Jaron Lanier, founding contributing editor of Wired magazine and the person who coined the term “virtual reality,” will discuss his new book "You Are Not a Gadget: The Musical Side of the Puzzle" in Tiedtke Concert Hall at Rollins College Thursday, April 22 at 7 pm. This event is free. More info.
Lanier is highly critical of Web 2.0, asserting that the digital hive is growing at the expense of individuality and creativity. He says that one of the downfalls of collective Internet culture is that we rely too much on groupthink. He warns that our financial markets and sites like Wikipedia, Facebook and Twitter are elevating the “wisdom” of mobs and computer algorithms over the intelligence and judgment of individuals.
The New York Times has written pieces on him and he has written lots of op-ed pieces criticizing the “free” aspect of Internet content, which he says ultimately hurts creativity.
407-691-1995, winterparkinstitute@rollins.edu
UPDATE 3-22-10: Lanier was mistakenly listed as founding editor of Wired. The correction has been made above.
Lanier is highly critical of Web 2.0, asserting that the digital hive is growing at the expense of individuality and creativity. He says that one of the downfalls of collective Internet culture is that we rely too much on groupthink. He warns that our financial markets and sites like Wikipedia, Facebook and Twitter are elevating the “wisdom” of mobs and computer algorithms over the intelligence and judgment of individuals.
The New York Times has written pieces on him and he has written lots of op-ed pieces criticizing the “free” aspect of Internet content, which he says ultimately hurts creativity.
407-691-1995, winterparkinstitute@rollins.edu
UPDATE 3-22-10: Lanier was mistakenly listed as founding editor of Wired. The correction has been made above.