On the Contrary

So the story goes that the day the new campus opened, the university president walked alongside the architect. The president asked why there were no sidewalks anywhere. The architect said the buildings come first, then the students, and only then the sidewalks. "The buildings show the students where to go. Then the students show us where the sidewalks go."

Over time, people will wear a trail of the best way to get from A to B.

Thinking about social networks a lot recently. Social tagging of content, whether bookmarks on delicious, photos on flickr, or linked blogs, allow people to navigate organically. Podcasts allow us to hear each others' stories in our own voices across the globe.

Today I listened to a podcast about China. An author went there on Peace Corps and stayed. He writes the stories of the regular people of China. He agreed with the common view that China is opening up surprisingly fast, decentralizing authority and empowering individuals.

The same is true here. Bloggers drive the news cycle. Individuals collaborate on Wikipedia, the Internet's encylopedia. Google excels in search by prioritizing the sites most linked by other sites.

Increasingly, people are showing each other where the sidewalks go, and the establishment is racing to put down pavement (and put up billboards).

I set off most nights after sunset, following some worn paths in the grass, growing more excited and hopeful with each trail I cross. Will it lead to the rest of the world, will I get to know you better? Or am I merely circling the light my own home, a moth enchanted with a bare bulb, wearing a moat of safety around my castle?

A new path led me to Amy's great blog (thanks KP), and I got to thinking about all this, especially about the way we force people (and ourselves) to go off the beaten path, to walk into the unknown darkness. University students may trace sidewalks but they are still bound by a common curriculum. They choose their path, but with some prescribed destinations.

One of my required courses is realclearpolitics.com, a site with political polling data and links to lots of conservative articles. They are the fiber in my diet. After listening to lots of arguments about gas prices and rational v. emotional thinking (more on that another time), I stumbled across this tough little nugget that made me think. That made me chew.

Thanks to everyone for your footprints.