What the hell am I going to do if the internet ever goes away? I had a random thought just now wondering if there was any video of the hindenburg disaster, considering I had only seen stills or very short clips up until this point. It took me under a minute to find the original film, complete with commentary. How crazy is that? I pulled random information from our collective digital memory and experienced it in under 3 minutes. Are there any negative consequences to our thinking patterns as a result of this? For instance, the urge to memorize certain categories of information? Why bother, when I can pull it up in under a minute?
Digression: The reporter was interesting. He struggles to remain professional and ends up breaking down as it happens in front of him. He came across as a human being, who is a reporter, reacting honestly to a tragedy. Conversely, modern talking heads on TV come across as reporters/anchors, who imitate human life, reacting eagerly with ghoulish hunger to a tragedy. Homework: What is bullshit about this perceived dichotomy?
Returning to main point: What the fuck are we going to do when we can't google text and video knowledge anymore? I predict rioting in the streets.
My reading recently included "The Day of the Triffids," a fun little romp through the dissolution of human civilization. And this was in the pre-intertubes 1950s.
ReplyDeleteThe question seems to be (for me, anyway), "Have we become such specialists that none of us can survive independent of the culture at large?"
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/15-10/st_thompson
ReplyDeleteI predict a lot more sitting down to eat together as a family at dinner time.
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