Book People Archive

Re: !@[redacted] The New Dark Ages

Great minds think alike, Michael. Don't jump to conclusions (laughing).

Actually, an essay I wrote in 1976 bore this very title.

To serious matters:

I may have been misunderstood in my mini-essay below:

Project Gutenberg is GOOD.

Ivory Tower is BAD.

I LAMENT the retreat to the ivory tower and the fact that Project Gutenberg 
is not as ubiquitous and useful as it deserves to be!

BUT, admittedly ...

While politically I tend towards democracy - intellectually, I am an avowed 
elitist. Compare the Wikipedia to the Britannica:

http://samvak.tripod.com/busiweb23.html

Appendix - Why the Beatles Made More Money than Einstein

Why did the Beatles generate more income in one year than Albert Einstein 
did throughout his long career?

The reflexive answer is:

How many bands like the Beatles were there?

But, on second reflection, how many scientists like Einstein were there?

Rarity or scarcity cannot, therefore, explain the enormous disparity in 
remuneration.

Then let's try this:

Music and football and films are more accessible to laymen than physics. 
Very little effort is required in order to master the rules of sports, for 
instance. Hence the mass appeal of entertainment - and its disproportionate 
revenues. Mass appeal translates to media exposure and the creation of 
marketable personal brands (think Beckham, or Tiger Woods).

Yet, surely the Internet is as accessible as baseball. Why did none of the 
scientists involved in its creation become a multi-billionaire?

Because they are secretly hated by the multitudes.

People resent the elitism  and the arcane nature of modern science. This 
pent-up resentment translates into anti-intellectualism, Luddism, and 
ostentatious displays of proud ignorance. People prefer the esoteric and 
pseudo-sciences to the real and daunting thing.

Consumers perceive entertainment and entertainers as "good", "human", "like 
us". We feel that there is no reason, in principle, why we can't become 
instant celebrities. Conversely, there are numerous obstacles to becoming an 
Einstein.

Consequently, science has an austere, distant, inhuman, and relentless 
image. The uncompromising pursuit of truth provokes paranoia in the 
uninitiated. Science is invariably presented in pop culture as evil, or, at 
the very least, dangerous (recall genetically-modified foods, cloning, 
nuclear weapons, toxic waste, and global warming).

Egghead intellectuals and scientists are treated as aliens. They are not 
loved - they are feared. Underpaying them is one way of reducing them to 
size and controlling their potentially pernicious or subversive activities.

The penury of the intellect is guaranteed by the anti-capitalistic ethos of 
science. Scientific knowledge and discoveries must be instantly and 
selflessly shared with colleagues and the world at large. The fruits of 
science belong to the community, not to the scholar who labored to yield 
them. It is a self-interested corporate sham, of course. Firms and 
universities own patents and benefit from them financially - but these 
benefits rarely accrue to individual researchers.

Additionally, modern technology has rendered intellectual property a public 
good. Books, other texts, and scholarly papers are non-rivalrous (can be 
consumed numerous time without diminishing or altering) and non-exclusive. 
The concept of "original" or "one time phenomenon" vanishes with 
reproducibility. After all, what is the difference between the first copy of 
a treatise and the millionth one?

Attempts to reverse these developments (for example, by extending copyright 
laws or litigating against pirates) - usually come to naught. Not only do 
scientists and intellectuals subsist on low wages - they cannot even augment 
their income by selling books or other forms of intellectual property.

Thus impoverished and lacking in future prospects, their numbers are in 
steep decline. We are descending into a dark age of diminishing innovation 
and pulp "culture". The media's attention is equally divided between sports, 
politics, music, and films.

One is hard pressed to find even a mention of the sciences, literature, or 
philosophy anywhere but on dedicated channels and "supplements". 
Intellectually challenging programming is shunned by both the print and the 
electronic media as a matter of policy. Literacy has plummeted even in the 
industrial and rich West.

In the horror movie that our world had become, economic development policy 
is decided by Bob Geldof, the US Presidency is entrusted to the B-movies 
actor Ronald Reagan , our reading tastes are dictated by Oprah, and 
California's future is steered by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Take care.

Sam