The medium is the mess

It’s never been trendier to complain about mediums. And I’m not even talking about the spooky ones with long fingernails and smudged crystal balls, leading their followers down strange alleys and dark holes in search of dead relatives. I’m referring to Bookface, Chat Chat, Tweeder - you name it, someone’s got a problem with it. 

This isn’t anything new, of course. Whenever a new medium enters the fore there are those in the back of the room railing against it. Like the peanut galleries from the circuses of yesterday, these angry critics bring their own baggage to every conversation. Only instead of tossing peanut shells at hacky elephants and clumsy acrobats, they toss barbs and jibes towards the users and adopters of these pieces of technology.

When TV sets burst into the public and private lives of American citizens, there were many suspicious of welcoming the blank cathode box into their homes. It was clear to them that televisions were alive - listening, watching, waiting. Recording? Paranoia didn't being with Alexa, people. At least radios, a generation earlier, were blind to the visual glare of the nuclear family. Some called this paranoid. Others called it insane. It didn’t matter. Part of being paranoid is being wrong – but it’s also being careful.

I too could select my medium of choice for derision. Whether it’s toxic lead paint or toxic social media, the same is true – we need something safer and more basic. My philosophy differs from critics of Mr. Zuckerberg or Mr. Dorsey in one important way – I think most media are harmful. We haven't had a good form in a few thousand years. 

It seems like just yesterday that big Mo instructed his band of bush burning best guys to take two tablets and call him in the morning. He didn’t tweet it out, start a text thread or even post a long list on a church door like somebody I know. He kept it short and succinct. Do we say "thou" anymore? No. But English wasn't his first language.

Imagine if that were us today. You’re going to think twice before etching your thoughts into a heavy tablet. For one thing, you need to lift with your legs to prevent physical injury. How much healthier would discourse be if everyone had to chisel their ideas into stone before sharing? Who even own a chisel these days? Most would give up after a couple letters, not knowing how deep is necessary to make an impact. Some would visit museums in a desperate hope that ancient skills would rub off on them. But this is 2020 and Champollion ain’t walking through that door.