MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Washington Post Editorial: "If I could, I would repeal the Internet"

wizwor · 07-05-2013, 06:11 PM

I agree with you. We cannot stop innovation. It's OK to wonder if and this guy was simply wondering if the arrival of the internet was a good thing. Some people thought he was nuts to wonder that. I disagree.

I love anecdotes. So here is one. When I was in high school, in my biology class, we saw a film about a bunch of things. The thing that stuck in my mind was the image of a little boy in Africa who was sitting on a rock. There was a fly walking over his face and he did not even swat it away. At fourteen years old, I decided that the kind of people who left Africa to do everything were the kind of people who would at least shoo a fly on their face and that this kid was certainly the progeny of people who would not bother to invent shoes and jackets and discover the rest of the world.

Now I am 52. I have been schooled and commute to work every day. I pay college tuition and health insurance and taxes. Sometimes I wish my ancestors would not have been the kind of people who would shoo a fly off their face. Sometimes, I sit in my back yard with a beer and watch a fly walk across my thigh.

All these things we have done are amazing, but I'm not sure I wouldn't be just as happy to sit on a rock and watch the world go by. I guess things skip a generation sometimes...

07-05-2013, 06:11 PM	#40
wizwor Wizard Posts: 1,068 Karma: 23867385 Join Date: Nov 2011 Device: kindle, fire	I agree with you. We cannot stop innovation. It's OK to wonder if and this guy was simply wondering if the arrival of the internet was a good thing. Some people thought he was nuts to wonder that. I disagree. I love anecdotes. So here is one. When I was in high school, in my biology class, we saw a film about a bunch of things. The thing that stuck in my mind was the image of a little boy in Africa who was sitting on a rock. There was a fly walking over his face and he did not even swat it away. At fourteen years old, I decided that the kind of people who left Africa to do everything were the kind of people who would at least shoo a fly on their face and that this kid was certainly the progeny of people who would not bother to invent shoes and jackets and discover the rest of the world. Now I am 52. I have been schooled and commute to work every day. I pay college tuition and health insurance and taxes. Sometimes I wish my ancestors would not have been the kind of people who would shoo a fly off their face. Sometimes, I sit in my back yard with a beer and watch a fly walk across my thigh. All these things we have done are amazing, but I'm not sure I wouldn't be just as happy to sit on a rock and watch the world go by. I guess things skip a generation sometimes...