Words of wisdom
Neil Postman opens Technopoly (his cautionary diatribe of the computerization of society) with the story of King Thamus, from Plato’s Phaderus. One day, Thamus entertains Theuth, the god of invention, who introduces the concept of writing to him. Theuth claimed that writing was a gift to the Egyptians which would improve both their wisdom and memory. Upon being present with this gift, King Thamus replied: “Those who acquire it [writing] will cease to exercise their memory and become forgetful; they will rely on writing to bring things to their remembrance by external signs instead of their own internal resources. What you have discovered is a receipt for recollection, not for memory. And as for wisdom, your pupils will have the reputation for it without the reality: they will receive a quantity of information without proper instruction, and in consequence be thought very knowledgeable when they are for the most part quite ignorant. And because they are filled with the conceit of wisdom they will be a burden to society” (Plato in Postman, 1993: p4).
Postman presents the story of Theuth and Thamus as representative of the persistent debate amongst current “one-eyed prophets” both for and against ICTs. While Postman identifies his own voice as a dissenting one, he does concede that the assumption of any new technology as being a burden, and only a burden, is a mistake. However, “it is inescapable that every culture must negotiate with technology, whether it does so intelligently or not”(p5).
Providing the Road Signs
Imagine that the government has just spent millions of dollars constructing a superhighway that linked together all of the communities throughout the province. The road is sleek and smooth and enables a regular and consistent flow of goods and services as well as commerce. As a citizen, you jump on this highway and start cruising down the road; enjoying the speed and quality of the road and the scenery you’re taking in along the way. As you drive a little further down the highway, something strikes you; you’ve passed a few dozen exits now and not one of them had a sign letting you know what was at the end of exit. In fact, you realize that there are no road signs on this new highway, whatsoever. No signs pointing you to local attractions, or restaurants, or gas stations. No signs to let you know if there is construction ahead and you should reduce speed. No signs to even let you know what the speed limit is. For all of the benefits of this nice new super highway, there were no guideposts (or signs) to help you navigate it.
Granted, some people enjoy Sunday driving; they enjoy randomly meandering down long and winding roads to simply explore the local landscape. But for the people who need assistance in getting where they want to go, a lack of signs can be extremely problematic. In reality the government would never dream of building a highway without installing the appropriate signs and numbers to help the driver navigate it. Those things are all part in parcel of a highway system. However, when it comes to the Information Highway, there seems to be an assumption that signage is not part of the package. Laying the asphalt (or in this case fiber-optic cables) is good enough and the end of the responsibility. Never mind the signs and navigation assistance, the driver is expected to know where it is he or she wants to go and how to get there.
However with the vast and seemingly endless network of “roads” that is the Internet, it can be easy to take a wrong turn and end up in the “bad part of town;” it can be easy to end up searching for restaurants and accommodations for London, UK when your really trying to do that for London, Ontario; it can be easy to be sidetracked by unsubstantiated urban myths because you were seeking information about the city sewer system. It can be dangerous and the cause of many accidents when we are allowed to chaotically and randomly speed up and down the highways without any signs along the way to guide us, especially when not all the drivers are licensed.
