AltSci Cell

This is a response to Pete Voss's "How technology helped reunite my graduating high school class". It started small but became large enough to become it's own post. Thanks for the idea, Pete.

My first essay (about Hawaii) in 4th grade private school was researched and plagiarized with Encarta encyclopedia on CD and typed on a 386 I think. Another essay in 6th grade public school (on Chile) was typed and researched from a Laserdisc and books (imagine that) but ultimately partially plagiarized from Encarta. By 8th grade, they were teaching us the incorrect way to use the internet for research which I had been using since 7th grade for collaborative creative writing and internet-based tech communities. My first semi-girlfriend I met online and never met in person. The advances I made using the internet in 7th-10th grade turned school into a very unfunny joke and a waste of time. Giving a computer with a ton of information to a curious young person is the gift of unmetered intelligence. Though increasing a child's intelligence by a factor of ten while forcing them to sit through mind-numbing repetition should be considered torture. The only way I was able to graduate was by attending the local community college instead which held my attention for the most part. In summary, most of my years between 7th grade and now have been spent on the computer. If there is one thing I regret, it is that the insatiable technolust that I acquired necessarily during my quest has harmed my advancement in work and society. But there's nothing I lack that I can't solve with effort and time.

Why does this sound so different from my brother's version of book research in the 90s? Simply put, he never put his trust in the computer until after high school. He typed papers in 9th grade, even 8th grade I think I remember. But he wasn't interested in the still very unpopular technology. He actually missed the first internet boom and bust. Though I have to admit that he caught on quickly since 2002 and his people skills of course show tremendously of the years he invested in them. I invested my time in the advancement of my computer skills and boy does it ever show.

And so here we are in the 8th year of 21st century where everyone should have something like 6-8 years of knowledge of the internet, and people under 22 have never known high school without the presence of something like an internet. His simplification of the matter: "Books" is not exactly a result of his age but his initial resistance to the new technology. Witnessing the introduction of a new technology that changes the way we act so vastly, I can only say that imagining a world of books in libraries being the only source of information makes me rather ill and it did before I ever saw the alternative.

The idea that technology helped his high school reunion does not surprise me nor should it. Our society in the 8th year of a technology revolution is split into the 75-85% who use technology regularly and the shrinking 15-25% of the population that doesn't use computers. To think that young people are likely to actually use the internet in ways that companies have pretty specifically designed says more about the curve of technology. Five years ago you wouldn't consider organizing online unless you were trying to experiment. Two years ago your levels of success would be rather lower due to the curve. This year you meet success because the year is quite ripe for internet communities. My answer to his rhetorical question: "how did people arrange high school reunions before the Internet?" They probably used phones and yearbooks. It only takes about this much --> <-- foresight to think in 5 years from now that you'd use internet for more than you use it today, so why was it that 5 years ago you didn't imagine using the internet now more than you used it then? If the internet stays the same in the next 5 years I expect to see the apocalypse before then.

If sci-fi teaches anything better than a well-spoken technologist, it is that tomorrow is different than today and yet so much the same. Most technologists make a living working on today's issues, but there are some who can make a living working on tomorrow's issues. What is the same and what will change is up to you, me, and the people who do stuff. And so we come to the conclusion. Eight years ago I started working on the internet for a living. Two years ago my brother started working on the internet for a living. Five years ago I graduated college. Four years ago my brother graduated college. My brother got onto MySpace and Facebook before me for obvious reasons. Eight years ago I started a blog, becoming a recognizable blog 6 years ago. This year my brother started his blog. I did the first viral video that I know of back in 2000. Does that mean my brother will be doing videos on his blog in this year or 5 years? I suppose it's more likely that technology is ingrained enough in his life that he is not catching up anymore. Once you're in, you are invested in technology. Few people go back. Let's talk about it.