In "Star Trek: The Original Series," Spock is quoted as saying: "Change is the essential process of all existence." For those of you who are unfamiliar with Star Trek, Spock is famous for his ability to combine Vulcan logic (a trademark of his race) with human compassion in order to become one of the wisest, and I would argue most relatable, characters in the Star Trek universe. I would have to agree with Mr. Spock; however, the inevitability of change in the humanities during the digital age raises a few questions for me.
How can the change be most effective? As this shift occurs, what damage is it going to bring to authors/writers and readers/audiences? How is this change going to irreversibly alter the humanities field? All of these are big questions, but I'd like to try and address them with some help by the points raised in both MermaidGhost's and lemonlewis's blog posts.
MermaidGhost states her opinion regarding change early on in her post: "My issue with the ever changing world of print is that no one is willing to accept when it's time to change... Just change with the times, there's nothing to fear" (MermaidGhost). I agree that the static air surrounding printed texts can be overwhelming for those of who grew up with Google at the tip of our fingertips; however, I wholeheartedly disagree that there is nothing to fear in this digital shift. As I talked about in my own response post this week, plagiarism is on the rise in the digital age and authorship is constantly under fire in a world where anonymity is king.
In addition to the issues with authorship and intellectual property rights in regards to electronic material I would argue that the Internet as a medium is imperfect and potentially unaccessible. As we've been considering the digital age this week the cyber-sphere has been in an uproar about Net Neutrality. If you don't know what that is here's a nifty primer from The Wall Street Journal by Gauthem Nagesh. Here's a quick definition of net neutrality if you don't have time to read the whole thing: "Net neutrality is the principle that all traffic on the Internet should be treated equally -- broadband providers shouldn't be able to choose which websites consumers can access" (Nagesh).
If net neutrality is lost, and Internet providers are able to control (via money) what websites you can access, then how can we use the Internet to its full potential? What is to stop a certain company (for example, Comporium in Rock Hill) to not offer a package that includes Wikipedia? All of the sudden, Wikipedia is gone from your computer with no way to access it. Issues such as these are what make me fear for the shift from print to digital. I've witnessed controlled book censorship, I don't want the same to happen to the cyber-world.
However, not all is lost. I would definitely agree with lemonlewis that McLuhan's book helps gain "at least an inkling of what it might be like to look around the next corner of history" (lemonlewis). As of right now, we can not know how the Internet will be shaped in ten or twenty years. Looking back to the late 90's and early 2000's, no one could have predicted the enormity of changes that have occurred in the digital world in our lifetime. I think there is a great chance for the humanities to step up and call for a truly neutral net in order to provide a more perfect community that enables a wider spread of literature and education.
As I said at the beginning of this post, these are all big questions, and I hope I've addressed them adequately. Since "Star Trek" does not have a monopoly on sage characters I would like to quote to quote Master Yoda in all of his infinite wisdom: "Impossible to see the future is."
I firmly believe that until today turns into tomorrow we will not understand the gravity and reach of the digital shift, and I'm becomingly increasingly okay with that.
Works Cited:
lemonlewis. "Reading Response 2" lemonlewis. Web. 12 September 2014.
MermaidGhost. "Response to Lecture 5 In The Medium is The Massage and This Week's Lecture" mermaidghost. Web. 12 September 2014.
Nagesh, Gautham. "Baffled by 'Net Neutrality'? Read This, a WSJ Primer." The Wall Street Journal. N.p. 12 May 2014. Web 12 Sept. 2014.
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