From: Karsten Bänder (Karsten.Baender@ivm.de)
Date: Wed Apr 28 1999 - 11:42:36 MDT
Oh well, I'm looking forward to the day when finally all information is
available online.
But not simply just like the books in a store, but linked, cross-referenced.
The accomplishment of this huge time-consuming task would be the beginning
of a new era, where all information is free to anyone. The improvement of
smart agents will greatly improve the speed of information processing.
Still, human interference is still necessary throughout this process.
A libertarian and democratic state is impossible without this. You cannot
possibly participate in the decisions on any kind of mater before knowing
the facts. As long governments and their agencies as well as all kinds of
corporations try to make an advantage of hiding information from the public,
this ultimate goal will not be achieved. As long as some keep spying on us
without us being able to check the data collected, this is a form of
oppression. The control of the flow of information is a key to power. We
must not tolerate others to keep this control. But for now, I see no way
that this will change soon. There is too much money to be made with this,
and no one would give such power from his hands without cause.
But some day, I hope, at least a part of humanity will become intelligent
enough to understand this. Up to now, most humans do not even realize that
they are undergoing a silent brain-washing process by television and other
media. The truth is somewhere out there, but definitely beyond the news. How
can you possibly begin thinking when there is no one to teach you the
basics? Most people around me trust blindly in the information they get from
newspapers, magazines and television. They get blown up with so much hot air
that they aren't able to judge between truth and fake. Most of it being fake
...
I do not believe in conspiracies, but propaganda has always been a method of
politics, and with today's technology, mass psychology is the key to power.
For further reading I would suggest Le Bon : The Psychology of the Masses.
It depcits the methods of manipulating public oppinion. Although quite old,
the techniques may change, but the logic behind it is always the same. The
infamous Dr. Goebbels has written a book on the same theme, but although I
was able to find out about its existence, I was not able to buy and read it.
Well, in Germany it is still difficult to get hold of books from the Dark
Age of the Third Reich. Although most of what was published in that time is
junk, I do not understand why it should be forbidden. An intelligent human
should be able to find out about the quality of information himself.
Censorship is always bad. I do not see advantage in this. One exception: The
privacy of humans stands above the right of free information. The freedom of
anyone ands where the freedom of the other begins.
enough for today .. hope to read some comment on this
Karsten
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-extropians@extropy.com
> [mailto:owner-extropians@extropy.com]On Behalf Of Spike Jones
> Sent: Monday, April 26, 1999 5:32 AM
> To: extropians@extropy.com
> Subject: Re: Einstein's Brain on the internet
>
>
> > david_musick@juno.com writes: ...this list was the perfect
> place to share my
> > ideas
> > > with others who may wish to try them out and give me some feedback.
> > > Eventually, I want to publish my ideas more widely, but, of
> course, I do
> > > need to get them written down first...
>
> It is possible that extropians, or other internet group, is the *best*
> way to permanently record ideas, for they then are recorded in
> a form which can be stored and later searched. Books are already
> getting relatively useless now for we cannot efficiently access the
> information therein.
>
> Also, has not our attitude towards books changed radically in the
> last 10 yrs? All of us? Do we not view information itself much
> differently now than in 1990, before the www? Do you spend
> more time in the library now than you did then, or less? Thought so.
> Me too. Do you spend more time or less on your computer now
> than 10 yrs ago? Me too. spike
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