I know that all the bugs in the programme will be worked out in the next upgrade. I know that, no matter how much you laugh at Bill Gates' control of the software industry, you have to admire his entrepreneurial brilliance. I know that if the computer doesn't do what I want it to, it's because I don't know how to use it properly, just like I know that if the computer has a whole bunch of functionality that I never use, it's because my own functionality is deficient.
I know that ALL attempts by government to regulate communications over the Internet are basically EVIL because they interfere with my right to do what I want. I know that no legislation is ever motivated by an honest desire to stop pornography or fight crime; politicians all just stir up anti-Net sentiment in a demagogic grab for votes. And anyway, everybody knows that the international nature of the Internet makes all attempts by national governments to regulate it totally irrelevant.
I know that the joy of a graphical interface on the World Wide Web is worth 10 minute download times. I know that, even if the vast majority of information on the WWW is of no interest to me whatsoever, it is of some interest to somebody, somewhere. I know this is true even of personal Web pages which tell you where their creator finds gourmet pizza in downtown Plattsburg at three in the morning or which list all the author's favourite Black Sabbath songs, in no particular order.
I know that for every person thrown out of work by computerization, a dozen new jobs will spring up. I know that all the jobs created by the information age will be creative and emotionally fulfilling, and nobody will ever have to do drudge work again.
I know that playing video games six or seven hours a day is important because life in our emerging society will require tremendous eye-hand coordination. I know that repeatedly tearing apart the bodies of human beings, with the concomitant squirting of blood and screams of agony, has no effect on the mind of a person playing a video game. I know that only a fool or a politician would claim that it does.
I know that when computers do our thinking for us, it will free us to do more important things.
I know that being able to receive 500 channels of television which broadcast nothing I want to watch is inherently better than being able to receive a mere 32 channels of television which broadcast nothing I want to watch. I know that, in response to this proliferation of choice, somebody will create a method of finding what I want to see in order to save me the trouble.
I know that new information technologies are creating revolutions throughout the world by allowing individual citizens to bypass corporate or government control of their news. At the same time, I know that these information technologies will bring about world peace by breaking down the barriers between people of different nations.
I know that copyright is impossible in an age of infinite reproduction, but that's okay because copyright was an artifact of industrial society applied to culture. I know that privacy will be impossible in an age of increasingly sophisticated surveillance technologies, but that's okay because privacy is an outmoded leftover of the Enlightenment. Copyright...privacy...I know these and other disappearing values will not be missed when they are gone, sort of like the idea of the soul.
I know that virtual communities based on common interest are better than physical communities based on accidents of geography. I know that the comfort of being with people whose interests are identical to my own will broaden my horizons and help me grow as a human being.
Speaking of personal growth, I know that email flames are a good thing because everybody should become inured to abuse. Besides, I know that the occasional flame doesn't alter the fact that the Internet is the best medium of civilized social discourse for individuals.
How do I know all this?
I read it in Wired, of course.
