Reverence short-circuits objectivity by representing the world under the aspect of an ideal. I am not disparaging reverence—far from it—but I balk at those who recommend “expertise” and “objectivity” for the values they don’t mind dispensing with and “reverence” for their own household deities.
And yet with that command comes a great temptation. As I said above, it is partly a temptation to confuse an excellent means of communication with communications that are excellent. We confuse, that is to say, process with product.
The problem with computers—here is where Mr. Gorman and I may agree—is not the worlds they give us instant access to but the world they encourage us to neglect.
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