Comments on: Jaron Lanier Makes “Open Culture” a Buzzword http://www.openculture.com/2010/01/jaron_lanier_makes_open_culture_a_buzzword.html The best free cultural & educational media on the web Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:01:48 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Mike http://www.openculture.com/2010/01/jaron_lanier_makes_open_culture_a_buzzword.html#comment-11193 Mike Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:23:54 +0000 http://www.openculture.com/?p=6976#comment-11193 As someone who despises Ayn Rand and her pseudo-philosophy, and having recently read Lanier's book, I have to say I cringe at the comparison. Rand was a misanthrope, while Lanier's concerns (as the book's title suggests) are humanistic. Lanier writes, "I fear that we are beginning to design ourselves to suit digital models of us, and I worry about a leaching of empathy and humanity in that process." (p.39) A very un-Randian sentiment. "You Are Not A Gadget" is a fascinating and stimulating book. I also heard Lanier speak last week in Cambridge and he has a lot of thought-provoking things to say. If you're interested, he gave an interview to NPR's "On Point," which can be found here: http://www.onpointradio.org/2010/01/where-the-web-went-wrong As for your comments, Jeremy, I'll be frank: I'm disgusted. When you write, "There's a reason why artists 'starve' and work at restaurants," I can see that you are utterly unaware of the fact that millions of human beings who were able to support their families in the past through creative work (and I'm not talking about chefs) are no longer able to do so because of the changing technological landscape. If that doesn't concern you... On this subject, I'll pull one more quote from Lanier's book: "The combination of hive mind and advertising has resulted in a new kind of social contract. The basic idea of this contract is that authors, journalists, musicians, and artists are encouraged to treat the fruits of their intellects and imaginations as fragments to be given without pay to the hive mind. Reciprocity takes the form of self-promotion." (p83) I don't agree with everything Lanier writes but it's an interesting book and well worth reading. As someone who despises Ayn Rand and her pseudo-philosophy, and having recently read Lanier’s book, I have to say I cringe at the comparison. Rand was a misanthrope, while Lanier’s concerns (as the book’s title suggests) are humanistic.

Lanier writes, “I fear that we are beginning to design ourselves to suit digital models of us, and I worry about a leaching of empathy and humanity in that process.” (p.39) A very un-Randian sentiment.

“You Are Not A Gadget” is a fascinating and stimulating book. I also heard Lanier speak last week in Cambridge and he has a lot of thought-provoking things to say. If you’re interested, he gave an interview to NPR’s “On Point,” which can be found here:

http://www.onpointradio.org/2010/01/where-the-web-went-wrong

As for your comments, Jeremy, I’ll be frank: I’m disgusted. When you write, “There’s a reason why artists ‘starve’ and work at restaurants,” I can see that you are utterly unaware of the fact that millions of human beings who were able to support their families in the past through creative work (and I’m not talking about chefs) are no longer able to do so because of the changing technological landscape. If that doesn’t concern you…

On this subject, I’ll pull one more quote from Lanier’s book: “The combination of hive mind and advertising has resulted in a new kind of social contract. The basic idea of this contract is that authors, journalists, musicians, and artists are encouraged to treat the fruits of their intellects and imaginations as fragments to be given without pay to the hive mind. Reciprocity takes the form of self-promotion.” (p83)

I don’t agree with everything Lanier writes but it’s an interesting book and well worth reading.

]]> By: Jeremy Keith Hammond http://www.openculture.com/2010/01/jaron_lanier_makes_open_culture_a_buzzword.html#comment-11186 Jeremy Keith Hammond Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:56:55 +0000 http://www.openculture.com/?p=6976#comment-11186 "Web 2.0 ends up producing inferior content and software code. It slows down innovation. It destroys intellectual property and the financial structure that incentivizes creative individuals and institutions. And finally it disempowers the individual, the real source of innovation." What a shame that he thinks this. I would hardly call products like Mozilla Firefox and its code inferior. As for intellectual property and the "incentiviz-ing" financial structure... the former doesn't really exist and who cares about the latter other than those with an obsolete and inhibiting instinct to hoard? Creation itself IS the incentive. It's at the core of our human desires. People have created and innovated long before there was financial gain to be had. I don't write poetry for money. There's a reason why artists "starve" and work at restaurants. I play with web codes and site building for fun. Many people build new bicycles because they like to tinker. Is it nice to get paid? Of course. But it's creation itself that adds value to our life, not the reciprocation from society. “Web 2.0 ends up producing inferior content and software code. It slows down innovation. It destroys intellectual property and the financial structure that incentivizes creative individuals and institutions. And finally it disempowers the individual, the real source of innovation.”

What a shame that he thinks this. I would hardly call products like Mozilla Firefox and its code inferior. As for intellectual property and the “incentiviz-ing” financial structure… the former doesn’t really exist and who cares about the latter other than those with an obsolete and inhibiting instinct to hoard?

Creation itself IS the incentive. It’s at the core of our human desires. People have created and innovated long before there was financial gain to be had.

I don’t write poetry for money. There’s a reason why artists “starve” and work at restaurants. I play with web codes and site building for fun. Many people build new bicycles because they like to tinker. Is it nice to get paid? Of course. But it’s creation itself that adds value to our life, not the reciprocation from society.

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