Assignment 2

Blog Worship…as I may think
A look at the internet from the viewpoints of Hawthorne and Bush

In the early nineties, alongside the introduction of the internet, came a spurred wave of both criticism and admirations. Many people thought that the internet was going to increase knowledge worldwide while some thought it would deteriorate our social and technical skills. Either way, the general consensus was that the internet would somehow change the world.
And it did just that. Now, someone can pay bills, write to Mom, write a research paper, buy Christmas gifts, fill prescriptions, and even grocery shop without leaving the comfort of their own office. There are two sides to this; 1) The new “easier” lifestyle that has resulted and 2) The destruction of culture as a whole because of the lack of interpersonal contact. These two theories strongly reflect the ideas of Hawthorne and Vannevar Bush’s ideas on the wood stove and the “memex”, respectively. (Bush) My new blog perfectly displays the issues presented by both gentlemen. I have increased the number of people that I can share my ideas with by them accessing my ideas, but I have decreased my desire to seek those informants myself.
In Hawthorne’s essay, “Fire Worship” he describes the complications with the new and modern wood stove. He describes that sadness of a family no longer hovering over the flames in a home to stay warm, but that with the stove, they may revert off to separate rooms. They are more independent, which eventually will lead to the demise of the family as a whole, cohesive unit. He explains that this wood stove will indirectly affect life in such a way that “…moral intercourse be chilled with a fatal frost.” The technology here has changed our lifestyle for the worse, creating a lonelier, immoral existence. He curses the wood stove in saying “Heaven grant that it may shatter the abomination all to pieces!”
Vannevar Bush, Director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development in America’s wartime years describes technology, and more specifically data technology, as a means to unite individuals under the umbrella of knowledge. His proposed machine which he calls the “memex” is much like the current computerized database. It is a way to store knowledge and data in order to make it available to an endless number of intellectuals for an endless amount of time. He foresees the positive affect this will have on society as a whole. My blog however, is not going to be the ultimate downfall of my family or lifestyle. It may, however, help me win a war (of sorts).
In creating my blog, I am not exactly positive what the effects will be on my life, but I do know this; I am more engaged with my fellow classmates, friends, co-workers, and an endless number of other people I have never even met. I learn form these people, get entertainment from them, and they from me. This is the actualization of the dream of Vannevar Bush. It also fights against his view of our “ineptitude” in analysis caused by the “artificiality of systems of indexing.” Although his ideas were about technology in a time when technology saved the world from communistic and fascist regimes, he still regarded the sharing of knowledge as important to a simple lifestyle, such as mine.
Basically, I view my blog as a possible index of my own life. I can add to it as I please with my school work, journal entries, or simple statements that are catalogued chronologically to where someone ,without seeing or knowing me, can get a general idea of what my life is like; if I am a student, if I am weird, if I have a sense of humor. What needs to be appreciated her is that with blogs and the internet, I am learning about humanity and interpersonal experiences. I still have day to day experiences for myself, and learn about other people’s when they share them, but I learn even more about the human condition every day without even realizing it. I see my blog as a sort of offensive part my own, personal war that I wage everyday against my own alienation from my fellow man.
Although it can be viewed in many ways, I parallel my viewpoint with that of Vannevar Bush’s. Yes the technology seems threatening every day to our world as we know it, but what is it threatening? A possible breakdown of communication? Or simply a change? I usually don’t like change, but I am learning that most of the time, it is for the better.