Digital Wasteland

So I was going to post a link to a site helping men choose and tie scarves. But my train of thought in the commentary led me to something else. If you want to just read about scarves, ….um… click the link.

I grew up with no father in the house. In Florida. I missed out on a lot of stuff that dads teach their sons, like tying a tie, the finer points of shaving one’s face, and other tips about how a gentleman should behave or dress. (My dad is a guy with a classic aesthetic that always knows everything from what socks to wear to what watch is appropriate.)

That being said, the internet and it’s disorganized mess of information is a wonderful thing. I read about creative and acceptable ways to tie my scarf today. While older generations turn up their noses at it because there is so much junk to be found on the internet, there is good stuff, too. Younger generations embrace this, and we’ve grown with the internet, and I think it’s done a service to the way we think.

It is a fact of life to us that information is absolutely everywhere trying to force its way into our field of attention, and that most of this information is useless crap. I was born in 1984. I have known no other world. I don’t remember when there were only three networks on TV, and the local newspaper was the source for news of the day. As a child, on TV, I’ve only known colorful Saturday morning cartoons and the aggressive and colorful toy commercial campaigns that came along with them. Products of the Reagan-Era, retained throughout the 90’s. Even as a child I had to develop analytical skills and discriminating tastes. Knowing my mom wasn’t going to buy me all the Transformers (the first time they were popular), I had to figure out which would get me more bang for the buck. (I actually decided on a full collection of the minis rather than one or two regular sized ones.)

I went to a private Christian school, where at 10am they taught me that the birth of the universe is believed to have happened by way of an explanation they called The Big Bang Theory. At 2pm, God made it in seven days. Cable TV had plenty to say about everything, too. I learned to look carefully for evidence and approval rates among the adults, and sift through the crap. If answer is inconclusive, retain valuable information for future consideration. “Smile and wave at the adults and just assert that you believe them. Not enough information. Put in the pending pile,” says 8 year-old me.

8 year-old me can come to such a conclusion about religion, and 25 year-old me scrutinizes the information he receives just the same. So what if anyone can write a Wikipedia article? Yeah, they’re wrong, outdated, and biased a lot of the time. But what an amazing collection of information. What a springboard from which to leap. If it cites sources, we can check them and truly delve into the subject touched upon. If it doesn’t, put it away in your brain for later verification. Is it really much different than reading a school textbook?

I’ve read falsehoods in my class textbooks. The academic world is not different than anything else. What professors and researchers wrote those textbooks have their own agendas to promote. They are prominent because of their work, and they cannot afford to have a new school of thought prove them wrong and rob them of employment and dignity, so they marginalize the upstarts.

The point is that sometimes people shrug off the power and usefulness of the internet by asserting that it is a place where nutcases promote their agendas, or people talk out of their asses, and because of this, you can’t believe what you read on the internet.

From my perspective, though, how is that different in any way than the rest of life? All of life has always been this disorganized mess, and there have never been any authorities on anything that deserve anyone’s full trust. The difference is that now, in a world where information flies through different media everywhere across the globe, I’m forced to accept this and come to terms with it, and view the world with this brand of skepticism.

African Americans were about 20 percent more likely than whites to use marijuana in 2007, but the arrest rate for blacks on marijuana charges was nearly 270 percent of whites’ arrest rate, the report said.

Because for cops, the improvement of society and the need “to serve and protect” is, institutionally, not their job. Police don’t follow a trail of pot to a neighborhood. They first find the neighborhood they want to make arrests in, and then find excuses to arrest people.

We were on our way to a restaurant where you have to order at the counter, I’m on crutches right now so I told my mom I didn’t want to have to go up so she should order for me… and it got a little complicated.

me: I want baked mostaccioli with marina sauce
mom: No, I’m not ordering for you
me: Come on, I just want to sit.
mom: No, you order. I’ll mess it up and you’ll get mad.
dad: I’ll do it. She wants marinara
mom: No, that’s not what she wants. See he already got it wrong. You order.
me: He got the sauce I want right. I want baked mostaccioli with marinara
dad: Ok, you want baked… mozzarella cheese?
me: No. Baked mostaccioli.
dad: Masta chili? What’s that? Baked masta chili?
mom: (interrupts) No! She doesn’t want baked.
me: Mom, that’s the part he got right… I want baked MOSTACCIOLI.
dad: Baked? Wait, how can they bake pasta?
me: What? What do you mean how could they… NEVERMIND. I’ll order.
mom: Good!

5 minutes later

mom: (to me with a smile) I’m going to eat all of yours. I don’t know how to say it, but I know what it is.
me: OH MY GOD!

“The development of the graffiti and green movements were anything but parallel.  Sure, both began as outside-the-mainstream subcultures, but the aerosol paint and urban landscapes of the graffiti world were inherently opposite to environmental stewardship.  But new technology and  trends in street art mean that spray paint is not the only tool in the hoodie-wearing artist’s palette.  The result: street art has gone green with its practices and even its philosophy.”