Posted on Tuesday, 27th October 2009 by Bill Bean
This NY Times article caught me off-guard. It is provocative and slightly disturbing as it pegs me squarely.
Going Offline In Search Of Freedom ~ Peggy Orenstein
“In my slightly less agonizing situation, the trap is more of a bait and switch: the promise is of infinite knowledge, but what’s delivered is infinite information, and the two are hardly the same.”
I must admit I have a thirst for knowledge but mere information is a kind of salt water for this craving. It doesn’t satisfy at all. What I know is that this is not a new struggle for humans.
The writer’s closing statement is extremely poignant, and is an example of actual wisdom. Let’s think more deeply about this.
“I’m not wishing the Internet away. It has become so integral to my work — to my life — that I honestly can’t recall what I did without it. But it has allowed us to reflexively indulge every passing interest, to expect answers to every fleeting question, to believe that if we search long enough, surf a little further, we can hit the dry land of knowing “everything that happens” and that such knowledge is both possible and desirable. In the end, though, there is just more sea, and as alluring as we can find the perpetual pursuit of little thoughts, the net result may only be to prevent us from forming the big ones.”
I need to rediscover my mast.
Posted in Personal | Comments (1)
October 27th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Wow. Thanks for posting this Bill. It’s as thought she’s read our collective minds and said what we hadn’t yet realized — or were afraid to admit.