You Are Not A Gadet - Part 1

First off, I find it funny that we are reading a book by a man who has longer dreads than Marley, is whiter than Michael Sera and creates music that sounds like something that would be playing in an acid trip that has  gone horribly, horribly wrong. But hey, he does seem to know his shit about the Internet and the cyber culture that is growing out of it even though he looks like a hippie version of Bruce Valance. But all of my criticisms aside, the first part of his book, You Are Not A Gadget, is very informative and gave me new information about the Internet that I didn't know anything about. The idea of the "Lock-In" that he gave and so described gave me a whole new outlook on the way the Internet and how I use it. I myself am guilty of how he felt that everyone was spending to much time on the Internet and relying so heavily on its graces as a medium in which to obtain information. I don't see how the world would function if tomorrow the Internet just stopped working. South Park in their episode Over Logging gave probably not only the most comedic depiciton, but an accurate one as well. If the Internet were to shut down tomorrow, people would lose their minds, and students would, god forbid, have to do research through that awful medium that people call books. Here is a link the the South Park episode in case anyone is interested.

http://www.southparkstudios.com/guide/episodes/s12e06-over-logging

Lanier values people. He values that people need to have an identity and he values the individuality, creativity and intelligence that comes with that identity. Lanier also states that there is no wisdom in crowds, people on the Internet seem to follow one another like sheep. When someone posts a comment or says something that only contains hate ( what is know as being a "troll") it only spreads its containment's everywhere. Lanier hates this practice and is ashamed or angry in the direction that the Internet is going. He adds onto this idea by saying that people are just following a blind prophet, when someone who is a posting things anonymously, or blind, people don't seem to want to find any proof if this person is right or has any credible sources to back up what he/she is saying. The blind leading the blind or, more appropriately, the Shepard is leading his flock to the slaughter of ignorance. Unless of course, this person has credible sources and evidence to support their claims.

I found that most of what Lanier was saying to be true of  what is happening in the Internet today, and I feel that at some point the "trolling" and just sheer ignorance of  anonymity has to come to an end. I hope that I may live to see the day where those people who refuse to take the responsibility of what they say cease to litter the Internet but I fear that I won't. Lanier makes some valid claims in this first part of his manifesto that he backs very well and hopefully part two offers just the same.