"Vietnam, Gulf Wars etc, nah she says, you think it wouldn't have been *worse* if it wasn't for TV."
I'm glad you mentioned this. It was something I actually meant to include above. One of the things my History of Civilization II professor expounded upon was the impact that mass communication had on wars. Information moved faster and populations agreed or dissented much quicker and that had an effect on the leaders.
I really do think that exposure to new cultures through television fights xenophobia, just as you said. How many times do we try to introduce a new idea to someone only to have them say, "Oh! I saw that on TV!"
I started exploring the internet in earnest back in 1997. (This is not an "I'm oldskool" boast. I recognize I was a relative latecomer. I'm just giving a timeframe.) Even then, I envisioned an eventual merging of television and internet. Slowly, I'm seeing that happen. I can watch episodes of shows I like through the Networks' websites or I can stream them on Netflix.
Now's an exciting time to be alive. I love living in the future!
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2011-04-15 04:08 pm (UTC)Your mom sounds amazing. :)
"Vietnam, Gulf Wars etc, nah she says, you think it wouldn't have been *worse* if it wasn't for TV."
I'm glad you mentioned this. It was something I actually meant to include above. One of the things my History of Civilization II professor expounded upon was the impact that mass communication had on wars. Information moved faster and populations agreed or dissented much quicker and that had an effect on the leaders.
I really do think that exposure to new cultures through television fights xenophobia, just as you said. How many times do we try to introduce a new idea to someone only to have them say, "Oh! I saw that on TV!"
I started exploring the internet in earnest back in 1997. (This is not an "I'm oldskool" boast. I recognize I was a relative latecomer. I'm just giving a timeframe.) Even then, I envisioned an eventual merging of television and internet. Slowly, I'm seeing that happen. I can watch episodes of shows I like through the Networks' websites or I can stream them on Netflix.
Now's an exciting time to be alive. I love living in the future!