Re: A Quote......

On Sun, 2 Nov 2008 15:15:57 -0800 (PST), Norman Draper
<normandraper@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Nov 2, 3:47 pm, thumper <kokopelli...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Norman Draper wrote:
On Oct 31, 5:28 pm, thumper <kokopelli...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Fred Pierce wrote:
Pete, I would beware of using the email axiom too casually. Actually
email *does* disappear without an error message. It can be
misaddressed, end up in the NULL device by forwarding (again
mis-addressed but to the right domain), and just plain mysteriously
disappear. I've been investigating the latter phenomenon for a client
lately and haven't figured it out. Sender gets no error, message never
arrives.
That happens to my work email quite a bit, now that they've put spam
traps on the server. Some mail is received and trapped before it gets to
me and the originator doesn't know about it. But I called the helpless
desk recently about mail I knew I should have seen, and while they won't
fix it for me at least I can get a flag to retrieve it from the server.
  I guess it's better than all the crap that came across before?

Take care,
Lisa

Lisa (and anyone else),

Atlantic Monthly had a cover article in a recent issue titled "Is
Google Making Us Stupid?".

I offer it up as exhibit one in an anti-technology rant.  While our
technology has improved by leaps and bounds, our intelligence
certainly hasn't.  The way information is presented in the digital
age, particularly by those of us addicted to Googling something, is
making us.... less bright.

Powerful article.... Try to find it.

Norman (Getting Dumber At The Speed Of light) Draper

I googled it ;-)

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google

Interesting read, and I found myself skimming paragraphs and looking for
  the "sound bites" just like the author says.  Then made myself go back
and read it for real, which is easier done if it's printed out.  You
know, I used to get the NYT on Sunday, make a pot of coffee and settle
down for a few blissful hours.  These days, I log on, skim the
headlines, print the puzzle for later, and run off to other stuff.
Those were the good old days, eh?

Take care,
Lisa- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thump,

I really am concerned. Not that I haven't always been a bit
scattershot with my thinking patterns*, but now it seems top be
getting worse. I don't know that I can blame it all on this devil
machine... I'm sure the date on my license has something to do with
it....

*So help me, I was going to add something down here... and I forget
what it was!!


Norman (Maybe It Will Come To Me Later...) Draper

There's no doubt we're remodeling ourselves/being remodeled at an
increasing rate, but it didn't start with the Internet. As mentioned
in the article, the typewriter and any number of gadgets have added to
the complexity and size of the pool of info - not just intellectual
but the day to day stuff - we have to deal with. The more gadgets we
have, the more we're expected to handle. I always liked to write, but
until I learned to touch type, when I was nine, it was just physically
too difficult to get my thoughts legibly onto paper, and I would
invariably lose my thought train in the process.

We do have an instinct to aquire knowledge (or information). Read that
somewhere - Google it. "Knowledge is power" and it has survival as
well as status value. A lot of our verbal communication (and this
list) is for trading info and showing each other how much we know.
Problem of course, is defining these terms. Information, knowledge,
facts, and data. What do they mean? How do they affect "thought?"

I've always suffered from ADD or whatever it is - mind hopping from
topic to topic just like hyperlinks, but I'm still able to control it
when I need to get something done. Nevertheless, it's sometimes an
impediment to doing any serious work on any one topic. I really don't
think I'm "addicted" to any of the interfaces and in fact hate
hyper-linked documentation for the very reasons described - very hard
to stay on topic, but not because of habituation. Just the way the doc
is organized, or not.

As for the "lapses" - similar problem. Too much noise, too fast a
pace, too much input, no focus. Age is a minor factor if we're
healthy. It's literally "All That Stuff" banging around that we HAVE
to have or do.

We as a species will be blown hither and yon until we decide what we
want to be when we grow up. We're the only ones we know of who have
the ability to ask that question. Not sure we can answer it. Whether
it's technology or something else that moves us in whatever direction,
it doesn't matter if we don't know where we want to go.

I find camping, driving long distances with no radio, living in Maine
with no TV and only using the laptop for work, and generally going
acoustic helps a lot. On the other hand, technology has allowed me to
move long distances from friends and tekhology helps me bridge that
gap.

So yeah - our neurons are being rerouted - again. I dont' think that's
the problem.

I'm going to go pet my books now.

fdp

-------------------------------------
Fred Pierce - avialantic.com
.

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