About Ned.

I’ve never thought of myself as a Luddite, but hey, how about a Neo-Luddite?

To truly believe in the gift of technology and the evolution of information delivery and consumption, one must have an optimistic point-of-view of human nature. Like atheists, those of us who are pessimistic about ‘groupthink’ and the entropy of intelligence are not taken very seriously in polite conversations.

This is a frustrating situation, because these thoughts are usually dismissed outright by those who haven’t done a lot of research or those who take part in the corporate counter-interests (or, my favorite, those who are just looking for something ‘light’).

For example, the pious are ingenious in the way that many in their ranks are outright ignorant of even the surface details of their orthodoxy. Ingenious because the ignorance preempts any intelligent debate. (If one is to truly believe in something, you should at least know what it is, sufficient to convince yourself and others of your conviction. Often, it’s those on the opposite side - with their subversive interest in things like reading and critical thought - who know the actual details.) In this context, the intelligent mind often chooses not to engage with those blindly claiming allegiance to some generic brand of salvation. It’s just depressing.

For hands-on fun with this, look at any socio-political blog/message board. I dare you.

RYAN