The power of language

As a participant in today's CS 404 Judgment Day activity, I was struck by the power of a well-spoken phrase. I recently read Strunk and White's The Elements of Style, so I've been paying greater attention to the use of language around me, trying to identify the common element in powerful communication. The attorneys and witnesses on each side had meaningful material to discuss and shared his ideas, but only those statements carefully constructed and powerfully spoken had an effect on my thoughts. The same principle applies to writing. Some writing is boring, taking too long to say what it wants to say. Some speech is wordy, obscuring the gem of meaning behind a cloud of dust. But again and again, I find that powerful communication is direct and concise, saying precisely what needs to be said and leaving behind that which does not.

Power and Responsibility

On January 21, 2008, a hacker group calling itself "Anonymous" declared war on the Church of Scientology in response to the church's demand that a video containing copyrighted material be removed from YouTube.  As reported on C|net's News.com, "local chapter sites for the Church of Scientology have been defaced, and in some cases denial of service attacks have also prevented access to the same sites. Real-world attacks have included fax-spamming those same offices."  The group's vigilante attitude proclaims that Anonymous makes the decisions, and anyone who stands in the way will be thrown aside; civil and legal rights are to be ignored when inconvenient.  The showdown has been reported on NBC, SlashDot, Wired, Digg, and thousands of blogs.  This is big news.

Anonymous's actions are disturbing, reminiscent of an anarchistic society governed not by law but by power. The group clearly believes that capability grants authority, and that its mere ability to attack Scientology gives it the inherent right to do so without regard to established authority.  Western society generally disagrees with that notion, so I'm surprised to see the amount of support the group has gained on the internet.  We're a law-abiding group of people, one generally inclined to leave enforcement up to the government.  Then again, it was only a few years ago that Spiderman's Peter Parker reminded millions worldwide that "With great power comes great responsibility."  Isn't that the same idea dressed in different words?  If our heroes get to ignore the law, why doesn't Anonymous?  Why is it right for Spiderman to use his power outside the law, but not for Anonymous to do so?  These aren't simple questions, and they have no easy answers.

Technological Vertigo

Apple Inc. recently announced their latest laptop offering, the MacBook Air.  While the technical features of the ultra-lightweight laptop are impressive, what really struck me was what's missing: an ethernet port.  The connectivity expected from any laptop in today's world is provided entirely through its wireless card.  And it will work.  Something that would have been inconceivable just five years ago is quickly going to become the standard, and before long we'll wonder at the notion of using a wired connection.  Wireless accessibility will be as ubiquitous a few years from now as electrical outlets are today.

World-changing innovations like this are happening at a constantly increasing pace.  Whereas someone born in the 1600s could generally predict the course of his life, I don't even dare to guess what my life will be like twenty years from now.  Innovations in communication, travel, artificial intelligence, human-machine interaction, and a host of other fields will each change our lives such that yesterday's impossible becomes tomorrow's trivial.  It's technological vertigo; we're losing our sense of what's coming.  There's a danger in such a world: a man who has no notion of tomorrow lives only for today, thinks only for today.  There's certainly a danger.  But the possibilities, though dangerous, are also limitless.  We've got an exciting tale ahead of us.