Personal discipline only makes sense as a way to personal freedom.

17^th January 1999

John Ralston Saul on tour

After the lecture, I waited for the autograph hunters to dissipate, and exchanged cards with Mr. Saul. I am interested in pursueing some ideas with him and writing an article for magazine publication.

Two things struck me.

(a) his refreshing announcement that he "doesn't email"; and,
(b) the perception of time.

I am currently attached to the wired world with at least 7 email accounts and the destructive side of the online addiction is ever too clear at times. I am not about to jetison the internet, for it is a source of income for me, as well as a useful tool for some of my studies.

Mr. Saul reminded the audience, in response to a question about "the internet", that it is simply a communication tool. I may write a book called "Connecting to the internet without a computer" this year, examining the standard methods which exist for individuals to connect to each other. This is a nice context from which one can probably provide a sensible assessment of what this digital revolution can actually do for us.

Time is a precious resource.

The discussion of citizen involvement in democratic systems is particularly interesting from the angle of time. How we see people with little time, busy making a living, and now we are urged to adopt yet another medium of communication. If my radical proposition from an earlier rant is correct, and we indeed don't have newspapers, then the introduction of the internet into out media repetoire is particularly interesting.

Compare with Mr. Saul's succint comment, that if we protect the notion of providing quality universal education for the first twelve years of schooling, universities will take care of themselves.

end of rave.

(C)opyright Sylvano Lucchetti.