Two summers ago I spent the season thinking about the new course I was planning, and reading, reading, reading. Every time I walked into the library there was another book with a come-on look and a flashy title tuned to the moment, ranging from the pessimistic (The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to our Brains), to the optimistic (Infinite Reality: Avatars, Eternal Life, Universal Consciousness, and the Dawn of the Virtual Revolution), to the frankly odd, Exhibit A being When Gadgets Betray Us—a title that on the one hand seemed laughably like my family's name for Star Wars 6 ("When Teddy Bears Attack"), and on the other, disturbing in its suggestion that we form intimate, trusting relationships with machines.
And it was the same every time I opened a newspaper or magazine: there were the usual articles on climate and habitat change, of course, but also stuff I associated more with sci-fi than the here-and-now: scientists were creating artificial leaves, growing edible meat in vats, and even bioengineering entire new and self-replicating life forms—not hybrids of existing beasties, but creatures built entirely from scratch. Did I mention self-replicating? You know—like you, and me? Yikes. It made me a little crazy that we couldn't all read all of it. How could I bring some of this material into the classroom, and how could I be sure it was what you wanted to read?
Crowdsourcing is the obvious solution. Hence the blog. This is a place for thoughtful reflection on course materials and their connection to the rest of the world. It's also where we can fire off a quick post with a link to a news item or article, an ad, whatever—you tell me. It's where we can ask the questions the articles don't always treat. These new leaves—will they be pretty? The vat pork—will it be tasty? Is "Eternal Life" such a good idea? Would that mean no more babies (a.k.a. new people)?
