Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!rutgers!lll-lcc!ames!sdcsvax!ucsdhub!hp-sdd!hplabs!hplabsz!taylor From: eugene@pioneer.arpa (Eugene Miya N.) Newsgroups: comp.society Subject: Re: Why can't WE change society? Message-ID: <1164@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM> Date: Sat, 5-Dec-87 23:37:13 EST Article-I.D.: hplabsz.1164 Posted: Sat Dec 5 23:37:13 1987 Date-Received: Thu, 10-Dec-87 23:47:31 EST Sender: taylor@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. Lines: 42 Approved: taylor@hplabs Gerry Gleason replies to my posting (not Joel Jennings, as Gerry noted): >> Many things are done constructively, it's just that you are impatient >> with people because they don't react as fast as interactive systems. >> You just need some perspective (the study of history). > >...Eric Drexler discusses this issue in _Engines_of_Creation_. I have not become a convert to Mr. Drexler's way of thinking. I should get a copy of his book and read it. From what I know currently, he does not impress me. > Yes, computer phobia is a problem, but this is going away quickly as > young people grow up with computers. They will soon be as ubiquitous > (more?) as the telephone is now. As for the network not being a database, > you are right, but this is why I think the development of hypertext is > so important. It will fix this problem. Phobia: I was walking out the door when just as I was turning the TV off (from the news) there was this show about touring the country. They interviewed a buckeroo (a cowboy) in Nevada: surpise! It near an area where friends live [near Elko Nev. and the Ruby Mountains], so I listen. They ask this 37 year-old buck what's on his mind: Persian Gulf and Computers. Here's a guy who fears them. (Has 3 kids.) He wants to raise cattle, not be told by some machine that he would get a more efficient yield, etc. I could say more, but I think we have to find these people as a resource and here what they have to say. I agree with ubiquity, but I don't believe in quick fixes. Notecards is a much better system than many other hypertext systems, but too few people use it. Let's not overinflate the importance of a tool until it's gained winder acceptance. I made a comment in a personal note to Dave which he posted by mistake (that's okay Dave). What's neat about computers is that they remove cues about the physical character of people: skin, religious biases, physical handicaps. One of my all time favorite Usenix talks was a talk about DEAFNET. Networks keep that part of our intellect and removing many of our bias cues. We need more of this in the real world; how? that's a good question. Eugene