[geeks] just for you guys....

[Peter L. Wargo]

On Saturday, April 13, 2002, at 08:48 PM, Joshua D Boyd wrote:

> On Sat, Apr 13, 2002 at 11:24:09PM -0400, alex j avriette wrote:

>> how sad it must be to live in a mind that can compare a genocide to a
>> web page.
>

> Fallacy.  He was comparing a web page to a book.  You substituted the
> consequences related to the book to the web page.

Exactly.  (Thanks, Josh, the check is in the mail.)  BTW, I like my mind 
just fine, thanks.  It's kept me happy, in a stable marriage for 9 
years, and is generally appreciated by my employer as being of value.

Any media can be a tool for positive or negative.  A book, a web page, a 
radio show, a TV show, a play, etc.  A web site is no different that 
anything else in that regard.  Worse, perhaps, because the access is 
anonymous (virtually), and the content can reach any type of mind.  
Currently, there is a debate raging about the government mandating that 
libraries restrict the material going into their computers, to protect 
minors from pornography.  I'm of two minds about this, as I am rabid 
about free speech, but I also realize that there are things only an 
adult mind is capable of processing.  (Naturally, I think parents should 
take more responsibility, but I digress.)

Now, You may be able to laugh at a "fat chick" web page (for example).  
What about an 8-year-old boy?  What kind of impression will that make on 
him?  Or worse, what if is viewed by a teenage girl who is already 
overweight, and it pushes her into depression or worse?

Having said that, I cannot say "Don't do it", as I believe in free 
speech.  Period.  However, dismissing the content of a web site just 
because it is "mere electrons on a disk" is to ignore the power of a 
very far-reaching media.

The media is the message.  It was said a while ago, bit it is still true 
today.

-Pete