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This piece was a marathon to get through and I felt lost for 90% of the piece. I didn't appreciate the vagueness with which the author was addressing the inventions and progressions of human knowledge. It wasn't until section 8 that I started to understand the point that they were getting at. Part of the confusion was the preface to the article and the intro to the article that made me think it would be about science in a post-war era. I suppose it was about that but it feels like a stretch. I think the main issue was that I wasn't aware that this was written in 1945 which was a very different time hence a very different style of writing.
That all being said, I did appreciate the conclusion when the author finally reached it. I feel that the author was
getting at the point that, we have so much knowledge at our disposal and we have continually evolved as a species that it
would not be unreasonable to assert that the application of evolutionary science to general aspects of the human condition
will allow us to ...encompass the great record and to grow in the wisdom of race experience...
(Bush). I agree with this
argument and I agree that we are on the right track to reaching this evolved human existence. And when we achieve it, it will
likely be through science.
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It was really interesting to read this article from the perspective of how much has changed in a decade. I liked that I could see the beginnings of so many different ideas and advancements including data science, web apps, and net neutrality. I also didn't know much about net neutrality before this but I have heard it referenced many times and the explanation that they gave was quite useful. One thing I am curious about is how different this article would look if written today. I have a feeling it would be much more exhaustive in scope and more complex. But also a lot more focused on controversy and issues of the like.
One issue that stood out to me as interesting was the discussion under "No Snooping" that dealt with surveillance in the digital age. Granted that was much earlier on so there was not as much drama surrounding surveillance. Whereas today it is common knowledge that our government and huge corporations like Facebook have gone through our data, sold our data, or did something of like. And like most things nowadays, I feel we have become desensitized to it.
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Overall, I found these readings to be interesting and somewhat chronological, with "As We May Think" detailing all of the advancements made my man and how we will continue to advance in the future through wisdom and science. "Long Live the Web" continues this idea and shows how we have used science and wisdom to create the web and furthermore, how the web has become the next frontier for innovation.