It’s not surprising that everyone loves Google, as it continues to be the topic of so much controversy. And personally, i love the controversy as it reflects so much on people. Yesterday, i brought up that people were starting to think about its impact on privacy. Tonite, i ran into an article questioning whether or not Google was ruining students abilities to think. Of course, i read this article as i was taking a food break from websurfing for sources for my thesis.
I’ve got into the most hysterical of habits. I’m sitting in my room, surrounded by the 92 books that i deemed “thesis related” and did not move to my mother’s in preparation of my upcoming move. Yet, academics and other writers are *terrible* indexers. Thus, as an example, i just picked up one of Lacan’s books and Googled for the concept/term that i knew he said at some point in the 296 page book. Much to my dismay, i learned a long time ago that magically waving my hands at a book and screaming “grep” will not result in figuring out what page a quote is on. Thus, i Google. Google gives me a page number from someone’s paper and i look it up in the text. Voila, i’ve got my source and can read the full context of what it was that i wanted.
Google has definitely made me lazy, although i’m not sure how much. I’m a terrible note taker. In fact, i can’t read my own handwriting so unless it made it to the computer, i can’t read it. Thus, my books are all underlined but i can’t read the notes along the side, so i’ve stopped writing more than one word there. Regardless, sticky notes do not ease my problems in finding an idea from a book that i’ve read. But writing notes onto the computer has many other problems. So, i’ve given up on note taking for the most part. I read, voraciously, and never remember the source for something i’ve read. Thus, when i invariably need the source for something, i rely on Google. Some student, somewhere has referenced the idea in one of their papers. Thus, i find out what they are quoting and go back to the original source to reconsider that section of the text. (Of course i am also fundamentally aware that you cannot ever trust someone else’s source. And given my aversion to the library and my love of half.com, this recognition resulted in my need to move 16 boxes of books home last weekend. But still…)
Google may have made unmotivated schoolchildren unbelievably lazy, but it has also helped us lazy academics focus on the ideas and have our notetaking eased into oblivion.
[managing comments to D. Boyd]
In the midlle ages, and because there were very little books, much less google or magical words like “grep”, minds were trained and built like cathedrals. Organized by subject, cells would succeed endlessly along narrow corridors where one would stroll. It is also one of the reasons the nightsky was somewhat left aside – those were indeed dark and humid, but proficuous corridors.
Allthough, there were those of the Middle Ages, with minds focused on divine interpolation, which could and did wonder at the thought that, when each of us came into this world, the divine grace that delighted in this singular individual was accompanied by an entire universe’s being part of the tools of this creation. Which was a nice hipo-thesis I must admit. So,the divine art of words whispered in mourish — declared that all of the planets would have some influence, at this unique time and place, in welcoming a new soul that was different from any other. Still beautifull, but: astrology is the romantic epitome of a brilliantly scientifical hipo-thesis. And though its method is poor in resources, its output is versatile and rich in imaginative potencial. :: Tarot, now that is something altogether more romanticaly intricate.
In the middle ages… kings were read their cards and kingdoms fell. [So they soon inclined toward domino and croquet.]
Wandering in the narrow alleys of beatiful Venezia in the 1400’s I’m sure one could get acquainted with a nobleman or two who would in turn, after gossiping about the queen’s health, invite us to an evening of tarot amidst the ruling class. You see, there was little between them and the moral contradictions of the epicurists and stoicists, or god for that matter. Did they really care about the planet’s alignment or the stars, no. But in their perverse and cunning minds they loved reading and improvising eachother’s fate… they did care about a good seratonine surplus now and then.
Fact: In the early 1900’s Tarot was introduced into the Western culture, after undergoing massive transformations (see Eliphas Levi the wandering catholic lost in the orient, actually very interesting) and were extremely popular during World War I. The cards are turned most frequently in times of despair. Bliss, the noblemen would say.Bliss.
“When can external opinions be valuable or harmful?”
[Lacan said that all desire is a “desire of the other”, this means that most of our unconscious life is a product of a variety of external social influences. The concept of personality, allthough a common term in psychology, really doesn?t mean much because any person is really composed of many diverse, fragmentary?and generally illusory?images of ?self.?] In the midst of such chaos, I have the shape of an external opinion, so I would not dare answer such an ambiguity.
Ecstasy – i take it because I don’t want to miss out on the revolution that the Sumerians started and Ginsberg picked up, and out of which I am a somewhat successful by-product of a dusty one-night stand. I take it as a tribute to the modern alchemy wich embodies chemistry and sound in me. And as a friend would put it, I take it because it hastens my way toward samsara.
But I always take Zoloft (sertralinehydrochloride) the morning after. Prozac has the same effect (http://www.dancesafe.org/slideshow/slide20.html). All this before going horizontal on this world.