Those still unsure about the Internet and the World Wide Web
should understand that what makes them so promising is not the
potential for surfing, or its impressive publication
capabilities, but the access to the cognitive energy that is
transported through networks.
Bumps and potholes
Expectations stemming from the civilization of literacy differ in
their condition from those of the cognitive age. Infinitely more
chances open continuously, but the risks associated with them
are at least of the same order of magnitude as the changes.
Walking along a road is less risky than riding a horse,
bicycling, or driving a car. Flying puts the farthest point from
us on the globe within our reach, but the risks involved in
flight are also greater. Cognitive resources integrated in our
endeavors contribute to an efficiency higher than that provided
by hydropower, steam engines, and electric energy. With each new
step in the direction of their increased participation in our
praxis, we take a chance.
There is no reason to compare simulations of the most complex and
daring projects to successful or failed attempts to build new
cities, modify nature, or create artifacts conceived under
cognitive assumptions of lesser complexity than that achieved in
our time. A failed connection on today's Internet, or a major
scam on the Web, should be expected in these early stages of the
pragmatic framework to which they belong.
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