Lawrence Lessig’s vision of a “read-write” Internet (rather than a “read-only” Internet) is harshly and sloppily disparaged in Andrew Keen’s new polemic: The Cult of the Amateur. Lessig posted a characteristically brilliant response on his blog some time ago (which I only just had a chance to catch up with today). Lessig points out several fallacies in Keen’s book and then graciously suggests that we give poor Mr. Keen a break. Why? Because his book was a self-parody, after all!
So how could it be that a book criticizing the Internet — the product of a standardless process where nothing is “vetted for accuracy” (as he says of Wikipedia) — could itself be so mistaken, when it, presumably, has been “vetted for accuracy” and was only selected for publication because it passed the high standards of truth imposed by its publisher –Doubleday?
And then it hit me: Keen is our generation’s greatest self-parodist. His book is not a criticism of the Internet. Like the article in Nature comparing Wikipedia and Britannica, the real argument of Keen’s book is that traditional media and publishing is just as bad as the worst of the Internet. Here’s a book — Keen’s — that has passed through all the rigor of modern American publishing, yet which is perhaps as reliable as your average blog post: No doubt interesting, sometimes well written, lots of times ridiculously over the top, but also riddled with errors. Keen’s obvious point is to show those with a blind faith in the traditional system that it can be just as bad as the worst of the Internet. Indeed, one might say even worse, since the Internet doesn’t primp itself with the pretense that its words are promised to be true.
So lighten up on poor Mr. Keen, folks. He is an ally. His work will help us all understand the limits in accuracy, taste, judgment, and understanding shot through all of our systems of knowledge. The lesson he teaches is one we should all learn to read and think critically, whether reading the product of the “monkeys” (as Keen likens contributors to the Internet to be) or books published by presses such as Doubleday.
If you haven’t already read it, Lessig’s extended post is well worth 5 or 10 minutes of your time (which is more than I can say for Keen’s book).
