GouldNet

[Katherine Lee <klee@dna.bc.ca>]

>More thoughts on reading Friedrich's book: has it occurred to anyone else
>that Gould -- with his deep in the night phone calls lasting hours, his
>desire for a kind of companionship which would leave his privacy intact --
>would have *loved* the Net, especially email? Or do you think he was
>attracted to the phone specifically because of its vocal nature; the fact
>that you can, as he often did, use it to sing down, extemporise,
>impersonate, edit, even, when the need arose, play music down it?

Such an interesting question!

As a committed telephone conversationalist, lover of solitude and wired
multimedia producer, I can completely relate to Gould's attachment to Mr.
Bell's medium of communication.  There's an immediacy and an intimacy that
I associate with having someone's voice right in my ear, that combines well
with the built-in privacy and safety factor of physical separation.

Words on the computer screen can be effective in conveying the complexity
of one's thoughts and moods ? however, as we've probably all experienced,
there's a greater chance of being misunderstood ? except for emoticons,
it's harder to articulate as precisely one's intent, expression, humour,
and such.

I hope this is not too far off-topic, but I think it's in Diane Ackerman's
book, _A Natural History Of The Senses_, that there's a related discussion
about how blind people perceive the world, compared to those who are deaf.
According to social research, those who rely on their sense of hearing to
understand and communicate with others have a greater sense of connection
with people, because they have the benefit of hearing the way words are
used and spoken, whereas people who rely on sight alone are at a
disadvantage, simply because the subtleties of tone are not accessible to
them.

I'm sure this could lead back into a discussion of the power of music vs.
anything visual or literary ? but I know that subject's been covered
already!

Anyway, I just want to add that I'm enjoying everyone's posts ? and thanks
for bringing this subject up.


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