Comments on: Did Galileo Inspire Social Media? Four Parallel Observations.

By: Michael E. Rubin

Michael E. Rubin — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 04:20:49 +0000

Jonathan — That’s wonderful! I just added your book to my Amazon Wish List, and look forward to reading it.

Cheers!
Michael

By: Jonathan Salem Baskin

Jonathan Salem Baskin — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 16:47:41 +0000

Michael, I couldn’t agree with you more!

I’ve just written a book full of essays on social behavior throughout history SANS the technology that enabled it, so:

- Crowdsourcing enabled the French Revolution and various cures to plagues
- Community empowered union activism in the late 19th century
- Jousts and dueling were no different than online commentary/chat

I believe this represents a rich resource to bring to the social media conversation; imagining that we’re not somehow detached or special in history because of our tech but instead sitting on a few thousand years’ worth of experience might actually help us come up with better social media strategies…

My book is entitled “Histories of Social Media” if you’d like to check it out.

JSB

By: Strategic Growth Advisors

Strategic Growth Advisors — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 02:23:17 +0000

Thanks, Michael. This is one insightful post that leaves the reader pondering after.
Well, I guess I would have to agree to what Elaine said.We would have reached a newer phase in social media if it is time to replace the keyboard as one of its tools.

By: Harry Hallman

Harry Hallman — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:50:10 +0000

Well, in 1615 Galileo was reported to the Roman Inquisition and even though he was cleared the Church condemned the concepts he espoused. It set back science by centuries. Let’s hope we don’t have the same medaling from the “powers to be” with the Internet and social media. I mean, already local governments in the US are trying to figure out how they can get their piece of the tax pie from ecommerce and some world governments and special interest groups are attempting to censor information they disagree with. Maybe these “powers” are no longer the center of their Universe.

By: Elaine Fogel

Elaine Fogel — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 15:16:09 +0000

I saw the film, and no, I’m not ready for that kind of interface. Although I wouldn’t mind having the capacity to learn something new in an instant by downloading a program, as in The Matrix.

By: Michael E. Rubin, Empower MediaMarketing

Michael E. Rubin, Empower MediaMarketing — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 20:31:24 +0000

Cam — “The information is there, but it’s as diverse, as complicated, and as blurry as the universe Galileo must have observed through his relatively primitive telescope.” I put it much more inarticulately than you did, and I really like how you expressed it. When you look through a telescope, it’s too easy to get distracted by the shiny objects you see in front of you. As a kid, I once thought a very bright lamp in a faraway house was a planet! *grin* Galileo had to learn to disregard the shiny stuff he saw right in front of him in order to get at the real truth.
I think we do the same with social media and what we euphemistically call conversations.
Elaine — Did you ever see “Minority Report”? How is this for your computer interface? It turns everyone into a Georg Solto or Erich Kunzel (may both rest in peace).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwVBzx0LMNQ

By: Elaine Fogel

Elaine Fogel — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:30:15 +0000

Telescopes and social media… just tell me when someone is going to invent a replacement for the computer keyboard!!

By: Cam Beck

Cam Beck — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:20:58 +0000

Excellent analogy.
It warrants admiration that at some point, Galileo, who grew up in a time when the body of people understood the universe to act in a certain way, stepped back and asked, “What if everyone is wrong?”
Galileo was punished for drawing conclusions from the evidence he gathered.
In some very important ways, that aspect of human nature hasn’t changed. We reject that which challenges the “consensus” of society and scientists (though he was just advancing a theory introduced by Copernicus shortly before his death).
Those who do it are made to be outcasts – fearful of speaking their minds in an open forum because someone might disparage their character.
I will say, though, that tools like Facebook and Twitter, et. al. are crude. The information is there, but it’s as diverse, as complicated, and as blurry as the universe Galileo must have observed through his relatively primitive telescope.
Interpreting the results correctly takes more than the tools. It takes methodology. It takes discipline. And, at times, it takes luck.