But now things have changed. In the 'information age' we can see movies and TV shows whenever we want, not having to rely on fragmentary memories, and we can track down even quite obscure information with a few mouse clicks and a bit of effort.
And this has changed us. I realised this when I was talking to an old friend, for many years a bit of a hermit living in the wilds of the French countryside (although he finds his way into towns and cities, gigs and recording studios pretty regularly).
He has no computer, no Internet and a partially functioning phone. And still operates as if he lives in this older world, sending me little half-remembered or half-understood fragments of pop science, conspiracy theories, mysticism and cod philosophy that signify a deeper, mysterious reality. Now not all of this is flaky, although he has a tendency to make it so.
The problem is, unlike 30 years ago where contact with some of these ideas was rare, they've become common currency, and in moments I can explore them, read vast amounts of source material and encounter balanced, syncretic opinions to use as a basis for my own exploration.
So what's the point?
Well, it made me think a little about blogging. In the old days, the presentation of a piece of this hidden, poorly known information would have been enough - "look at this, think about, the world is not what we thought." And with little other input, fit it into a broader worldview created from such fragments.
But now the information is freely available, all that's needed is a pointer to it and a little contextualisation (and perhaps some related information or interpretations).
And I guess that's what I do on my blog. Assemble bits of information, and attempt to contextualise and leverage them to point to other information I consider relevant and useful in terms of understanding the world.
Article comments
1 - Aaman
Well-written and insightful, thank you
2 - Mark Saleski
i agree. not a lot of thoughtful reflection out there about how the internet/technology has changed our lives.
3 - Elvira Black
Ah yes, I am old enough to relate--lol.
Up until now, I generally considered this issue in a solipsistic way though--in terms of how much less of a pain in the ass it would have been not to spend half my time in the microfilm room at the university library, or poring through the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature to find some article hidden away on a shelf.
But yes, I think the internet has revolutionized our breadth and depth of knowlege, and thus the way we look at and think about the world--the only limitation is that some take more advantage of this blessing than others.
Great post!
4 - Susan R-G
Very good post. What was once a difficult search for information that we may, or may not, ever find - we now can usually locate with a few keystrokes and find a vast wealth of information on any given subject. I, too, remember hours in the library, and hours in front of a microfilm reader, searching for obscure information that was probably only of interest to me and one other person - who was long since dead and buried.
Thanks for putting into such eloquent words what so many of us feel!