Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!rutgers!rochester!cornell!batcomputer!pyramid!hplabs!hplabsz!taylor From: taylor@hplabsz.UUCP Newsgroups: comp.society Subject: Re: Why can't WE change society? Message-ID: <1115@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM> Date: Fri, 27-Nov-87 21:32:16 EST Article-I.D.: hplabsz.1115 Posted: Fri Nov 27 21:32:16 1987 Date-Received: Mon, 30-Nov-87 07:14:06 EST Sender: taylor@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM Organization: AT&T Information Systems Lines: 48 Approved: taylor@hplabs > We all talk about the impact of computers and networks on society and > the ills (or benefits) they may bring. How come nobody ever attempts > to do something constructive? I think this topic is extremely relavent, and important to our future. I have been spending a considerable amount of time reading and posting to the network, and I am considering stopping because we appear to be doing nothing more than shooting-the-breeze. The reason for this is probably unavoidable, netnews is a broadcast medium, and therefore not suited to advancing *action*. Another answer is that your assumption that nothing is happening is unjustified, but it is not happening in netnews, but in e-mail, etc. To broaden the topic to computer networks in general, there must be many BBS's dedicated to doing constructive things in particular domains. > Everyone TALKS about the impact on society, why doesn't anyone try > to MAKE an impact on society? What projects, etc. do you suggest? Netnews seems appropriate for initiating a project, and publisizing it to the USENET community. Then mail would be used to coordinate work on the project, and keep the participants informed. One project that we could take on in this way is an investigation of the general question of how we can use networks to accomplish these ends. It could start by looking at what is already happening, and continue by splitting off subgroups to work on specific issues that are identified. Also, the topics of nanotechnology and hypertext have been hitting several newsgroups lately. I think that hypertext could be the basis for both a constructive project, and a better way to utilize the network to document and communicate the work being done. Nano- technology, when/if it becomes practical, is an important reason we must consider the impact of technologies. They clearly ARE having an impact on society. We, the technologists, can no longer consider our work independantly of its effects. It is often claimed that technology itself is neutral, neither good or evil, but this does not mean we can abandon the responsibility of making informed choices on *what* to work on. We must choose between creating ever-more-complex weapons systems, and systems to eliminate poverty through education (in my opinion this is the only way to solve this and related problems such as over-population and hunger), care for our environment, or reach for the stars. I am interested in participating in taking some of these issues out of talk-only and into action. How should we start? Who else is willing to get involved in this? Gerry Gleason