Tuesday, January 24, 2006

James Burke at Smithsonian

A refreshing talk by James Burke on "The Knowledge Web" at Smithsonian Institution. Link, thanks to Atanu. I fully agree with Atanu when he says:

A journalist and historian of science, Burke is in a class all by himself. If you have an hour to spare for some delightful insights into the nature of innovation and the histroy of technology, listen to the man. And the miracle of it all is that you can do it from the comfort of your own home and at a time of your choosing, if you have an internet connection.

Listen to it if you can. Also, Atanu says

At the risk of being branded a Luddite, I maintain that the world wide web is the single most distracting thing ever invented by humans. The internet is immensely useful for practical matters of course but aside from its utilitarian functions, it is also capable of providing a device for pure play. It can be, in the hands of an appropriately interested and educated human, a virtually (sic) inexhaustible source of joy, the intellectual equivalent of Kubla Khan’s “miracle of rare device, a sunny pleasure dome with caves of ice.”

The thoughts that Atanu expressed, and the ones SJ did, are but echoes of each other.

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