Comments on: Jaron Lanier: Something Doesn’t Smell Right

By: Can The Future Be Perfect? It Can Certainly Be Better | John Battelle's Search BlogJohn Battelle's Search Blog

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 18:45:36 +0000

[...] You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto (Vintage) by Jaron Lanier (review) [...]

By: Super Sad True Love Story: A Review | John Battelle's Search BlogJohn Battelle's Search Blog

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 21:16:07 +0000

[...] You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto (Vintage) by Jaron Lanier (review) [...]

By: Will Our Industry Ever Innovate Like Morse? Probably Not. | John Battelle's Search Blog

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 17:34:09 +0000

[...] I’ll get more into the impact of the telegraph in a review of The Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century’s On-line Pioneers, by Tom Standage (a must read for anyone in our industry, I’d wager). I finished that book a few weeks ago – and yes, I’m very far behind in my reviews here. Forgive me, I’ve been a bit distracted with family and work! Other works I’ve reviewed:Code: And Other Laws of Cyberspace, Version 2.0 by Larry Lessig (review)You Are Not A Gadget by Jaron Lanier (review) [...]

By: Quote for the day (Jaron Lanier edition) | Applied Abstractions

Quote for the day (Jaron Lanier edition) | Applied Abstractions — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:40:54 +0000

[...] May 9: I was going to review this book, and then Jon Battelle goes off and writes a review I completely agree with – though I would like to add that the book is also delightful for its creativity with language [...]

By: iRising docu film

iRising docu film — Wed, 09 May 2012 06:55:00 +0000

“I pine a bit myself, but remain (perhaps foolishly) optimistic that the best of what we’ve **created together** will endure, even as we journey onward to discover new ways of **valuing what it means to be a person**.”
This optimism is most precious inspiration needed by many to crawl out of the digital information static silos we have built around us, each from his own diverse path, contributing to one group or brand or project or standard, etc. If we raise the value of what the definition of a human/person should be – to self-reflect, then what ever that it is will be — that we create together, consciously, in that search, we’ll discover an optimistic and balanced future for all. Human civilization has a (perhaps only one!) chance to take to actualize its collective potential — accelerated via the internet, and lets really hope it takes it !

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 09 May 2012 05:40:00 +0000

Thanks Zoe for the thoughtful comments. “Fast food fetish” – one for the ages.

By: Zoe Sexton

Zoe Sexton — Wed, 09 May 2012 04:46:00 +0000

John I have to comment on a few of your points. As an
optimist as well, I am seeing the opposite of what Lanier says. Or rather, I
see the current situation as a transition. What is happening is we have
discovered a way to connect all of the disconnected people in the world through
several mediums. Our human desire to connect is what has made this possible. It
is no accident that the people who created Facebook and My Space were young
people. They saw the need and heard the complaints all their childhood. They
answered to the call. Right now, there is huge research going on both the brain
and in communications – it seems pretty clear what the objective is.

Sometimes we have to revisit or regress a bit to shift our
paths in the right direction. The stagnation or bleakness in spirituality is
actually just a move away from religion into personal reorganization.
Spirituality is free, and intrinsic in our humanity and all healthy human
relationships. How that is defined is both individual and collective. Without
spirituality we are doomed as humans, yet each of us harbors it, ready to be
awakened at any moment. We all know we are not omnipotent; we know we are not
the only thing that matters; we learn to work in that framework when we wake
up. Some are awake sooner than others.

I have to agree with the points of Tiffany and Leonard Shlain
with regard to what visual media, its new format and communication are coming
to mean with regard to the use of our brains. We exercising both sides of the
lobes and may learn what our brains are truly capable of. This is clearly developing
a new language and a new understanding of possibilities.

Still it is an argument where both sides are right.
Awareness is key but it is not a futile effort. Optimistic that work is being
done and we have the opportunity to move beyond this current junk-food fetish
of facebook and other similar mediums. It seems clear that this medium is
becoming less interesting and less engaging.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 08 May 2012 21:45:00 +0000

Good points, Mel. Thanks.

By: Mel Carson

Mel Carson — Tue, 08 May 2012 21:44:00 +0000

Jaron is quite the character and I’ve interviewed him a couple of times for Microsoft Advertising and my upcoming book http://www.PioneersofDigital.com For me, “You Are Not a Gadget”, was a nice wake up call or gentle prod to say perhaps “digital” is becoming more driven by money and numbers and we’re losing a sense of individuality and creativity in pursuit of the wisdom of the crowd. There’s a bit in the Steve Jobs biography I remember where he says something like we’ve all become “one world”. What Jaron is challenging is our desire to be part of one and the same. I heard that at the 4As conference in conference with Sir Martin Sorrell, Jaron commented they looked like different species! We might not be in “lockdown” mode, but I love having people like Jaron around to challenge us and keep us true. I could listen to him for hours.