Thursday, November 11, 2004
Things worth pondering over from Thomas friedman's Longitudes and attitudes.
On 'walls'
We are all right up in each other's face now, with no walls from behind which we can refine our messages at home, or scream to ourselves in private and then communicate calmly with each other. Instead I write something in a white-hot rage and it gets right into someone's face in the Middle East or Europe, and then they write back in a white-hot rage, and we both end up angrier than we might have been had we not been so easily connected. It's making the whole world's blood pressure rise in a very dangerous and unhealthy manner.
And this leads to the deeper point that 9/11 is trying to tell us: that while the world is being globalized, shrunk, and tied together ever more closely in technological terms, this has not been accompanied by a better mutual understanding between cultures, countries, and civilizations.
-
When americans, or others, hear all the hate and anger boiling out there against them, even if they don't experience it firsthand, the natural instinct is to want to build walls against it. But walls just aren't what they used to be. In the short term, maybe they can help, but technology is erasing them too quickly. In the long term, the only answer is to figure out ways to change the attitudes and intentions of the people on the other side of the wall, or at least narrow the gap between differing cultures and political traditions so we can share this shrinking planet.
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... if we are going to survive globalization, "We have to get to know each other, and understand each other better - because now our lives depend on it. It didn't seem that way before. We could live in blissful ignorance. That's over."
On technology and the internet
In some ways, in fact, technology is actually making understanding more difficult. In part this is because, thanks to the Internet and satellite tv stations, everyone now can wath the news that is perfectly tailored to their own views - and not be exposed to the other guy's point of view at all. As a result, all your own stereotypes get confirmed and reinforced... using a lens that caters totally to their own bias.
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The internet not only allows you to very selectively choose your news from only those sources you already agree with, it also connects you with other people who hold your views, in chat rooms and on web sites, so you can feel part of a community - no matter how loony your views are.
-
What is even more dangerous is that the internet, because it has the aura of technology around it, also has a totally undeserved aura of instant credibility.
-
"In the 1930s, when photography really started to be popularized, people would say, 'The camera never lies,'" said israeli political theorist Yaron ezrahi. "Then people slowly discovered that in the right hands the camera was a great tool for distorting reality. The same is true with the internet."
If only we care to pause and look beyond the surface more often, we would realize most things, actions- and consequences-wise, do make more sense than we ever thought.
On 'walls'
We are all right up in each other's face now, with no walls from behind which we can refine our messages at home, or scream to ourselves in private and then communicate calmly with each other. Instead I write something in a white-hot rage and it gets right into someone's face in the Middle East or Europe, and then they write back in a white-hot rage, and we both end up angrier than we might have been had we not been so easily connected. It's making the whole world's blood pressure rise in a very dangerous and unhealthy manner.
And this leads to the deeper point that 9/11 is trying to tell us: that while the world is being globalized, shrunk, and tied together ever more closely in technological terms, this has not been accompanied by a better mutual understanding between cultures, countries, and civilizations.
-
When americans, or others, hear all the hate and anger boiling out there against them, even if they don't experience it firsthand, the natural instinct is to want to build walls against it. But walls just aren't what they used to be. In the short term, maybe they can help, but technology is erasing them too quickly. In the long term, the only answer is to figure out ways to change the attitudes and intentions of the people on the other side of the wall, or at least narrow the gap between differing cultures and political traditions so we can share this shrinking planet.
-
... if we are going to survive globalization, "We have to get to know each other, and understand each other better - because now our lives depend on it. It didn't seem that way before. We could live in blissful ignorance. That's over."
On technology and the internet
In some ways, in fact, technology is actually making understanding more difficult. In part this is because, thanks to the Internet and satellite tv stations, everyone now can wath the news that is perfectly tailored to their own views - and not be exposed to the other guy's point of view at all. As a result, all your own stereotypes get confirmed and reinforced... using a lens that caters totally to their own bias.
-
The internet not only allows you to very selectively choose your news from only those sources you already agree with, it also connects you with other people who hold your views, in chat rooms and on web sites, so you can feel part of a community - no matter how loony your views are.
-
What is even more dangerous is that the internet, because it has the aura of technology around it, also has a totally undeserved aura of instant credibility.
-
"In the 1930s, when photography really started to be popularized, people would say, 'The camera never lies,'" said israeli political theorist Yaron ezrahi. "Then people slowly discovered that in the right hands the camera was a great tool for distorting reality. The same is true with the internet."
If only we care to pause and look beyond the surface more often, we would realize most things, actions- and consequences-wise, do make more sense than we ever thought.
