Readily admit was brought up under authoritarian systems, which always leaves me wondering what authority holds sway over me lately. And having escaped a puritanical religion, did a few years but not too many in the US Army leaving with an honorable discharge, and chased recognition from mainstream authorities in various fields, am now gratified with what I call web authority.
And thankfully I do NOT think that web authority is an authoritarian system. I think it can free people instead. Yet will still strike a somewhat cautionary tone with an easy example.
Like for this post wanted a cool example, which is just basic search which to me is STILL so unbelievably AMAZING and am a fan of a show. Here's a search to an episode I think is kind of scary, but cool--web search: stargate people disappear
As I can't know what happens when others do that search will note I get the episode I wanted, where will link to what I get here, and that boggles my mind.
If you don't get episode "Revisions" of Stargate Atlantis, then for whatever reason the web decided to show you something different, where who knows why. I will note I used Google to search, but you still may get something different.
But for me? That works so well with just about any television show, or movie, where, oh, so that episode is about a world where people are hooked into a web, and the computer systems starts doing terrible things to maintain the balance of their world which they think is a utopia, when it's not.
Our world though? We have no delusions about its utopic qualities.
What we do have are powerful systems that are very good at getting people the information they want, when they want it, where web search can seem mystical to me, even though I know it's not. It's based on very solid principles, is not mystical, and is so much better than what was before.
It also removes my interest in lots of other authority. It's like when the Wikipedia arrived, and old establishment went after the Wikipedia, only to discover the Wikipedia is the best encyclopedia on the planet, which was determined by rigorous testing. Best source for info? I just searched: wikipedia accuracy
And an article, yup, on the Wikipedia, where link to it here tells you all kinds of things about its accuracy, which you may or may not know as to how good it is. Including links to external sources if you really need that to be sure.
Web authority is driven by the interest of people all over the world.
I like web authority. With my own ideas it tells me when something I have interests others, without that meaning it is correct, but at least I know it's interesting to others, somehow, where the details? Do I really need to know the details?
I DO wonder. Don't lose sleep over it though.
Used to hang out at the public library a LOT, so have done my share of research for information there, and it was ok, for the time. What we have today though truly is as good as anything in science fiction that I like. It can feel at times like the web can read your mind.
Which I find comforting. To me? The web is like the best friend I never knew could exist. And now it does! But um, web? Please always just be my good friend, and never the take over the world and um, but I digress.
Public libraries are still great places to visit! Please support your local public library. Of course these days usually you can, yup, get on the web there, if needed. But lots of other reasons to go.
Web authority will I think be the final say eventually, as other types of authority of course are ON the web, so it is the meta authority as I get to use one of my favorite words. The web is not only a great authority on lots of things, it is even an authority on web authority itself.
Like with this post. You saw that coming, right? You ARE on the web here.
James Harris
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