Steve Kurtz wrote:
>
> Greetings all,
>
> I heard this discussed briefly on NPR(US Nat'l Public Radio), and don't
> agree given my personal experiences. Gregarious people living in rural
> areas can expand their personal contacts in a focused fashion using topic
> classified lists. Sort of like a short wave radio with a searching filter
> to locate others with similiar interests.
"In my father's house are many mansions" (and some not so big
domicilages...). I think we need to take this study not as
being true or false (although it looks to me like it may
be more true for New Yorkers than for persons living in
rural areas!), but rather as *suggestive*. Let's take what
the article says and -- a la McLuhan --> use it as a *probe*
to look at how persons (including ourselves) are affected by the
Internet. I'll bet some persons *are* affected as the article descibes,
and that's cause for concern. I'm sure that the effect would be very
different for the "bibliographically challenged" (i.e., persons
without other forms of easy access to a rich range of cultural
materials). But, in either case, *asking the question* may
help us discover things.
Always (unless it's a question whether you have a neoplasm or not,
or whether you're going to be fired from your job or not, or whether
the river's going to crest in your attic, etc.) what's important
is to see things in as many and as rich perspectives as possible.
Just like I found the article thought provoking, I found Steve's inage
of the short wave radio thought provoking.
>
> This can (& has) lead to the establishment of many fruitful relationships,
> which can be followed up by in person meetings and relationships. If a
> person is using the Internet as an escape (like tv, or video games, or even
> reading), then lonliness may be reinforced.
Or if the person is using the internet instead of reading
books (my problem, to some extent -- I don't know how I would
ever have become even semi-literate, as I am today, had I
had the distraction of the Internet to keep me from reading
many seriuos texts in my 30s and 40s (I certainly didn't learn much in
high-school or college...).
>
> To blame the technology seems a bit hasty at this point. Do people blame
> the telephone for excessive verbal interaction & resultant decline in
> psychological wellbeing? Maybe.. I remain unconvinced, particularly given
> the value judgements implicit in the social sciences.
>
> Steve
There are so many, so too many issues to be addressed concerning
our whole "built" world, not just the Internet. But I think
this study has pointed to some issues worth thinking
about, *including* how *and why!* the study's conclusions may
*not* apply in certain cases.
I forget who it was (Feyerabend? Latour? Feynmann?) who lamented
that we still do not have a scholarly:
Journal of Failed Experiments.
\brad mccormick
--
Mankind is not the master of all the stuff that exists, but
Everyman (woman, child) is a judge of the world.
Brad McCormick, Ed.D. / [EMAIL PROTECTED]
914.238.0788 / 27 Poillon Rd, Chappaqua, NY 10514-3403 USA
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