Such a simple statement to have so much wrong
George Will, today's Washington Post:
Modernity means the multiplication of dependencies on things utterly mysterious to those who are dependent
The fact that anyone thinks this is acceptable to the most basic of knowledge is... well, it's insane.
If you are dependent upon something, it behooves you to become knowledgeable about their basic function and at least maintenance. How insane is it to become reliant and indeed dependent upon something, and then cavalierly dismiss at least sufficient understanding of it to diagnose that it's not functioning properly, at some point before it blows up in your face? Or how about how to perform regular maintenance? In terms of cost-benefit, it may be fine to abdicate responsibility to -perform- this maintenance to a trusted party, but shouldn't you at least know how to do it, to make sure that it's being done right?
What is wrong with us that this can be said without any qualifier, as simply a fact of life?
Modernity means the multiplication of dependencies on things utterly mysterious to those who are dependent
The fact that anyone thinks this is acceptable to the most basic of knowledge is... well, it's insane.
If you are dependent upon something, it behooves you to become knowledgeable about their basic function and at least maintenance. How insane is it to become reliant and indeed dependent upon something, and then cavalierly dismiss at least sufficient understanding of it to diagnose that it's not functioning properly, at some point before it blows up in your face? Or how about how to perform regular maintenance? In terms of cost-benefit, it may be fine to abdicate responsibility to -perform- this maintenance to a trusted party, but shouldn't you at least know how to do it, to make sure that it's being done right?
What is wrong with us that this can be said without any qualifier, as simply a fact of life?