[Vision2020] Open source and related concepts

Ted Moffett starbliss at gmail.com
Tue Apr 8 14:30:07 PDT 2008


Ken et. al.

It appears you possess a far greater knowledge of computers and the Internet
than I do...

However, I do not understand how your first response below relates to the
comment I made that you appear to be answering.  I did not comment on those
who built the Internet structure, but merely on the "average" user (I was
not then, nor am I now, exceptionally computer savvy), such as myself, in
2002, who was easily able to find credible sources on the Internet shedding
serious doubt on the claims of Iraq WMD and Iraq ties to Al Qaeda.

Regarding your comment on "novices and newcomers" to web resources, many of
those I talked to in 2002 were just as or more capable of using the Internet
than I was; yet many of them believed Bush's claims about Iraq WMD and ties
to Al Qaeda, including many in the US Congress, resulting in support for the
disastrous invasion.  Surely members of the US Congress in 2002 knew how to
use the Internet?

My point, I thought I had made clear, was that the usefulness of the
Internet as a means for discovering truth is only as good as the independent
critical thinking skills of those online.  Hook millions of people together
on the Internet who lack independent critical thinking skills, and the
Internet can mislead and control, rather than enlighten and educate.  I
suspect the reason so many people were willing to believe the Bush
administration's claims about Iraq in 2002 was the very understandable
climate of fear and knee jerk patriotism following the 9/11 attacks.  Fear
can paralyze calm independent critical thinking, even among the most
intelligent.

Also, in 2002, as an "average" user of the Internet, there were porn sites
galore offering to sell their content, using tricky strategies
to unexpectedly and annoyingly load their come-on pages of steamy content.
I believe I am correct that in 2002, porn was one of the dominant activities
(I will now add "of the average user") on the Internet. My comment that
"...there's egalitarian political liberation for you." was meant
sarcastically, of course.

Actually, the sources I read on the Internet in 2002 about Iraq and
associated issues, could have been sourced from books, newspapers,
magazines, radio, or televised media.  But the Internet makes this sort of
research much easier (if you can sort through the abundant misinformation
and propaganda).

Ted Moffett

On 4/8/08, Kenneth Marcy <kmmos1 at verizon.net> wrote:
>
> On Tuesday 08 April 2008 01:31, Ted Moffett wrote:
> <snip>
> > It is well known that porno is one of the dominant activities on the
> > Internet.  Now there's egalitarian political liberation for you!
>
> Blue-pencil rewrites of Internet history are better relegated to alternate
> worlds sites and fantasy fan-fiction devotees. Actually, financial profits
> from widespread distribution of multiple graphics formats motivated and
> enabled the physical build-out of earlier versions of Internet structure.
> The engineers who designed and built expansions of the early core of the
> Internet, and the early customers of those businesses that financed large
> portions of that early expansion, likely were not, and may still not be,
> individuals with passionate interests in government, politics, economics,
> justice, and various other social science concerns.
>
> > What
> > a diversion from the responsible investigations that should have
> concerned
> > every citizen about Iraq WMDs and ties to Al Qaeda, during the 2002 run
> up
> > to this disastrous and cruel war!
>
> Perhaps. Even though many of us assume the well-developed existence of the
> Internet and the World Wide Web, and expect almost everyone has access and
> some degree of net and web literacy and ability, the facts are that a lot
> of people are still relative newcomers and novices to using available web
> resources. Some of those folks' Internet insecurity (in more than one
> sense) mitigates against their ready participation in substantive Internet
> activities. And, though the situation is changing, it's still true that
> Web
> users are generally younger, and generally younger often means not yet as
> interested in public matters as older folks who participate in the polity.
>
> On the other hand, think about this -- it's only a couple of years before
> a
> generation that has known only Bill Clinton and the junior Bush as
> President will start college. They may be digitally dexterous, but have
> they any civics cluefullness? How will the generation that grew up with
> myspace, facebook, and youtube understand political participation? Perhaps
> this question is being answered in our contemporary headlines.
>
>
> Ken
>
>
> Ken
>
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