5 ms·

This is a long winded version of Clay Shirky's article from 2009 "Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable". Shirky's site is down so here is an alternative link

by dmfdmf 11y ago

This is a long winded version of Clay Shirky's article from 2009 "Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable". Shirky's site is down so here is an alternative link; http://edge.org/conversation/newspapers-and-thinking-the-unthinkable http://edge.org/conversation/newspapers-and-thinking-the-unt... Its always good to remind ourselves that we are in the middle of the greatest social revolution since the invention of the printing press.

dalke 11y ago
"we are in the middle of the greatest social revolution since the invention of the printing press" sets a very high bar. A Google Books search for the phrase 'greatest social revolution' finds many matches, which includes: the US Civil War, the US civil rights movement, the birth control pill, the switch from feudal societies to nation states, the introduction of women to the workforce, the formation of the USSR, and the English Industrial Revolution. Which current revolution are you considering which surpasses all of those? https://books.google.com/books?id=Vc-0lrtU2ZgC&pg=PA486&lpg=PA486&dq=%22greatest+social+revolution%22&source=bl&ots=G9kD84WLvT&sig=JXWzocg5RAqa2cevT9JAsTDZR6U&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAWoVChMIz4uSwZSUxgIVQR4sCh3hZgAv#v=onepage&q=%22greatest%20social%20revolution%22&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=Vc-0lrtU2ZgC&pg=PA486&lpg=... says that the civil rights movement was the "greatest social revolution our nation has known since the Civil War." https://books.google.com/books?id=SoZMO6lYDNIC&pg=PA209&dq=%22greatest+social+revolution%22&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAWoVChMIodWappWUxgIVBlksCh3Xgw0v#v=onepage&q=%22greatest%20social%20revolution%22&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=SoZMO6lYDNIC&pg=PA209&dq=%... talks about the social revolution from the ancien régime to a new society of individualism and economic ties. https://books.google.com/books?id=wff_AwAAQBAJ&pg=PR6&dq=%22greatest+social+revolution%22&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=0CE0Q6AEwBmoVChMIodWappWUxgIVBlksCh3Xgw0v#v=onepage&q=%22greatest%20social%20revolution%22&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=wff_AwAAQBAJ&pg=PR6&dq=%22... writes "I hope the republication of this detailed account of the greatest social revolution of the modern age will be of service to students who are interested in the origin, background and early vicissitudes of the Soviet state ..." https://books.google.com/books?id=YT-WLCYbLqMC&pg=PT70&dq=%22greatest+social+revolution%22&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=0CB4Q6AEwADgKahUKEwjD0OO_lpTGAhXJlSwKHSxWACo#v=onepage&q=%22greatest%20social%20revolution%22&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=YT-WLCYbLqMC&pg=PT70&dq=%2... comments "The second entrenched reality, this one testing social conservatives, is the sexual revolution, perhaps the greatest social revolution in human history. The invention, and popularization in the mid-1960s, of the birth control pill ... meant that for the first time in human history, women could reliably control reproduction without abstinence." https://books.google.com/books?id=_6aS8Y4O1MMC&pg=PA220&dq=%22greatest+social+revolution%22&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=0CEsQ6AEwBjgKahUKEwjD0OO_lpTGAhXJlSwKHSxWACo#v=onepage&q=%22greatest%20social%20revolution%22&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=_6aS8Y4O1MMC&pg=PA220&dq=%... "Perhaps the greatest social revolution in this century in the United States is the influx of women into the paid labor force." https://books.google.com/books?id=gVUKAQAAIAAJ&q=%22greatest+social+revolution%22&dq=%22greatest+social+revolution%22&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=0CFoQ6AEwCDgKahUKEwjD0OO_lpTGAhXJlSwKHSxWACo https://books.google.com/books?id=gVUKAQAAIAAJ&q=%22greatest... writes "The English Industrial Revolution, Edwards points out, "was probably the greatest social revolution which has occurred on this planet" ; yet there was almost no violence connected with it."
- dmfdmf 11y ago
  Yes, a very high bar indeed. In the broad sweep of history the printing press led to a revolution in science, technology and ultimately the Industrial Revolution. Moreover, as Shirky mentions, it destroyed the monolithic political and social power of the Catholic Church. In its heyday the Catholic Church was the sustainer and maintainer of the culture and social order. Eventually, as the Church's power faded it was the newspapers that served this role and what the internet has broken and not yet replaced with a new cultural and social maypole. All we know now is that it won't be the newspapers. From a different angle, the Industrial Revolution is to body as the Internet Revolution is to mind. The Industrial Revolution leveraged mechanical power to replace human and animal power in the production of goods. The Internet Revolution is leveraging communication to increase the power of the mind in the production of new ideas and knowledge. This has exciting implications for the future if you understand role of the mind in human development and our history.
  - dalke 11y ago
    Yes, quoting now from Bacon: > Printing, gunpowder and the compass: These three have changed the whole face and state of things throughout the world; the first in literature, the second in warfare, the third in navigation; whence have followed innumerable changes, in so much that no empire, no sect, no star seems to have exerted greater power and influence in human affairs than these mechanical discoveries. My goal in giving all those quotes was to suggest that the very phrase "greatest social revolution since the invention of the printing press" is likely hyperbole. Also, it wasn't until the 1800s that the newspaper in the modern sense it came about. Other pieces of technology which have had caused social revolutions include the telephone, telegraph, radio, television, camera, automobile, train, airplane, and water and sewage treatment. It's hard for me to really tell which is the greatest. "The Internet Revolution is leveraging communication to increase the power of the mind in the production of new ideas and knowledge" That comes across like you have left out a chunk of history. The "Internet Revolution" is a subset of the Digital Revolution. Even then, information systems started in the late 1800s, such as the vertical filing system (created by Edwin G. Seibels in 1898) or the Hollerith cards used for the 1890 census. For that matter, we are still in the Space Age and the Jet Age, and we still use the Information Superhighway, but those terms sound outdated to people who use GPS to figure out directions. "Internet Revolution" to me is starting itself to sound a bit dated.

by dmfdmf 11y ago

dalke 11y ago

"we are in the middle of the greatest social revolution since the invention of the printing press" sets a very high bar. A Google Books search for the phrase 'greatest social revolution' finds many matches, which includes: the US Civil War, the US civil rights movement, the birth control pill, the switch from feudal societies to nation states, the introduction of women to the workforce, the formation of the USSR, and the English Industrial Revolution. Which current revolution are you considering which surpasses all of those? https://books.google.com/books?id=Vc-0lrtU2ZgC&pg=PA486&lpg=PA486&dq=%22greatest+social+revolution%22&source=bl&ots=G9kD84WLvT&sig=JXWzocg5RAqa2cevT9JAsTDZR6U&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAWoVChMIz4uSwZSUxgIVQR4sCh3hZgAv#v=onepage&q=%22greatest%20social%20revolution%22&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=Vc-0lrtU2ZgC&pg=PA486&lpg=... says that the civil rights movement was the "greatest social revolution our nation has known since the Civil War." https://books.google.com/books?id=SoZMO6lYDNIC&pg=PA209&dq=%22greatest+social+revolution%22&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAWoVChMIodWappWUxgIVBlksCh3Xgw0v#v=onepage&q=%22greatest%20social%20revolution%22&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=SoZMO6lYDNIC&pg=PA209&dq=%... talks about the social revolution from the ancien régime to a new society of individualism and economic ties. https://books.google.com/books?id=wff_AwAAQBAJ&pg=PR6&dq=%22greatest+social+revolution%22&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=0CE0Q6AEwBmoVChMIodWappWUxgIVBlksCh3Xgw0v#v=onepage&q=%22greatest%20social%20revolution%22&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=wff_AwAAQBAJ&pg=PR6&dq=%22... writes "I hope the republication of this detailed account of the greatest social revolution of the modern age will be of service to students who are interested in the origin, background and early vicissitudes of the Soviet state ..." https://books.google.com/books?id=YT-WLCYbLqMC&pg=PT70&dq=%22greatest+social+revolution%22&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=0CB4Q6AEwADgKahUKEwjD0OO_lpTGAhXJlSwKHSxWACo#v=onepage&q=%22greatest%20social%20revolution%22&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=YT-WLCYbLqMC&pg=PT70&dq=%2... comments "The second entrenched reality, this one testing social conservatives, is the sexual revolution, perhaps the greatest social revolution in human history. The invention, and popularization in the mid-1960s, of the birth control pill ... meant that for the first time in human history, women could reliably control reproduction without abstinence." https://books.google.com/books?id=_6aS8Y4O1MMC&pg=PA220&dq=%22greatest+social+revolution%22&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=0CEsQ6AEwBjgKahUKEwjD0OO_lpTGAhXJlSwKHSxWACo#v=onepage&q=%22greatest%20social%20revolution%22&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=_6aS8Y4O1MMC&pg=PA220&dq=%... "Perhaps the greatest social revolution in this century in the United States is the influx of women into the paid labor force." https://books.google.com/books?id=gVUKAQAAIAAJ&q=%22greatest+social+revolution%22&dq=%22greatest+social+revolution%22&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=0CFoQ6AEwCDgKahUKEwjD0OO_lpTGAhXJlSwKHSxWACo https://books.google.com/books?id=gVUKAQAAIAAJ&q=%22greatest... writes "The English Industrial Revolution, Edwards points out, "was probably the greatest social revolution which has occurred on this planet" ; yet there was almost no violence connected with it."

dmfdmf 11y ago
Yes, a very high bar indeed. In the broad sweep of history the printing press led to a revolution in science, technology and ultimately the Industrial Revolution. Moreover, as Shirky mentions, it destroyed the monolithic political and social power of the Catholic Church. In its heyday the Catholic Church was the sustainer and maintainer of the culture and social order. Eventually, as the Church's power faded it was the newspapers that served this role and what the internet has broken and not yet replaced with a new cultural and social maypole. All we know now is that it won't be the newspapers. From a different angle, the Industrial Revolution is to body as the Internet Revolution is to mind. The Industrial Revolution leveraged mechanical power to replace human and animal power in the production of goods. The Internet Revolution is leveraging communication to increase the power of the mind in the production of new ideas and knowledge. This has exciting implications for the future if you understand role of the mind in human development and our history.
- dalke 11y ago
  Yes, quoting now from Bacon: > Printing, gunpowder and the compass: These three have changed the whole face and state of things throughout the world; the first in literature, the second in warfare, the third in navigation; whence have followed innumerable changes, in so much that no empire, no sect, no star seems to have exerted greater power and influence in human affairs than these mechanical discoveries. My goal in giving all those quotes was to suggest that the very phrase "greatest social revolution since the invention of the printing press" is likely hyperbole. Also, it wasn't until the 1800s that the newspaper in the modern sense it came about. Other pieces of technology which have had caused social revolutions include the telephone, telegraph, radio, television, camera, automobile, train, airplane, and water and sewage treatment. It's hard for me to really tell which is the greatest. "The Internet Revolution is leveraging communication to increase the power of the mind in the production of new ideas and knowledge" That comes across like you have left out a chunk of history. The "Internet Revolution" is a subset of the Digital Revolution. Even then, information systems started in the late 1800s, such as the vertical filing system (created by Edwin G. Seibels in 1898) or the Hollerith cards used for the 1890 census. For that matter, we are still in the Space Age and the Jet Age, and we still use the Information Superhighway, but those terms sound outdated to people who use GPS to figure out directions. "Internet Revolution" to me is starting itself to sound a bit dated.