The Times reviews a new book which argues that the internet is killing our culture (that's the book's subtitle) by giving free reign to the wisdom of the crowd:
For one thing, Mr. Keen says, “history has proven that the crowd is not often very wise,” embracing unwise ideas like “slavery, infanticide, George W. Bush’s war in Iraq, Britney Spears.”And democracy.
But also, this terrible wiki-novel.
On the other hand, The Wave. And the urban experience.
Final Tally
Crowd: 4 (Democracy, The Wave, urban life, and Britney Spears (even though citing Britney Spears as the emblem of a fallen culture is always a fresh and in-touch move, Andrew Keen);
Rugged Individual: 4 (a valiant opponent of slavery, infanticide, and the Iraq War, apparently; and way better at art).
Looks like it’s a tie. MC will leave it up to the Applause-o-Meter to decide the winner.
4 comments:
I started to read that wiki-novel and my eyes bled and my brain started oozing out my ears.
First of all, you can't leave this sort of thing up to an applause-o-meter; it, like black box voting machines and all other instruments of techno-democracy, is ipso facto on the side of crowds and internets (i.e., the side of complete and utter debasement).
Secondly, I saw this book in the Coop a few weeks ago and almost bought two copies (one for you, and one for your co-blogger) because I couldn't think of anything more in line with the MC's agenda. I mean, clearly, this is what you've been saying all along.
Of course, I didn't buy two copies--or even one--because I am a graduate student, and I have no money. On a brighter note, I fully embrace Britney Spears qua idea.
btw, you were completely right about Andrew Keen and Alexander Pope:
"We shall next declare the occasion and the cause which moved our poet to this particular work. He lived in those days, when (after Providence had permitted the invention of Printing as a scourge for the sins of the learned) Paper also became so cheap, and Printers so numerous, that a deluge of Authors covered the land."
According to the internet buzz, Andrew Keen's next book is going to take on Scribblers, Sawce-boxes, and Sir Robert Walpole.
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