In a message dated 12/16/2002 9:29:38 PM US Mountain Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2002/12/17/tolkien_brin/index.html When I saw this post, I immediately said, "What football game?" >click< ::read:: >I wish Tolkien could have lived to see how easily this chasm is >traversed now, in both directions, by technologically savvy artists >and by scientists who love art. .....And technologically savvy authors who love the simpler life--minus the elites. We need a new word: Tolkienetics, or the technological return to The Shire. 1 a : a branch of science that deals with the effects of forces upon the emotions and life styles of rational beings who selectively choose the level of technology that interacts with their daily lives. b : the rate of change in such a system 2 : the mechanism by which a technological change to a simplified lifestyle is effected. Jijo: small towns, limited use of technology, but generally not a rejection of knowledge. Glory Season: small towns, limited use of technology Practice effect: technology used to create a non technological society. The Shire, in Tolkien, was a democracy. I see Dr. Brin as wanting a fully wired Shire; a PC behind every round door and palm pilots for all. Add in some elves, humans, dwarves, and well behaved orcs for both a diverse and balanced society. No elites; no kings, and everyone has to clean up after themselves. ---- >Witness the most amazing accomplishment of NASA -- managing to turn the >exploration of space into a huge snore. The moon landing was the last pyramid. By that I mean that it was the last material project that a society had had, that in doing so had raised the level of "pride of accomplishment" throughout the society. [A messy sentence. I bet our good Dr. could do much better.] William Taylor --------------------- A tytlal tossed into tight trousers tends to traumatize the timid tea-totaling old maids of Terra. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
