Re: virus: June 97 McLuhan-Post
pharmakon@usa.net
3 Jun 1997 16:08:37 -0000
>On Tue, 27 May 1997, Reed Konsler wrote:
>
>> >The Internet creates a world-wide synesthesia
>> >attributable to instantaneous diverse media
>> >transmission on a global basis. This in turn
>> >erodes human ability to decode in "real time,"
>> >and retrieves, in the language of McLuhan Tetrad
>> >Analysis, a "virtual" Tower of Babel. Reporters
>> >who have done stories on the degeneration of
>> >written speech over the 'Net have noticed this
>> >already. Many of the discussion groups on the
>> >'Net are in real danger of becoming "much ado
>> >about nothing." Individuals desperate for a locus
>> >of self-expression (and kept from their goal by
>> >the invisible effects on society of unbridled
>> >technological change) are finally achieving some
>> >form of expression -- but at what cost?
>> >Information is fragmented and murky at best,
>> >unfocused, untimely and unwanted at worst.
It would seem that the reporters of this 'degeneration of written speech'
should take into account of the fact that it IS in real time, as would
spoken speech be. Writing in itself does not exist in 'real time' because
once it is 'written' it is subject to change, whether by the author or
reader. It that way, it is eternal. These reporters do not realise we are
limited (currently) to text based communication, and the quicker we are
able to express our thoughts, the better. One cannot compare the medium of
e-mail (written text) to that of real time communications (written speech).
Just a thought!