And then, nothingness.
Perhaps that explains this strange, creeping normalcy I feel. My generation of Americans, since reaching adulthood, had experienced only growth and optimism for the future. But Jerry and Tom are brilliant thinkers, and they have people like Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales involved.
So deeply, mundanely, normal.
leveraging the power of community! An instant, and an eternity.
They connect us to that which is beyond our own tiny, individual conatus. Then, suddenly, that terrible rumbling.
Life goes on, because, well, that's what life does.
But it would be a naive mistake to assume that economic interest will inevitably lose out to technological structure in determining the future shape of the commercial internet.
Things have not necessarily changed for the better; they have simply continued to happen. They connect us to that which is beyond our own tiny, individual conatus. On the subways, this time, perhaps?
My wife, whose office was less than a block from Ground Zero, made it out unharmed.
But this one was a bitter pill to swallow.
Although as behavioral economics demonstrates, we can't ignore the fact that real people and real companies often don't act that way. Back then, though, we grasped at any positives we could find.
And passing legislation now would greatly lessen the pressure for better legislation in the near future. Suddenly, it was all shattered.
Other than that, I have a hard time seeing anything in the proposed legislation that doesn't simply worsen an already bad situation.
A massive, sickening cloud of dust.