RE: [atlarge-discuss] Cowardice Not

["Jkhan" <Jkhan@MetroMgr.com>]

I recently encountered the following quote on the Web. It was
apparently written by Heinlein as part of an essay that was looking
forward 50 years:

"The greatest crisis facing us is not Russia (substitute: ICANN here), 
not the Atom bomb, not corruption in government, not encroaching hunger,
nor 
the morals of the young. It is a crisis in the *organization* and
*accessibility* of human knowledge. We own an enormous
"encyclopedia" -- which isn't even arranged alphabetically. Our
"file cards" are spilled on the floor, nor were they ever in
order. The answers we want may be buried somewhere in the heap,
but it might take a lifetime to locate two already known facts,
place them side by side, and derive a third fact, the one we
urgently need. Call it the crisis of the librarian.

-- Robert A. Heinlein, 1950 or 1952
-- via http://www-ec.njit.edu/~robertso/infosci/heinlein.html

Fifty years later, it's still the crisis of modern reality. The
future now as always depends on understanding the natural and human
world, identifying important questions/problems, answering/solving
them, discovering and inventing, creating beautiful and useful things,
and making good decisions. Which of these doesn't depend on access to
information? Thus an unquenchable thurst for a democratic Web to insure
access, generation after generation...

We want to contribute in a way that we feel will be successful and
equitably feasible for all to attain. Yes, I concede that 'Attainment'
may be a challenge. However, there is no recourse now, all we have is
the future, Until then, we must strive'.

Best regards,
James Khan


P.S.: The Supermassive Black Hole is not due to wisk us all away at the
speed of light, until a Google years from now. That still gives us a
little more time to come together as human beings. I was so hoping that
the interactive web would become such a wondrous global network of
interconnected humanity, that we could reach a thorough understanding of
one another and who we are, individually, interdependently, and united.

I feel fortunate that we had the chance to participate in this small but
wonderful group called Icannatlarge the start of something big, really
BIG, the ability to stand on the edge and look down into our minds, one
another's interspace.

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind"

jk

http://www.historyplace.com/sounds/step.wav





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