quote and thought

This should have been posted here to begin with.

With telegraphy and photography leading the way, a new definition of information came into being. Here was information that rejected the necessity of interconnectedness, proceeded without context, argued for instancy against historical continuity, and offered fascination in place of complexity and coherence.

…

Like the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, we are awash in information. And all the sorcerer has left us is a broom. Information has become a form of garbage, not only incapable of answering the most fundamental human questions but barely useful in providing coherent direction to the solution of even mundane problems. To say it still another way: The milieu in which Technopoly flourishes is one in which the tie between information and human purpose has been severed, i.e., information appears indiscriminately, directed at no one in particular, in enormous volume and at high speeds, and disconnected from theory, meaning, or purpose.

All of this has called into being a new world. …It is a world in which the idea of human progress, as Bacon expressed it, has been replaced by the idea of technological progress. The aim is not to reduce ignorance, superstition, and suffering but to accommodate ourselves to the requirements of new technologies.

-From Technopoly by Neil Postman

On another subject, football has taken the place of other social gatherings. For what other reasons did or do people gather in large groups? Church, concerts, festivals, holidays, grand speeches; although church is the only one that should take place on a weekly basis. Maybe. It bothers me that all this hoopla over a bloody and warlike sport has gradually supplanted other, more peaceful, interaction-, morality- and growth-oriented gatherings. You don’t gain anything by watching football, and you feel a sense of brotherhood, I guess, with some people who are also just cheering for a football team. What is the purpose? Just a thought.