It's near midnight already. I've been reading and reading today; so many blogs, so many lucid, eloquent, thinking dudes. I have one or two grand thoughts in a year; these people are dishing them out on a daily basis. Maybe I should be reading instead the outpourings of teenagers and offer worldly advice from 20 years in their future. Instead, I feel as though I'm wandering through a coming together of giants, me looking up in astonishment, almost keeping up with what's being said, but not knowing how to begin to enter the conversation without looking like a prize yokel by compare. Actually, it's not dissimilar to the mildly-drunk-at-the-party feeling.
At these times, I try to remember to trust my guts. I see things that most of my peers don't, I know what is universally true when I hear it and what isn't; I can do that. But I can't articulate very well the why of it.
Anyway, I've been writing comments on other peoples' blogs today. Liz, you were right: "commenting is much easier than creating original content". And maybe even these super-clever, A-list dudes like some genuine, personal feedback too:
"Hmmm, 4,321 hits today. Well happy with that I suppose, but nobody commented. Oh well, obviously the mindless saps all agreed with me totally."
Erk, midnight! And I'm rambling.
I did have some stuff I wanted to talk about, mostly this whole inexorable movement to ubiquitous networks, P2P, WiFi, Emergent Democracy, etc. And an astonishing paragraph in Dee Hock's email to Joi Ito:
I wonder if you realize that a dozen or two people like yourself with the right combination of communication, technological and organizational skills could design and implement a global government without the consent of any present form of organization and provide it with the neural network to insure its success. A government that could continually evolve to ensure that no matter affecting the public good or the health of the planet fails to be disclosed, examined and understood. Or that any existing organization could escape being confronted with synthesized opinions and alternatives that would swiftly emerge. Such an organization based on rights of participation and withdrawal and consent of the participants could be something entirely new in this tired world. Now that would be something truly worthy of the best within us and the best among us. And a great deal of fun in the bargain! It would, in the fullest sense, be far from democratic since the Internet remains largely a tool of the privileged and technologically savvy. That, we can hope, will change in time. One must always begin somewhere, remembering that the sages tell us our responsibility is to succeed in the world as we find it if it is ever to become the world we wish it to be.
But it's been another day of rather more elemental existence, of being with my children, the eldest off school with chicken pox, while my dear wife sleeps off whatever viral nasty is making her feel so sore and tired. I have nothing intelligent to say right now. Perhaps tomorrow. I have good vibes about tomorrow.
12:17:37 AM 
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