tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post2799070542938478775..comments2024-03-19T07:48:54.021-06:00Comments on Gus Van Horn: Quick Roundup 258Gus Van Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-43189461492955655882007-10-18T06:44:00.000-06:002007-10-18T06:44:00.000-06:00Excellent rebuttal to a point very badly made on m...Excellent rebuttal to a point very badly made on my part. Indeed, your reply provides in itself an example of your point that the Internet demands more of its readers.<BR/><BR/>On balance, the importance of the Internet clearly does lie in how it improves human life, and how criminals misuse it is not that important. <BR/><BR/>However, insofar as the Internet affecting the culture on an intellectual level, many overestimate it. For example, in the realm of spreading political ideas, many (e.g., Glenn Reynolds in <I>An Army of Davids</I>) overestimate its ability as a vehicle of lasting social change. (This mistake is rooted in large part in a failure to rasp the importance of philosophical ideas.)<BR/><BR/>My point, which would have been better made in a different context, is that the Internet is ultimately only as good as its users.Gus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-90816242343208286412007-10-18T00:12:00.000-06:002007-10-18T00:12:00.000-06:00"Interestingly, the ability the web confers on som...<I>"Interestingly, the ability the web confers on some to escape from the stifling confines of modern culture (be it the squeezing out of unusual music or the distasteful ridicule of pretentious know-it-alls) should be considered alongside the ability it confers to others to behave like barbarians. The Internet, like any other technology, is neither a panacea nor something to be completely feared. It merely presents numerous unexpected opportunities"</I><BR/><BR/>I am afraid I must disagree here. I don't think it should at all be considered alongside the ability it confers to others to behave like barbarians. Such people are going to behave like barbarians <I>regardless</I> as to whether the Internet exists or not. <BR/><BR/>To use a different example other than the Internet, would you say that all of the benefits of skyscrapers and airplanes must be considered alongside the ability they conferred on the barbarians to bring about the horrors of 9-11? Of course not. <BR/><BR/>I can come up with any number of unique contexts in which an airplane might be properly regarded as a negative. But all of them are irrelevant when considered alongside the ENORMOUS value of being able to travel great distances rapidly and economically. If one values the quality of human life, then one must regard the ability to travel in such a manner as WONDERFUL. <BR/><BR/>The same with the Internet. If one believes that it is ideas that move the world and animate history, then one has to regard the Internet which has liberated the free flow of ideas on an unprecedented scale as one of if not THE most wonderful developments of our lifetimes and, indeed, of human history to date. In the long run, it will make the can of worms that Gutenberg opened up in the face of darkness, ignorance and stale, evil ideas and traditions look like child's play. <BR/><BR/>True, the Internet can be used for malicious ends by barbarians and criminals - and the <I>only</I> thing that needs to be considered in such instances is how to <I>stop</I> such people and how to protect one's self from them. The fact that a potential for such abuse exists is NOT something that is anywhere near equal in terms of importance to the tremendous potential for GOOD that presently exists and which currently is but in its infancy.<BR/><BR/>Once very common critique of the Internet that someone threw in my face in a debate recently is that, because it is open to any Tom, Dick and Harry on the street who can now publish whatever nonsense they wish, there exists a lot of garbage on the Internet and sometimes people can honestly be taken in by inaccurate information. And that, of course, is true. I myself have swallowed information when doing research online that turned out to be nonsense. Those who make this argument basically state that the Internet lacks the "fact checking" and the built-in "filters" provided by alleged "experts." <BR/><BR/>Again, this is true. But to that all I have to say is: "Dan Rather." "CBS News" "Sixty Minutes." "Forged Documents." And, of course, there is the <I>New York Times</I> which has distorted and outright lied in the name of advancing a political agenda from the days of Walter Duranty on down to the present. <BR/><BR/>Observe that, more often than not, the people who denounce the Internet on such grounds tend to be jealous and bitter elitists from either the Old Media or from academia who resent that their former importance and prestige is no longer what it once was and are miffed that they are no longer the "gatekeepers" of information and the truth. "Who is Gus Van Horn to comment on political events and build up an audience? Heck, he doesn't even have a journalism degree." <BR/><BR/>In the long run, the fact that ignorant fools can publish on the Internet works in an odd way to the reader's advantage as it demands one to, out of necessity, become careful and skeptical about what one reads. It is a lot less difficult for an intellectually responsible person to be taken in and hoodwinked by some random Joe he has never heard of on a blogspot site than it is to read the <I>New York Times</I> and just assume that what it says is true on grounds of its historical prestige. <BR/><BR/>If one believes in the power of ideas, then the <I>only</I> time one should fear bad ideas is in a context where good ideas do not have an opportunity to become known. Considering the philosophical corruption of the orthodoxies that have controlled academia and the media for many, many decades, we have had plenty of reason to fear the further spread of bad ideas - and we have watched it happen. Yaron Brook has talked about the intellectual crossroads that Western Civilization finds itself in right now - and what is so wonderful is that the Internet has come along at just the right moment. It provides a platform where good ideas CAN compete with bad ideas and where they CAN be made easily available and be promoted to anyone who is interested in the truth. I could go on and on and on with examples of how revolutionary it has already been, let alone will be in the future. I can't think of ANY "negative" that might exist that can be put even remotely alongside the incredible avalanche of values that has been unleashed before our very eyes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-10524169599007026092007-10-16T21:01:00.000-06:002007-10-16T21:01:00.000-06:00Heh! The UPS will save me from everything BUT losi...Heh! The UPS will save me from everything BUT losing my cable. <BR/><BR/>There is a word for that: "<A HREF="http://comcastic.com/" REL="nofollow">Comcastic</A>!"Gus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-75757983350633119522007-10-16T20:20:00.000-06:002007-10-16T20:20:00.000-06:00I second the UPS option. I was in the middle of p...I second the UPS option. I was in the middle of purchasing airline tickets -- lots of forms, web pages etc. to step through -- and when I was about 75% done, the power went off for a second. It did it again, once second per minute, for the next five minutes. Thanks to my trusty backups, I didn't lose a thing and the computer never noticed a thing.<BR/><BR/>Make sure to allocate the plugs wisely; I have the main machine, its monitor <I>and the router and cable modem</I> all on battery backup. It would do me no good to have my machine survive the glitch but my connection go down for crucial minutes during something like, say a fantasy football live draft ;)<BR/><BR/>Better UPS units will have some outlets on battery, some only on the surge protection; from what I understand, UPS's give you much better line conditioning than mere surge suppressors do.<BR/><BR/>I ran without a UPS for four years in Los Angeles, where the power is clean and reliable, but where I am now (with SoCal Edison instead of Los Angeles Dept. of Water and Power), it's always doing weird things. My UPS units never made any noise in L.A., but now signal line glitches regularly.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-33974655644103009092007-10-16T09:47:00.000-06:002007-10-16T09:47:00.000-06:00Well! Thanks for the kind words and, more importan...Well! Thanks for the kind words and, more importantly, for being so greedy!<BR/><BR/>I had no idea that UPSs had become so cheap! <BR/><BR/>If I don't get one before Christmas, I know what kind of hints I'll be dropping!Gus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-11673937801002240792007-10-16T09:34:00.000-06:002007-10-16T09:34:00.000-06:00Hi Gus,Just a suggestion but an Uninterruptible Po...Hi Gus,<BR/><BR/>Just a suggestion but an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) is an investment that pays off fast. You can get the small ones for around a $100 or so and they are great for those short little blackouts. They can also be configured so your computer goes into hibernation for longer outages - saves all your work and saves wear and tear on the computer.<BR/><BR/>I'm being selfish by making this suggestion - I don't want you to lose any work and thus deprive me of a great blog that is really fun and educational.<BR/><BR/>AmlanAmlanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10189322060664903779noreply@blogger.com