order this item and we will dispatch it to you upon its release.

Table of Contents

Foreword Introduction: From the Mental State of Noise to the New Frontiers of Cognition 1. The Concept of Noise 2. Intelligence as a Border Activity Between the Modelled and the Unmodelled 3. The Intelligence of Player Habits and Reflexivity in Magic: The Gathering Arena Limited Draft 4. Looking Through the Algorithmic Unconscious: Antimediation and Noise 5. Noisiness, the Stuff of Thought 6. Creativity: Transcending the Cybernetic Mode via the Virtuality of Relevant Noise 7. The Mental State of Noise: Oliver Sacks’ Musicophilia or Should We Stop the Brain’s Noise? 8. Pierced Eardrums: Liminal Noise in Post-Semiotic French Thought 9. Semantic Noise and Conceptual Stagnation in Natural Language Processing 10. Noise Strike: Wakeful Listening at the Limits of Liberal Cognition 11. Topos of Noise 12. Sketch of an Axiology of Contingency 13. The Shredded Hologram Rose

Reviews

Author Information

Cécile Malaspina is a programme director at the Collège International de Philosophie (Ciph), Paris, France. She is Visiting Research Fellow in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures of the Arts & Humanities Faculty at King’s College London, UK. She is the author of An Epistemology of Noise (2018) and principal translator of Gilbert Simondon’s On the Mode of Existence of Technical Objects (2017). She is a member of the editorial boards of Angelaki: Journal for the Theoretical Humanities, Copy Press, and is guest editor for Nature: Humanities and Social Sciences Communications.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Countries Available

All regions