Category Archives: Ry Recommends

In the Future, Everyone Will be a News Reporter

  By Robert Watson | 25 January, 2014 - 16:34 |
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There’s a bookstore in Mebane, NC that regularly sells books for a quarter each, which makes it easy to pick up off-the-wall things. On one visit, I found a copy of The Dilbert Future (Scott Adams). Copyright 1997, it offers Adams’ vision of the 21st century.

I’m not a particularly big fan of Dilbert, although I often enjoy the cartoons when I come across them. I can’t say I feel I’m missing out on much by staying out of the corporate world. Academia has its own ups and downs, of course, but I at least know how to swim in that sea.

I like to read predictions of the future, written in the past, both for how ridiculous people imagined 2014 to be, and how right they were.

Take, for example, Prediction 52 in The Dilbert Future:

In the future, everyone will be a news reporter.

Adams wrote, “People will have access to software that constantly combs the Internet for ‘small’ news that is relevant to them.”

Of course, the Internet was a thing in 1997, but it looked more like this: { link } – clearly not the information-blitz we know today.

So how many news reporters are there? Here’s a stat. As of today, there are almost 75,000,000 WordPress sites alone, not counting the other blogging platforms. Not all of those sites are technically “news”, but there are 75 million people with something to say, and at least a handful with something relevant… which raises a new question:

Is this a good thing?

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In Future Shock (Alvin Toffler, 1971), Toffler introduced the idea of “overchoice,” the benefits of diversity and individualization being cancelled by the complexity of making a selection.

In a world where we can have news tailored to our own interests, opinions, and ideals, we risk hitting a standstill, a world which merely consists of an echo chamber parroting what we want to hear and leaving no room for growth.

But I want my voice. And I don’t see why I should get to put up a site and say my thing, but not let anybody else do the same. So now we have hundreds of millions of voices. But people like to listen more than they like to talk. Right?

Spoiler: Just about as much as the Internet is treasure trove of civil debate and dialogue.

The problem isn’t the number of voices. It’s the lack of ears. Spend a few moments browsing a large web forum, and it’s easy to get the impression we’ve lost our ability to listen to an opposing viewpoint and respond in a respectful manner. Or maybe we’ve never had that ability at all. The forum for Gentoo had a very colorful assortment of political mud-slinging. Note, this was a support forum for a flavor of Linux. Let’s not even touch on DeviantART, YouTube, or Facebook.

We, as a species, need to learn to listen better.

And read more.

So go pick up a copy of The Dilbert Future if you’re into past predictions about today. It’s an interesting read.

Ry Recommends: 3 out of 5 cubicles

Ry Recommends: The Big Bang Theory

  By Robert Watson | 9 August, 2013 - 21:55 |
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As a mathematician, there are two is one question I’m frequently asked: “What do you think of the show, The Big Bang Theory?” (I used to be asked what I thought about Numbers, but apparently the show has ended).

I’m starting a new feature here on An Orthogonal Universe Blog: Ry Recommends. While I would prefer to review books, I thought a review of TBBT would be a good way to kick off the feature. It addresses what seems to be the biggest thing people want to know about me.

For the record, I’m only addressing season 1. This would probably be the most useful for people who haven’t seen the show, since the box sets are available. Also, I live in a TV black hole, so I only watch shows when I buy the sets.

At its core, TBBT feels like “Friends, with physics.” The show revolves around two physicists: Leonard and Sheldon, their friends, and their neighbor, Penny.

Leonard is portrayed as a very bright intellectual who wants to “fit in,” but often struggles to. Sheldon is portrayed as eccentric, a former child prodigy with peculiar habits and a lack of social skills. Penny seems to function as the everyman. She aspires to acting, and works a day job as a waitress. Most of the episodes focus on the implied romance between Leonard and Penny, Sheldon’s eccentricities, or “geek culture.”

There are two things I feel the writers really nailed. The problem with targeting the “science and math crowd” is that you have to make sure you get your science and math right. You’re targeting a group of people who would pounce on a mistake like a cat on a laser pointer dot. It’s a challenge on the level of taking up “Grammar Nazi” as a hobby – one which requires impeccable grammar. So kudos for TBBT for staying on top of things.

I was pleasantly surprised by how well the writers were able to work in jokes about mathematics and physics that didn’t rely on being an expert in either. Much of the humor comes from the Leonard and Sheldon’s attempts to fit into the “normal world,” and find connections to people outside of their realm of physicists.

Such humor can be great if done right, and for the most part I think it is. Where I feel the show falls flat is when jokes are derived from stereotypes. There are a few instances where this appears to be the case.

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In the first season, there seems to be a very clear line drawn between “geeks” and “regular people,” which hardly reflects the experiences I had in 5 1/2 years of graduate school, and 3 years as a professor.

What worries me a bit is the message, “if you want to study advanced, theoretical level science, you will have to deal with the realities of being an outcast from ‘normal’ society.”

While I never felt this message was purposefully broadcast, I think, at times, the show could do a better job showing that the division between “people who think like Sheldon” and “people who think like Penny” is not so black-and-white, that there are plenty of people in between.

Perhaps the inclusion of new characters would help fill in those gaps. As I stated before, I’m only addressing the first season. I’m aware new characters were introduced later.

The final verdict: I am planning to purchase the next few seasons. I’m fairly picky when it comes to TV, because I don’t watch a lot of it. This is a pretty solid show, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it develops.

 

7 out of 10.

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