In Which I Am Unable to Think of a Witty Title or Writing Assignment the Second

Wherever you go, there's always one of them- in this case, two. On one hand you have the man shouting to the crowds that The End Is Nigh, brought upon man by his own folly; on the other hand you have that old looney who draws flying machines on every spare scrap of paper. Hawthorne and Bush don't go quite that far towards the end of the spectrum, but these are the two extremes towards which they gravitate.

Vannevar Bush has a very positive view towards technology, but knowing that he also refers to martial advances like nuclear weapons, I have some difficulties looking at his views without bias. He has little to say about the duality of technological advances, but instead focuses fiercely on the positive while ignoring any negatives that might result. It seems probable that this is a mindset required in scientists to a certain degree, or no scientific advances would ever be made. However, I will forego further discourse on the topic and focus more closely on one specific aspect of Bush's view for the future- the Memex. He is clearly envisioning, through the lens of the technology available at that time, a computer and scanner, although the implementation is a little different than that of the usual college student. The most unique feature of the Memex, and the one closest in implementation to the internet, is the linking of one piece of material to another. Indeed, this is one of the main functions of the internet insofar as I am concerned. For example- I am looking for a halloween costume, and I spent my afternoon looking into the possibilities provided by the original Star Wars trilogy. Having decided that I did not want to go the route of wearing Leia's iconic white dress, I began searching the internet for Star Wars costuming sites. I traveled from one costuming resource to another via links on each website, with occasional forays into online shops suggested in do-it-yourself articles. These websites were all about a common interest, but the people involved in them were scattered across the country and the globe. The only reason so many widely disparate resources were available to me was that they were linked together in chains, webs, and occasionally knots. I could even bookmark the whole grouping of sites, placing them in a separate folder for yet more perusal at a later date. This is almost exactly the sort of thing Bush describes people doing on the Memex

Hawthorne's fears- the loss of community, of connection with the outside world, of beauty- are the fears that greet every change and technological advance. Being a writer, and of a prolific turn of mind, he addresses his fears in a deeper and more dramatic way than most people might, but this does not discount the validity of his argument. We know even now the difference between sitting in front of a fire and hearing the gentle roar of air through ducts. I have never gathered with friends or family in front of a furnace for an evening of conviviality. Hawthorne's argument that "there will be nothing to attract these poor children to one centre", however, is flawed. Humans are social creatures, and the social center of the household has simply moved. Where it has moved may depend on the family or the group, but I suspect many people hold fond memories of meals where food was secondary to the conversation and companionship. "The easy gossip--the merry, yet unambitious jest--the life-long, practical discussion of real matters in a casual way" (Hawthorne) has not disappeared from the earth at all. The setting has merely changed. One setting which would surely have shocked Hawthorne is the internet. From the advances in technology which he so feared heralded an end to human interaction has come a new tool which allows you to speak, quickly and conveniently, with people both far and near. At this very moment, it is allowing me to communicate with my professor, albeit in a formal and very specific way- i.e. posting this essay to my blog. More importantly to me, there are now four or five ways to arrange dinner or coffee together- or an evening talking in front of a roaring fire. Of course, every technology does have its downside, and the internet is no exception. It also allows people to isolate themselves, to commit crimes with greater ease, to stop viewing face-to-face communication as necessary and valuable. It is right for Hawthorne, and for us, to view changes with a certain amount of trepidation. We should only be careful not to carry it too far.


Bush, Vannevar. “As We May Think.” The Atlantic Monthly. July 1945. Ver. by Denys Duchier. University of Ottawa. April 1994. http://www.ps.uni-sb.de/~duchier/pub/vbush/vbush-all.shtml

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “Fire-Worship.” Mosses from an Old Manse. 1846. http://www.eldritchpress.org/nh/fw.html