Message-ID: <Pine.NEB.4.60.0408172307300.26393@panix1.panix.com>
From: Alan Sondheim <sondheim@panix.com>
To: Cyb <cybermind@listserv.aol.com>,
"WRYTING-L : Writing and Theory across Disciplines" <WRYTING-L@LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA>
Subject: of the wonder
Date: Tue, 17 Aug 2004 23:07:38 -0400 (EDT)
of the wonder we should say this repeatedly: we love the net. it has grown unbelievably over the past decade - what we take for granted today, could never have occurred even fifty years ago.to be able to communicate world-wide and in close to real-time - with all the faults and impoverishments - and to be able to communicate within and without warzones. to be able to see someone continents away, to be able to smile in awe at the presence of webcams bringing the surface of the planet closer and perhaps more understandable. the faults are endless, and we're all aware of them, to the extent that our usual approach is a barrage of practical and theoretical critique. but we should never forget what still appears as a miracle, a kind of electronic alterity reaching almost to the stars, quietly bringing with it new modes of communities, languages, genders, gatherings, and both saying and speaking. we wake up every day to this, and we must remind ourselves, constantly, of the beauty of this world, these worlds. otherwise we will be lost forever. open your eyes wide to the net, love the new and still fresh membrane of our lives. speak in whispers, speak in awe. _