“How much, if any, of a pre-internet culture can survive in
an age where every intellectual exchange can swiftly be derailed by a joke, a
personal attack, a cry of victimhood or a strategic misunderstanding of the
other’s argument?”
My pal, KN, responds:
“I think it’s because we collectively have lost the ability
to sustain any thought too complex to be conveyed in 128 characters. Which
leaves what? Jokes, personal attacks, cries of victimhood and strategic
misunderstandings. They all fit the space! Public critique is dying because we
can no longer sustain a train of thought, or attend with patience anyone trying
to form one. Listening to another’s argument demands humility, and we are in a
regular humility drought right now.”
And my response to KN:
“What Davies/Smith argue is that the platform giants –
Facebook, Google, Amazon – rob us of humility, by rewarding everything but –
Davies ends the piece by saying Smith is like the sober, patient person who
attends a wild, drunken party who is loath to give up his effort of speaking
truth to hype and boorishness.”
Next: Running for
Your Life: Moderation Nation
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