Authors and AuthorityCRLF
Gloria Origgi,
Text-E,
Feb 28, 2002
Actually, this interview with Umberto Eco is quite good. I especially like his comments on copyright and the future of books later on in the piece. But I disagree with his contention that without filters, people are unable to assess the quality of information on the internet. I would argue that, in the first place, there are filters, such as this newsletter, that people can learn to trust over time. And in the second place, people are (gradually) acquiring the critical reasoning skills that allow them to determine for themselves whether a work is of quality. Filters are necessary when the population is illiterate (in the broadest sense of the term), but once the population reaches a certain level of critical awareness, they are as qualified as any authority to make decisions for themselves. This is where the concepts of knowledge and democracy merge.
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