I was having dinner with friends in Paris a couple of nights ago, (do I really need to write any more after that?), and as the topics of conversation bounced seamlessly between ‘World Peace’, ‘Lost Luggage’, ‘Leaking Oil’, ‘Mac v. PC’ and many, many others, the varied levels of impassioned interplay, on whatever thesis was at the fore, captivated less for their content, (although we were like-minded enough to not pre-discard, except in the Mac/PC instance, anyone’s contribution), than for face-to-face experience.  I believe we were all ‘smart phone’ equipped, and yes, the younger generational representatives texted and tweeted, albeit with restraint.  But, for two hours, on three consecutive nights, mandibularly-activated conversation was king.

I admit to always being a techno-junky and feeling the pangs of envy that are only assuaged by possessing the latest gadget.  I am also vividly aware of the power and immediacy of InterNet communication.  But the “medium as message” conundrum posed so eloquently by Professor McLuhan in 1967, has only recently been elevated to the true levels of consequence/reward of his basic premise.  The ease with which a bit of information, no matter it’s content or substance, can be disseminated is nothing short of Orwellian.  Not only are the receptive minds of the world population inundated with constant broadcasts and personal messages, but the ability to instantly pass them on, and on, and on gives weight to both the message and its source; and the photo and video corroboration of the two-headed snake or the alien activity at Area 51are hard to argue with.

I may be mistaken, but I think I remember a time when seeking the truth used to be more important than merely alining converts to one pedantic dogma or another with little or no ballast of fact.  Actually, I’ve already rethought that, and I am mistaken.  Free humans have always sought out the comfort of groups and ideas that make their lives seem most relevant, while less-free humans are frightened into accepting their only hope for survival in this world or the next.  Everything, from selling soap or expounding ideology, is simply ‘what a fool believes’, (thank you Michael and Kenny), and every forwarded click of misinformation has an exponential power of massive fool conversion.  The counter-strategy is conversation.  At the restaurant, Contre Allee, my friends and I, with only the intent of a good meal and pleasant camaraderie, were able to seek the truth and find solutions to many of the things that troubled us:

World Peace – be nicer
Lost Luggage – carry-on
Leaking Oil – stop drilling
Mac v. PC – you must be joking?