Steven Levy's article entitled "Mao's Revenge," written for Newsweek International is something I really enjoyed reading. First, as he criticizes Jaron Lanier's article "Digital Maoism," which we read for a previous class lecture, I agreed with his many points. For instance, I was compelled with Levy's argument that Lanier has been too much of an ambiguous critic by simply critiquing the Web's ability to disseminate information and deliver it to millions of people. In his essay, Lanier tears apart websites like Wikipedia, that rely on ordinary people to create informative postings on millions of worldly topics. And although this is perhaps a good point, his reason for disagreeing with Wikipedia is what I have a hard time coming to terms with. Lanier feels that the move toward Pro-Am culture will, in fact, hinder our youth's creative expression. I firmly disagree with this. I believe that our youth will actually be more creative, exploring options via the Web that our generations never even knew existed. Finally, I agree with Levy (the author of the article criticizing Jaron's "Digital Maoism") when he brings up the point that Lanier's rant "was the equivalent of poking a stick into a beehive." Hence, although he is probing -which can be a positive thing, as it's important to question hierarchy- he should really dig deep into the issue. I believe this article is a great supplement for our class because it is a brief counterpoint to Lanier's article that we already read. Also, it made me rethink many of the points that Lanier touched upon in his efforts to comment on Digital Maoism.
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