6 Responses to “[moi] On “On Point” tomorrow”

1. jessamyn, on January 12th, 2010 at 7:30 pm Said:

   I just talked to Jaron last week for Library Journal and my friend Matthew Battles talked to him [i think, or did a review in any case] this week. You can read the transcript of my interview here

   http://www.librarian.net/talks/lanier/

   And Battles’ review here

   http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Reviews-Essays/You-Are-Not-a-Gadget/ba-p/2041

   Jaron’s a peach to talk to. My take is that he’s much less anti-hive-mind than he is anti-unreflective life, so more Revolutionary Road and less Matrix. I’m interested to hear what you think.

2. Andy Weinberger (Yes, I am related), on January 12th, 2010 at 10:50 pm Said:

   Sorry I won’t be able to hear it, as I will be busy as a bee in the office. Besides, we don’t get it here at that time. I think it is rebroadcast at night.

3. Khishigee, on January 12th, 2010 at 11:16 pm Said:

   Oh my God! On radio too? Have you no shame?

4. Monica, on January 13th, 2010 at 6:18 pm Said:

   I see Jessamyn has already commented, but I’ll go ahead and point you to an article in which she’s quoted — from Slate, about Ask MetaFilter, called “when the hive mind works, it’s a beautiful thing.”

   http://www.slate.com/id/2211694/pagenum/all/#p2

   I particularly love the story about the guy looking for the address of apartment in Vienna where his grandfather lived before escaping the Nazis. Got to somebody who could answer his question in 32 minutes.
   http://ask.metafilter.com/25714/Tracking-Down-An-Address-In-1939-Vienna

   I recognize that Lanier is not objecting to this kind of thing, but it’s a lovely and poignant example of how a well-organized platform for making connections can be extremely efficient in exchanging information.

5. jessamyn, on January 13th, 2010 at 8:28 pm Said:

   I think Monica’s on to something [and I love that example] that these things work best when they’re voluntary and organic… i.e. the friend of a friend of a friend thing which is what was at work here, and less so when they’re enforced especially through checkbox-like cookie-cutter “okay you’re all friends” stuff like on the facebook.

6. Seth Finkelstein, on January 14th, 2010 at 9:21 am Said:

   @Monica, @jessamyn – there’s a paragraph I wrote for a column which might be applicable:

   “There’s an old joke: in heaven the police are British, the mechanics German, the cooks French, the lovers Italian, and the Swiss organize it. In hell the police are German, the mechanics French, the cooks British, the lovers Swiss, and the Italians organize it. An Internet version might be: in theory, topic experts would supply our information, social networks would connect us for common humanity, and Google would organize it for authority. In practice, we get our information from the most attention-driven sites, social networks bundle us for marketing, and Google organizes it for ad sales.”

   http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jun/17/seth-finkelstein-read-me-first

   I think what Lanier is doing is pointing out some of the influences which lead us down the road to hell.

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