The connection of networks was displayed by
enlightenment thinkers
in the 1500s-1800s as they abnormally challenged the ideas of the church. Likewise,
the ideas of people who created internet sites that have now taken the world by
storm.
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| Rene' Descartes |
Rene’ Descartes (1596-1650) unlike the rest of society in his time, challenged
the churches idea that what makes up a human is our physical body.
Descartes
believed that even if we did not have physical features, we would still be a
human as proved by his famous statement
“I
think therefore I am.” This revolutionary thinking was talked about by many
people and created conversations, by doing so it expanded networks in the
community. This is similar to
Tim-Berners-Lee who created the worldwide web as he believes that as a
“culture
we decide what to create.” This suggests that people choose how they intend
to use the internet, and they have the power to control what they consume
online. Similarly, Lee believes that “everybody has to look into the future,”
and this is exactly what Descartes did to gain power in society. Lee further
explains his point by stating it is only “early days,” that the world is still
producing ideas for the future that we do not see coming.
Mark Zuckerberg
thought beyond what society deemed possible by creating
Face smash for Harvard
College which was later revamped as the most common social networking site in
the world, Facebook. Zuckerberg gave advice to entrepreneurs in an interview,
telling them to
“do
something that’s fundamental.” He urges them to “not settle for something
easy,” this describes the true essence of his idea to create something that was
complex. During the twenty first century the Penny Post, was the Facebook of
its era it “connected family and friends” in a similar way that Facebook does.
It allowed people to keep in touch no matter how far away they lived. Writing
on letters was immovable in contrast to Facebook anything displayed online will
be irreversible. Catherine Golden states this advancement created a
“postal
network,” allowing letters to be sent for different reasons. The Penny Post
experienced limitations similar to Facebook such as fraud, blackmail and junk
mail. Had the Penny Post never been created would we be able to connect with
people around the world?
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| Larry Page and Sergey Brin |
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| Denis Diderot |
Denis
Diderot (1713-1784) the primary editor of the
Encyclopedie was crucial to enlightenment
as it was the book on human knowledge. Culture has changed dramatically as now
people do not go to a book for all the information they need, they can find out
in Google. Co-founders
Larry Page and
Sergey Brin invented Google and the site
is used by
“over one
hundred million” people. Google allows people to expand their knowledge and
communicate with their community. Page believes the nursery he and Brin
attended, taught them to be “self-motivated and question what’s going on in the
world.” These aspects are close to the types of ideas and mindset of
enlightenment thinkers.
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| Encyclopedie |
Some may argue that enlightenment thinkers have not
influenced the creation of network sites in society. They may believe that network
sites were inevitable and not everyone agreed with enlightenment ideas. If this
was true the courage to create something different would not be acceptable
today.
The enlightenment thinkers of history have ultimately shaped
the advancement of the future.
