I’m Reading The Argos Catalogue

When our children were little, one of the things they loved to do was to browse through the Argos catalogue. (Argos is a UK store that sells a whole variety of stuff from toys to electronics to household goods.)

Back in the dim and distant past, (The late 60’s), there was another catalogue, called the. Whole Earth Catalog – an actual physical catalogue produced by the counter culture in the USA. It was a mix of essays and product reviews, designed to connect those who wanted to bring about change and work for a more fair and equal society, and give them the tools for that work.

It was referred to by Steve Jobs as a kind of ‘Google in paper form’ that existed before the internet.

In fact it was the direct precursor to the World Wide Web.
The purpose of the internet in the mind of those who built on the aims of The Whole Earth Catalog was that it gave access to information to all, and a forum for the exchange of ideas, for the betterment of humanity.

You can hear more about it in the recent BBC series ‘Gatekeepers’

We now know what those originators of the www. did not know. That the internet would give rise to stalking, fake news, exploitation, misinformation, cyber crime, and a host of other unintended consequences, as well as many positive dimensions.

Like every new development, it has the potential for good, and for ill. We’re now facing the same situation with AI, but we are already so far into the age of AI that we probably won’t be able to guard against the negative effects of that technology.

So what ?

I’m not telling you much that you didn’t already know, so what’s my point ?

It’s the age old question of how to respond to culture – withdraw, assimilate, confront or engage ?

I guess the answer is for me to engage, always. I’ve been tempted recently to withdraw – to disengage with social media etc – but I’m still here.

Admittedly some things have gone. The twitter and instagram accounts that I almost never used are no longer. (I hope they do get deleted)
Facebook remains for me a helpful way of accessing information, but not especially as a forum for debate.

This platform is mainly for me to get my thoughts in order, and try to make sense of what’s going on, and I welcome comments.

But the direction I’d like to travel is to do with getting smaller – trying to find ways to engage with people face to face, where there is the possibility of fostering relationship and dialogue.

That’s all for now. Blessings on you.