a blog about information
You’ve probably seen a number of these at one time or the other. But this one is special, it is really worth watching. Check out this link.
There will come a time when nobody watches ads any more, except the ones they choose to. Which may be time- and place- shifted anyway.
What they will watch is stuff like this. I for one am looking forward to it.
Those of you who’ve made the time to read the kernel for this blog will be familiar with the phrase “connected not channelled”….. that’s what came to mind when I read John Battelle’s fascinating interview of Michael Wesch of That Video fame.
Here are the quotes I really identified with:
For me, cultural anthropology is a continuous exercise in expanding my mind and my empathy, building primarily from one simple principle: everything is connected. This is true on many levels. First, everything including the environment, technology, economy, social structure, politics, religion, art and more are all interconnected. As I tried to illustrate in the video, this means that a change in one area (such as the way we communicate) can have a profound effect on everything else, including family, love, and our sense of being itself. Second, everything is connected throughout all time, and so as anthropologists we take a very broad view of human history, looking thousands or even millions of years into the past and into the future as well. And finally, all people on the planet are connected. This has always been true environmentally because we share the same planet. Today it is even more true with increasing economic and media globalization.
My friends [……..] are experts in relationships and grasp the ways that we are all connected in much more profound ways than we do. They go so far as to suggest that their own health is dependent on strong relations with others. When they get sick they carefully examine their relations with others and try to heal those relations in order to heal their bodies. In contrast, we tend to emphasize our independence and individuality, failing to realize just how interconnected we are with each other and the rest of the world, and disregarding the health of our relationships with others.
So if there is a global village, it is not a very equitable one, and if there is a tragedy of our times, it may be that we are all interconnected but we fail to see it and take care of our relationships with others. For me, the ultimate promise of digital technology is that it might enable us to truly see one another once again and all the ways we are interconnected. It might help us create a truly global view that can spark the kind of empathy we need to create a better world for all of humankind. I’m not being overly utopian and naively saying that the Web will make this happen. In fact, if we don’t understand our digital technology and its effects, it can actually make humans and human needs even more invisible than ever before. But the technology also creates a remarkable opportunity for us to make a profound difference in the world.
That’s why our battles on identity, intellectual property rights, digital rights and the use of the internet are so crucial. If we get the battles right, we can really make an impact. But only if we get them right.
An old friend of mine, David Butler, while commenting on a recent cricket-related post, asked:
Can you name the batsman who played only one first class innings, scored a double century and never batted in a first class match again?
I had no idea. It didn’t strike me as a question that was easily GoogleAble, so I didn’t try. But I did go to cricinfo, to see if I could navigate a way to the answer quickly. Cricinfo home. Statsguru. Records home. First class records. First class batting records. Trivia/First class batting trivia. Highest First Class Batting Averages with no qualification. Bingo.
And what an answer. As a result of David’s question, I came across the brilliant but tragic cricketing career of Norman Callaway.
I quote from the article:
Norman Callaway made just one first-class appearance but it was one to remember. In February 1915, aged 19, he scored 207 in three-and-a-half hours for New South Wales against Queensland at the SCG, adding 256 for the fifth wicket with Charlie Macartney. In 1916 he joined the AIF and died during an attack on the Hindenberg Line in May 1917.
I’ve been very privileged, my life has only been marginally affected by war; the Indo-Pakistani wars of the 1960s didn’t really hit Calcutta, I can only remember some blackouts and air raid sirens, no real combat. The Bangladesh war of 1971 had a bigger impact, mainly as a result of the refugee influx.
So every time I read about the sacrifices made by youth and talent for the freedoms of future generations, I am taken aback in awe. Here’s to Norman Callaway and to all he represents. And here’s to peacetime for current and future generations.