Re: Information & Power (was: RE: Einstein's Brain on the internet)
John Marsh (bio@hotbot.com)
Sat, 01 May 1999 00:25:44 -0700
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On Fri, 30 Apr 1999 18:18:45 Spike Jones wrote:
>John, I could have made it much clearer what I meant. I do not deny that some
>ancient clever philosopher figured out wire and batteries, etc. I agree that had we
>not lost the library at Alexandria, the current explosion of technology that we
>are now enjoying would have happened long ere this, many centuries ere this.
Ok, my mistake.
>
>My contention is that pretty much *any* technology found therein has long since
>been rediscovered and vastly improved.
Probably, but not certainly.
> try to think, *what was in that library* in Alexandria? I have
>an idea: That library was filled with heroic stories about the brave deeds
>accomplished by the various heroes of the past. Accounts of battles. Genealogies.
>History of the great civilization of the Etruscans, Mycenaeans. Political pamphlets
>on such topics as slavery and why Mycenaeans are better, smarter, braver than
>Trojans, etc.
Ok. My contention is that the insights of people like Socrates, Plato and especially Aristotle helped shaped the entire western point of view. Have we really exceeded it? Most people I know refuse to see outside of the box that Western thinking defines itself as. I believe that if were not for some incredibly brilliant modern brains like Reimann, Godel, Einstien, Hiesenberg, Schrodinger, Feynman, etc., we might still be stuck in that box.
My contention is that since a very large amount of manuscripts were lost it is possible there might have been other thinkers equal or greater in intelligence and insigt than Aristotle. Imagine the possibilities!
>My contention then, is that we have now the equivalent of an Alexandrian
>fire, burning brightly at this moment, however, this time, the knowledge is
>not being lost, but rather, transmogrifying itself into a more useful form. spike
Yes, but the unfortuante side of that coin, is much of this computerized knowledge is also being lost in many ways. Much of the computer data stored on Magnetic Tape, 8 and 12 inch floppies is already lost. CD ROM's supposedly only hold their data integretiy for a decade or so. Perhaps optical crystal holographic storage is the answer?
(Sorry if I flamed earlier, when I write at work my style tends to be more antagonsitic due to my current set of work associates.)
John.
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