Big Data and Cloud Culture - To the Cloud: Big Data in a Turbulent World - page 210

gaze and, when properly summoned, share its deep knowledge and clever
rhetoric with earthly mortals. When Strepsiades's son proves more slacker
than geek, Strepsiades decides to enroll himself in the Thinkery after
consulting a student at the school who boasts about the research led by
Socrates, including “How many times the length of its legs does a lea
jump,” which led to a new unit of measurement, the lea foot; the source
of a gnat's buzz: its trumpet-shaped anus; and the sophisticated use of
compasses to defeat a lizard that interrupted a “sublime thought” of the
great philosopher who gazes up to the heavens just in time to receive one
of the lizard's not-so-sublime droppings. Is this science or useless trivia?
Whatever the answer, and it is clear where the playwright stands, the
debate certainly resonates in a world characterized by an apparent glut of
information (Andrejevic 2013).
Rather than lee the seemingly crazed Thinkery, Strepsiades is more
convinced than ever that Socrates can rescue him, although it is unclear
whether this is because he believes Socrates is a great thinker or such
a masterful con man that he can convince people to praise his trivial
research. It does not matter to the would-be student because he simply
needs the rhetorical skill to win over debt-holders. At their irst meeting
Strepsiades meets Socrates, who summons the Clouds for counsel with
sacriicial offerings and his signature oratorical skill: “Whether you be
resting on the sacred summits of Olympus, crowned with hoar-frost, or
tarrying in the gardens of Ocean, your father, forming sacred choruses
with the Nymphs; whether you be gathering the waves of the Nile in
golden vases or dwelling in the Maeotic marsh or on the snowy rocks of
Mimas, hearken to my prayer and accept my offering.” The summons is
successful and the Cloud chorus immediately reveals its sardonic character
by greeting Socrates as the “great high-priest of subtle nonsense.” Chid-
ing the philosopher for putting rhetoric ahead of knowledge, the chorus
demonstrates its own rhetorical skill, promising the desperate Strepsiades,
“Clients will be everlastingly besieging your door in crowds, burning to
get at you, to explain their business to you and to consult you about their
suits, which, in return for your ability, will bring you in great sums.”
Unfortunately for him, Strepsiades proves to be a poor student. Perhaps
his age has given him too much experience, wisdom, and character to
accept an education that values trivia and rhetoric. Or perhaps he is just
not suited to the esoteric methods Socrates applies.