Ali Hashemi wrote:
> Hehe Chris you beat me to the punch.
>
> Regarding the section you quoted, I must stay I very strongly disagree
> with John's position.
>
> [JS] No technology from stone carving to supercomputers has ever made
> any fundamental change in the ways that people think, talk, and
> behave.
> Technology might speed up and facilitate many kinds of
> interactions, but
> it never changes human nature.
>
>
> Simply looking at the development of:
>
> a) writing on stone tablets
> b) writing on paper
> c) the printing press
> d) electronic documents
>
> each heralded a completely new way of communicating with one another
> and also a very fundamental shift in how people thought. The
> development of linear though (and eventually logic) seems closely
> coupled with writing (in lines), and the ensuing metaphors such as
> "developing lines of thought." Such a shift is accented when we
> consider that in oral traditions, an idea is ephemeral in space-time,
> and approaches one's senses from all directions, whereas written text
> is highly visual, linear, static etc....
>
> Similarly, the very nature of sharing an idea with others changes with
> the development of paper - greatly increasing the speed in which one
> could record a thought. A printing press completely shatters what it
> previously meant to have a "book of knowledge" or "access to
> knowledge". Again, a profound cultural and interpersonal shift in our
> communication abilities. Each of these new media have with them a
> whole host of effects which arise from a subtle shifting of our
> sense-ratios among other things. Morerecently, Pat Hayes noticed some
> of the effects that electronic communication media change our
> perception and understanding of names in logical theories.
>
> On a different track, but just as importantly, the development of
>
> a) footwear
> b) the wheel
> c) horseback riding
> d) roads
> c) motorized transport etc.
>
> fundamentally changed the way people relate to space, distance and
> travel. These technologies shifted perhaps even more basically, the
> way agency and intention are projected over and through distance -
> enabling and giving rise to the first large ancient empires, allowing
> one person (or group) to project their will over large distances....
>
> All of these technologies most assuredly made fundamental changes to
> how people think, talk and behave. I'm not going to touch "human nature."
>
> That said, aside from the contentious paragraph, I too am in broad
> agreement with the rest of your message.
>
> Cheers,
> Ali
>
>
> --
> Founding Director, www.reseed.ca <http://www.reseed.ca>
>
> (•`'·.¸(`'·.¸(•)¸.·'´)¸.·'´•) .,.,
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
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> (01)
Yes, there is nothing new under the sun, bar context. (02)
We are in an innovation continuum, and for the life of me, I will never
truly comprehend why the "Semantic Web Project" has opted to ignore this
fundamental reality. (03)
"Embrace and Extend" is the formula that works re. introduction of
innovations. Acknowledge what's come before, when introducing what comes
next; basically, build intellectual bridges, which gives the new idea or
innovation a broader pool of knowledge, from the onset. (04)
The HTTP application protocol -- that enabled the world comprehend the
expanse of the Internet, via the World Wide Web -- is a great example
of what you can achieve with standardized message oriented middleware,
that becomes ubiquitous. (05)
-- (06)
Regards, (07)
Kingsley Idehen
President & CEO
OpenLink Software
Web: http://www.openlinksw.com
Weblog: http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen
Twitter/Identi.ca: kidehen (08)
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