BE -- "death wish for the planet" why the internet?

[John Bailey]

It was a lot more democratising before the big five (Google, Facebook,
Amazon, Apple and to a lesser extent Microsoft) managed to put their
frames around almost all of our interactions on the internet. When we
think of censorship we often think about government censorship but the
way those companies structure our identity now is far more interesting
to me. How people present (and censor) themselves on Facebook, how the
searches we do increasingly guide us to particular, curated parts of
the net, how we ally ourselves with a brand, and don't get me effin
started with Amazon...

I find it very, very, very hard to come across someone's weird webpage
now and go 'this person is really strange to me, and I want to know
more'. I'd say the internet has largely become a melting pot, where
all of our wonderful differences blur into this homogenous flavour,
rather than the odd salad it once was. But there are exceptions, of
course.

On Sat, Mar 5, 2016 at 4:05 PM, Keith Davis <kbob42 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Agree with Joseph. It can go either way, but what a great opportunity if it goes the right way.
>
> Www.innergroovemusic.com
>
>> On Mar 4, 2016, at 10:39 PM, Joseph Tracy <brook7 at sover.net> wrote:
>>
>> It’s a real mixed bag at this point. The government tracking everyone, but also constantly exposed by the hackability factor. The internet contibuted to the Egyptian attempt to throw down Mubarak and the military, but now is also a major source of danger to dissidents.  It only works if there is freedom of communication and a balance of power that limits intimidation and violence.
>>
>> We are watching a situation in the US where both parties are losing control of the game they thought they had perfected.  I think this is good in the long run and the internet is a big factor in this. It is harder here now to control public opinion even with the surveillance and the mainstream media, the terror mantra and the parties  all trying to suck the air out of the room.
>>> On Mar 4, 2016, at 9:56 PM, Mark Thibodeau <jerkyleboeuf at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> Do you really?! Still?! Even today?!
>>>
>>> I surely can't say the positives outweigh the negatives. The mass alienation is bad enough, but the rationalization and justification that the newfound COMMUNITIES of perversion and hate have provided to heretofore marginal asshats (nazis, pedos, etc) surely have yet to be fully measured and taken into account.
>>>
>>> Zerzan/Unibomber seem more prescient to me with every passing day.
>>>
>>> On Fri, Mar 4, 2016 at 7:54 PM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Like me.
>>>
>>>
>>> On Friday, March 4, 2016, John Bailey <sundayjb at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> I think a lottttt of people believe that today.
>>>
>>>> On Sat, Mar 5, 2016 at 9:37 AM, Joseph Tracy <brook7 at sover.net> wrote:
>>>> Are we talking about Maxine’s belief that the internet is a democratizing tool? I think a lot of smart people had that idea at the time. Harder now.
>>>>> On Mar 4, 2016, at 4:49 PM, Thomas Eckhardt <thomas.eckhardt at uni-bonn.de> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Let me qualify: I agree that this is done rather heavy-handedly. But I still think BE is a wonderful -- and mysterious -- novel.
>>>>>
>>>>>> Am 04.03.2016 um 22:18 schrieb Thomas Eckhardt:
>>>>>> I agree.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> whatever the POV it doesnt work very well as written--Pynchon sets
>>>>>>> Maxine up--we're supposed to believe she's whip smart and yet he gives
>>>>>>> her the dumbest lines imaginable to prove a point.
>>>>>> -
>>>>>> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
>>>>> -
>>>>> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
>>>>
>>>> -
>>>> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?listpynchon-l
>>> -
>>> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?listpynchon-l
>>
>> -
>> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
> -
> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?listpynchon-l
-
Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l