I have mentioned this in the past but it came to mind once again this morning. Someone once said, if you really want to know a man, look at the books in his library. That was, of course, a long time ago. We still understood at that time that referring to man meant everyone not just the male of the species homo-sapiens. Homo from the Latin meaning human beings and sapiens meaning wise. Reading and listening to some these days makes me think we need a new definition. There are those today that think homo means something totally different and wisdom, well let's just leave that where it is. But I digress, let's get back to the library. There was a day when most homes kept a library, even when it only contained a few books. In America the Bible would always been the first one in the collection. The problem today being too many forgetting that it is a book and failing to read it. Beyond that basic foundation a persons library would be quite varied depending upon their interests. Books were valuable things back then, both monetarily and figuratively. As a result only the best volumes were chosen for inclusion. They were the things that person kept. And yes, a mans' library could shed light on his character and his beliefs.
Today our "browsing" history could serve the same function. We even include an "in private" button to open up our browser when we wouldn't want anyone else to know what it is we are looking at. Those sites are not saved to our browsing history, although that information is far from private to anyone that knows anything about computers. Really it is more like hiding that book under your bed than anything else. Still our browsing history can tell us what the person is interested in. It is far more cluttered than the libraries of old as it does contain every thought, notion, or immediate interest that strikes us. You have to look for patterns, like a detective of sorts, to get a sense of what that person keeps in his library. My browsing history would certainly be a mess to sort through, I believe it is an eclectic mix ranging from politics to how to use a mirror link app on an Android phone. Our libraries (browser) today does record everything, every scrap of paper that we have ever viewed.
I have a number of books. I mean real old fashioned hard cover books. I wouldn't call them a library but I do call them, my books. The majority of them are novels I can't deny that. I keep them around for their entertainment value, not for any knowledge they contain. The number of non-fiction, technical, or otherwise instructional books are fewer. Still, I probably have more of those than the average thirty year old of today would have. They may have more of that type of material on their hard drive or some form of memory, but not in hard copy. Interesting phrase isn't it when we ask for a "hard" copy. It's far more official, far more important in hard copy form. After my passing if a total stranger where to go through my things, excluding any computers or digital media, they would still be able to get a sense of who I was as a person. They would at least have a general impression of what my interests where, what trade I practiced, and what hobbies I may have had. There is a great deal of my life in "hard copy" format.
Today we talk about leaving a digital footprint. What does that mean? It means that your library is visible to anyone and everyone. It is like inviting everyone into your home. The problem there being, you haven't had a chance to tidy up before they arrive. That can lead to misunderstandings. If you see a magazine or a book on my coffee table wouldn't you immediately assume it is of interest to me? That's a reasonable assumption, especially so if it is a text or instructional book of some type. Why would I buy a book on relay circuits if I wasn't interested in that? But with our digital footprint it isn't uncommon to step in places we had no intention of going! You know what I mean. You type in a word trying to locate something totally innocent, say a recipe for stuffed chicken breasts and you wind up with an advertisement for a plastic surgeon that performs breast implants! It is estimated that 4% of the websites on the world wide web are pornography sites! Those sites become a part of your digital footprint. That's why it takes a detective of sorts to figure out your library.
Well I have no concerns personally about my digital footprint. You are free to browse my library all you like. Having nothing to hide I have no need to be concerned. If I did want to look at other stuff, stuff I didn't want anyone else to know about, I'm going old school, hard copy. But even then I have to procure that from someone, somewhere, and so it isn't completely secret. Banned books! Those books satisfy our wants. Humans want to know everything. We get upset when someone says they have a secret and will not share. Wars have been fought over such! Of course wars have been fought over what we did know as well. Could it be that we have reached the point where we just know too much? Has humanity reached a level where we have more information that we can possibly process? Are we getting lost in the library? Gotta admit, it was all far easier when we only had a few books, the basics as it where. A good solid foundation to build upon. Our libraries were our "common core" and now we have the web! And what is the purpose of a web? To capture prey. What is the purpose of a library? To entertain and inform. I wonder why we didn't call this the World Wide Library? Hmm, something to consider.
Today our "browsing" history could serve the same function. We even include an "in private" button to open up our browser when we wouldn't want anyone else to know what it is we are looking at. Those sites are not saved to our browsing history, although that information is far from private to anyone that knows anything about computers. Really it is more like hiding that book under your bed than anything else. Still our browsing history can tell us what the person is interested in. It is far more cluttered than the libraries of old as it does contain every thought, notion, or immediate interest that strikes us. You have to look for patterns, like a detective of sorts, to get a sense of what that person keeps in his library. My browsing history would certainly be a mess to sort through, I believe it is an eclectic mix ranging from politics to how to use a mirror link app on an Android phone. Our libraries (browser) today does record everything, every scrap of paper that we have ever viewed.
I have a number of books. I mean real old fashioned hard cover books. I wouldn't call them a library but I do call them, my books. The majority of them are novels I can't deny that. I keep them around for their entertainment value, not for any knowledge they contain. The number of non-fiction, technical, or otherwise instructional books are fewer. Still, I probably have more of those than the average thirty year old of today would have. They may have more of that type of material on their hard drive or some form of memory, but not in hard copy. Interesting phrase isn't it when we ask for a "hard" copy. It's far more official, far more important in hard copy form. After my passing if a total stranger where to go through my things, excluding any computers or digital media, they would still be able to get a sense of who I was as a person. They would at least have a general impression of what my interests where, what trade I practiced, and what hobbies I may have had. There is a great deal of my life in "hard copy" format.
Today we talk about leaving a digital footprint. What does that mean? It means that your library is visible to anyone and everyone. It is like inviting everyone into your home. The problem there being, you haven't had a chance to tidy up before they arrive. That can lead to misunderstandings. If you see a magazine or a book on my coffee table wouldn't you immediately assume it is of interest to me? That's a reasonable assumption, especially so if it is a text or instructional book of some type. Why would I buy a book on relay circuits if I wasn't interested in that? But with our digital footprint it isn't uncommon to step in places we had no intention of going! You know what I mean. You type in a word trying to locate something totally innocent, say a recipe for stuffed chicken breasts and you wind up with an advertisement for a plastic surgeon that performs breast implants! It is estimated that 4% of the websites on the world wide web are pornography sites! Those sites become a part of your digital footprint. That's why it takes a detective of sorts to figure out your library.
Well I have no concerns personally about my digital footprint. You are free to browse my library all you like. Having nothing to hide I have no need to be concerned. If I did want to look at other stuff, stuff I didn't want anyone else to know about, I'm going old school, hard copy. But even then I have to procure that from someone, somewhere, and so it isn't completely secret. Banned books! Those books satisfy our wants. Humans want to know everything. We get upset when someone says they have a secret and will not share. Wars have been fought over such! Of course wars have been fought over what we did know as well. Could it be that we have reached the point where we just know too much? Has humanity reached a level where we have more information that we can possibly process? Are we getting lost in the library? Gotta admit, it was all far easier when we only had a few books, the basics as it where. A good solid foundation to build upon. Our libraries were our "common core" and now we have the web! And what is the purpose of a web? To capture prey. What is the purpose of a library? To entertain and inform. I wonder why we didn't call this the World Wide Library? Hmm, something to consider.
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