We were getting on each other's nerves; it was being entirely too demanding and I was feeling uncooperative, so we took a break. Happily, we're back together now.
We're taking things one day at a time.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
The YouTube defense.
My parents, like their parents before them, think that their kids' generation is more morally deplorable than their own. My dad recently labeled my peers and me the "Me Generation," pointing to our selfishness that supposedly exceeds that of previous generations.
Technology is allegedly contributing to our moral downfall. I remember hearing someone at church actually saying "The devil is working through the internet." I was 13 or 14 at the time, the internet was relatively new, and some discomfort with change probably motivated that comment, but the message was the same. The future is full of backslidden young people making new things through which evil will do its dirty business.
Maybe I'm young and naive -- or perhaps just delusional -- but my perception of the world is very different from that of my parents.
I'm heartened by the evolution of philanthropy just in my own lifetime. There are now charities that are helping solve problems all over the world more efficiently, generously and creatively than ever before, in all of history. And a lot of the credit goes to technology.
New developments in communication have been forces for good in other areas besides direct philanthropy. This caught my eye today. It's an article by Andrew K. Woods for Slate about how YouTube is helping prevent torture and promote human rights.
Yes, there are horrible things happening in many places, but thanks to communication technology, these things are more visible than ever before -- making them bigger targets. We know about human rights violations because of cell phone cameras and YouTube, and therefore we can work against them.
Technology is allegedly contributing to our moral downfall. I remember hearing someone at church actually saying "The devil is working through the internet." I was 13 or 14 at the time, the internet was relatively new, and some discomfort with change probably motivated that comment, but the message was the same. The future is full of backslidden young people making new things through which evil will do its dirty business.
Maybe I'm young and naive -- or perhaps just delusional -- but my perception of the world is very different from that of my parents.
I'm heartened by the evolution of philanthropy just in my own lifetime. There are now charities that are helping solve problems all over the world more efficiently, generously and creatively than ever before, in all of history. And a lot of the credit goes to technology.
New developments in communication have been forces for good in other areas besides direct philanthropy. This caught my eye today. It's an article by Andrew K. Woods for Slate about how YouTube is helping prevent torture and promote human rights.
Yes, there are horrible things happening in many places, but thanks to communication technology, these things are more visible than ever before -- making them bigger targets. We know about human rights violations because of cell phone cameras and YouTube, and therefore we can work against them.
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