Thursday, March 30, 2006
Barbarians at the Gate
201k's editor had the privilege of speaking to John Carroll's "Persuasion and Opinion" class at Boston University this week. The students -- much brighter than we'd been led to believe -- asked great questions and seemed to follow our line of gibberish, nearly. We even knew one of them (what are the odds?) from a pickup hockey group, though normally we only see the back of his jersey whizzing past us -- because old age and treachery only go so far in hockey.
But, who knows, maybe some day our kid will be flying past him, thus completing the circle of life. Or something. Whatever.
Our only regret is that the constraints of time and an unfamiliarity with the pace of the classroom may have led us to be more glib than thoughtful in answering some questions -- many of which were deeper than we got at the moment. Sorry.
Anyway, the students came closer than they know to having two of 201k's main contributors invade their space; our staff attorney had wanted to sit in the back and make faces at the editor, but was unfortunately obligated to actually do some work in the matter of "Enormo Corp Vs. Gargantu-Dyne". Or something. Whatever.
For her, and for you, Poor Readers, we offer the following insight into tomorrow's communications leaders:
• They don't know what "Pong" is.
• They can read.
• They download music. Lots of it, we think.
• Many of them nod their heads vigorously when you criticize the Bush Administration. Others shift uncomfortably in their seats. All of them -- we hope -- understand that this criticism was by way of example, and not the point itself.
• If you repeatedly walk between two words written on a board while discussing opinion, reporting, blogging, and the marketplace of ideas, they will eventually connect the dots and come to understand that what the speaker is really saying is... that he's a ham. Or something.
In any event, this small exposure to the best and the brightest gave us hope for the future. Whether it's the future of our democracy or just the future of Enormo Corp and Gargantu-Dyne remains to be seen. We hold out hope that even those clearly able to zoom to the top of the latter will find the wisdom and the time to concern themselves with the former -- if not by trade then at least by inclination.
But, who knows, maybe some day our kid will be flying past him, thus completing the circle of life. Or something. Whatever.
Our only regret is that the constraints of time and an unfamiliarity with the pace of the classroom may have led us to be more glib than thoughtful in answering some questions -- many of which were deeper than we got at the moment. Sorry.
Anyway, the students came closer than they know to having two of 201k's main contributors invade their space; our staff attorney had wanted to sit in the back and make faces at the editor, but was unfortunately obligated to actually do some work in the matter of "Enormo Corp Vs. Gargantu-Dyne". Or something. Whatever.
For her, and for you, Poor Readers, we offer the following insight into tomorrow's communications leaders:
• They don't know what "Pong" is.
• They can read.
• They download music. Lots of it, we think.
• Many of them nod their heads vigorously when you criticize the Bush Administration. Others shift uncomfortably in their seats. All of them -- we hope -- understand that this criticism was by way of example, and not the point itself.
• If you repeatedly walk between two words written on a board while discussing opinion, reporting, blogging, and the marketplace of ideas, they will eventually connect the dots and come to understand that what the speaker is really saying is... that he's a ham. Or something.
In any event, this small exposure to the best and the brightest gave us hope for the future. Whether it's the future of our democracy or just the future of Enormo Corp and Gargantu-Dyne remains to be seen. We hold out hope that even those clearly able to zoom to the top of the latter will find the wisdom and the time to concern themselves with the former -- if not by trade then at least by inclination.
