Discuss the epigraph from Player one by Douglas Coupland “You can have information or you can have a life, but you can’t have both” – GradSchoolPapers.com

Discuss the epigraph from Player one by Douglas Coupland “You can have information or you can have a life, but you can’t have both”
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Knowledge has supposedly given humans great control over the world not only through scientific inquiry but also through emotional and moral learning. Knowledge is perceived disparately from individual to individual; for some, it gives life, for others it takes life away. The epigraph “You can have information or you can have a life, but you can’t have both” depicts a difficult choice between information and life through which, the author conveys a perspective towards a world that is predominantly surrounded by technological advancements such as Internet and Media. The novel Player One by Douglas Coupland develops on the notion that knowledge and life are opportunity costs to each other. The author does this with the help of four characters trapped in the lounge of an airport, symbolizing the state of being suspended between origin and destination. Furthermore, the novel revolves around the theme of knowledge through the use of setting, third-person objective, characterization, and tone.
The novel is set in the present era in an airport cocktail lounge at the Toronto Airport Hotel. The airport, a relatively modern concept achieved by the humans through evolved knowledge, acts as a trap for the four characters as they try to pass time and merely survive both inside and outside of their minds. The author uses airports to symbolize characters trapped in the obscurity of their purpose in life. A cocktail lounge necessitates a presence of alcohol, which acts as a physical form of emotions. All the characters indulge in the use of alcohol not only to soothe their mental conflicts, but also to bond with each other. For example, when Karen and Warren find each other to be incompatible, alcohol works as a distress between the two. This setting portrays intangible human sentiments being replaced with physical forms of knowledge as characters give more attention to their non-human surroundings creating a somber energy in their lives.
Media can be considered an element of knowledge invented by the humans to communicate with each other. The presence of Media in the setting can be seen in the form of television news channels, Internet, etc. The Internet culture and media play an important role in the characters’ worlds. Most of the knowledge they receive by reading, listening, and feeling is fed to them through a third-person objective. Media evokes feelings within characters. For example, Karen’s willingness to fly to Warren on the basis of his profile on the Internet shows the control media has on Karen’s decision making. Here, media creates conflicting identities of Warren, constructing a delusion in Karen’s mind by undermining his real personality and attracting her through his physical (digital) appearance.
Characterization also plays an important role in contributing to the theme of knowledge. The four characters are a part of an era where a pre-internet brain does not exist. Most of their conversations are based on facts and figures acquired through the help of technology. The characters also compare the human species to computers

 

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