From: Dave Long (dl@silcom.com)
Date: Wed Jun 21 2000 - 01:48:15 PDT
> ... So the Cybersphere starts to take on just a
> hint of the textural richness of real life.
> ... In the future we will have plenty
> of technology — and the best consequence will be that we will no longer
> have to think about technology.
What if that future is now? If one wishes the textural richness
of real life: live in it. There is nothing technology-related that
prevents anyone from turning with gratitude or relief to the topics
that actually count.
I was most amused by Lanier's comment on Gelernter's rant:
> This reminds of Marx's vision of what should happen after the
> revolution. He imagined we'd be reading the classics and
> practicing archery! Idealists always believe there's some more
> meaningful, less dreary plane of existence that can be found in
> this life.
Substitute "reading bestsellers" and "playing golf" (for after all,
we live in a workers' paradise, not some elitist communist regime),
and I think we have plenty of examples which demonstrate that such
a plane of existence can be found in this life. (Having wintered
in the Palm Springs area this year, I note that most of Coupland's
vision from _Generation X_ is still spot on.)
-Dave
(Can anyone provide me a reference for "reading the classics and
practicing archery"? Best I can find is a passage in _The German
Ideology_ (Marx/Engels), but the translation I used mentions a day
spent hunting and fishing, with a bit of literary criticism after
dinner. Either way, it sounds more attractive than TPR reporting
or wearing flair.)
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Jun 21 2000 - 01:38:41 PDT