Comments on: At Berkman http://crookedtimber.org/2008/09/22/at-berkman/ Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made Sun, 22 Nov 2009 09:24:48 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Seth Finkelstein http://crookedtimber.org/2008/09/22/at-berkman/comment-page-1/#comment-252994 Seth Finkelstein Mon, 22 Sep 2008 22:18:50 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=7864#comment-252994 Congratulations. And be wary. Berkman has many nice, nice, people, who make their living as consultants or marketers or similar to large corporations regarding how to basically (my terms) use the Internet to profit via emotional manipulation and digital-sharecropping. Again, these people are extremely personable, tops in what they do. But what they do is not necessarily such a great thing. See my column to Lessig on anti-corruption for an oblique critique: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/oct/25/comment.intellectualproperty Congratulations. And be wary. Berkman has many nice, nice, people, who make their living as consultants or marketers or similar to large corporations regarding how to basically (my terms) use the Internet to profit via emotional manipulation and digital-sharecropping. Again, these people are extremely personable, tops in what they do. But what they do is not necessarily such a great thing.

See my column to Lessig on anti-corruption for an oblique critique:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/oct/25/comment.intellectualproperty

]]> By: Righteous Bubba http://crookedtimber.org/2008/09/22/at-berkman/comment-page-1/#comment-252961 Righteous Bubba Mon, 22 Sep 2008 19:06:40 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=7864#comment-252961 Good luck and have fun. Good luck and have fun.

]]> By: HH http://crookedtimber.org/2008/09/22/at-berkman/comment-page-1/#comment-252957 HH Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:57:04 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=7864#comment-252957 The governing paradigm for the history of the early years of the Internet is a massive rear guard action by the non-digital interests. The established pre-digital institutions and their credentialing mechanisms are fighting a disciplined withdrawal, in which they give up as little ground as possible and inflict as much damage as they can on the adversary. An ironic subplot of this great defensive maneuver is the sponsorship of Internet "research" by institutions that have everything to lose from a radical alteration of the mechanisms of society. Specifically, the credentialing and funding machinery of schools like Harvard and MIT depend on defense of their geographic organization. Thus it should not be surprising to see that the Internet scholarship coming out of these institutions is timid, narrow, unimaginative, and reassuring to the old order. If Ezter were truly a powerful thinker in sympathy with the future of the Internet, she would take on credentialization, the central redoubt of the geographically chartered educational institutions. It is their ability to issue vocational licenses and secure career placements that make the obsolescent geographically chartered schools so powerful. Take that away, and they will vanish. Universal digital communication means universal faculties and credentials awarded according to capability, not by paid course credits. The future of Internet Society will not be discovered at Berkman, but the rate of its arrival will likely be delayed by the work done there. The governing paradigm for the history of the early years of the Internet is a massive rear guard action by the non-digital interests. The established pre-digital institutions and their credentialing mechanisms are fighting a disciplined withdrawal, in which they give up as little ground as possible and inflict as much damage as they can on the adversary.

An ironic subplot of this great defensive maneuver is the sponsorship of Internet “research” by institutions that have everything to lose from a radical alteration of the mechanisms of society. Specifically, the credentialing and funding machinery of schools like Harvard and MIT depend on defense of their geographic organization. Thus it should not be surprising to see that the Internet scholarship coming out of these institutions is timid, narrow, unimaginative, and reassuring to the old order.

If Ezter were truly a powerful thinker in sympathy with the future of the Internet, she would take on credentialization, the central redoubt of the geographically chartered educational institutions. It is their ability to issue vocational licenses and secure career placements that make the obsolescent geographically chartered schools so powerful. Take that away, and they will vanish.

Universal digital communication means universal faculties and credentials awarded according to capability, not by paid course credits. The future of Internet Society will not be discovered at Berkman, but the rate of its arrival will likely be delayed by the work done there.

]]> By: M. Gordon http://crookedtimber.org/2008/09/22/at-berkman/comment-page-1/#comment-252942 M. Gordon Mon, 22 Sep 2008 17:43:35 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=7864#comment-252942 Damn, I'm getting old. I can't even remember when you were here. Still, isn't two leaves in three years a lot for most people? Are you just that awesome? Damn, I’m getting old. I can’t even remember when you were here. Still, isn’t two leaves in three years a lot for most people? Are you just that awesome?

]]> By: eszter http://crookedtimber.org/2008/09/22/at-berkman/comment-page-1/#comment-252940 eszter Mon, 22 Sep 2008 17:41:22 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=7864#comment-252940 Matt, it's not two years in a row, I was at NU last year. My last leave was in 2006-07. Matt, it’s not two years in a row, I was at NU last year. My last leave was in 2006-07.

]]> By: M. Gordon http://crookedtimber.org/2008/09/22/at-berkman/comment-page-1/#comment-252929 M. Gordon Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:44:21 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=7864#comment-252929 How do you get to go on leave two years in a row? What is NW paying you for anyway? How do you get to go on leave two years in a row? What is NW paying you for anyway?

]]> By: Bob B http://crookedtimber.org/2008/09/22/at-berkman/comment-page-1/#comment-252908 Bob B Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:54:51 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=7864#comment-252908 The MIT isn't too far from Harvard so you'll be able to meet up with Tim Berners-Lee, the Brit who invented the world-wide web: http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/ The MIT isn’t too far from Harvard so you’ll be able to meet up with Tim Berners-Lee, the Brit who invented the world-wide web:
http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/

]]> By: Lisa http://crookedtimber.org/2008/09/22/at-berkman/comment-page-1/#comment-252892 Lisa Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:31:48 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=7864#comment-252892 Congratulations on your fellowship and good luck on your project. Exciting experiences like that usually germinate work in the years to come--so even if you must stay on task for now, I'm sure we'll hear of something amazing you done that is just sprouting now. Congratulations on your fellowship and good luck on your project. Exciting experiences like that usually germinate work in the years to come—so even if you must stay on task for now, I’m sure we’ll hear of something amazing you done that is just sprouting now.

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