Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Computers were always positioned as both the message and media of the new era, but
it is clear that right from the beginning, the Internet was a medium. Considering that
the Internet is not governed or dictated by any specific authority and is one of the most
democratic of institutions, one can be absolutely sure that the Internet is destined to herald
the next major cultural revolution in human history.
Additionally, underlying all human endeavors lies the quest for immortality, the desire to
transcend space and time forever. It may seem that this is only the concern of spiritualists
and philosophers or mathematicians, relativists, and other scientists. Similarly, it may seem
that all commercial endeavors are driven by the pursuit of money, but that could be wrong!
At the base of all commercial transactions lie the fundamental concerns for transcending
space and time!
All major technological advances, be they discoveries or inventions, which had lasting
impact on the future course of human development, had to do with one of the following:
◾
Sliding space and/or time in a direction that satisfied the basic urge to transcend space
and time in practical terms and in a direction that was convenient.
◾
Altering space and/or time, that is, expanding or contracting space and/or time, to
satisfy the basic urge to transcend space and time again in practical terms and in a direc-
tion that was convenient. Although such effects are not unknown in physical sciences,
here we are referring to effects that are psychological and experiential in nature.
Table 9.3 shows the technological advancements witnessed in the last century interpreted in
this new light. In the table, the legend used is given as follows:
Sliding Space
+ve Bringing Near
−ve Taking afar
Sliding Time
+ve Bringing Near
−ve Taking afar
Altering Space
+ve Compressing Space
−ve Expanding Space
Altering time
+ve Compressing Time
−ve Expanding Time
For instance, telephones permit you to converse with a person as if he or she were close
(Sliding Space +ve and Altering Space +ve) and without waiting for a time in the future when
you can meet him or her in person (Sliding Time +ve). It is a simple grid, but it enables us
to understand in a powerful way the essential unity behind the technological advances in
the last couple of centuries. It also gives rationale for the difference in the degree of impact
that these technological inventions have had on human life and thought. It is evident that
Internet's power on the consumer's mind comes from its unprecedented facility to slide and
