Pretty much I don’t do re-blogging, though I love lots of blog sites. This place is for me; what I think, and what I create. But this wonderful overview of the present technology-mediated crisis Western (and now global) culture is ensnared within — is simply too good and too important not to draw attention to. I hope and wish that some will listen to this short talk, which was given three days ago in Vancouver, and think about it. (Thank you if you do!) This person is “one who knows”, but is practically devoid of egotism.

“America’s Facebook generation shows a submission to standardization that I haven’t seen before. The American adventure has always been about people forgetting their former selves – Samuel Clemens became Mark Twain, Jack Kerouac went on the road. If they had a Facebook page, they wouldn’t have been able to forget their former selves.” – Jaron Lanier

_______RS

Jaron Lanier might possibly be my favorite contemporary public intellectual. But he is so much more than that, something closer to a true Renaissance figure. Half an hour spent researching his always original and astonishingly varied output (musician, technologist, composer, author, painter, virtual reality creator, researcher, lecturer) will re-infuse your belief in what humanity is capable of. Simply one of the keenest, most humanistic, and most thoughtful observers of the current zeitgeist that we have. Try starting here for more of his work.

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