Tim O'Reilly
A Surprisingly Entertaining and Informative Hatchet Job
I read Evgeny Morozov's profile of me with a kind of bemused fascination. It's well researched and captures many of my ideas, but then twists each of them in order to serve Morozov's own ends. Truth and untruth are so cleverly mixed that I'm sure that someone unfamiliar with me and my work might come away convinced that I am indeed the "hustler" that Morozov depicts.
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| Tim O'Reilly |
I suspect Morozov and I agree on many things about the Internet and its effect on society, though you'd never think so from what he's written. We differ in our approach to ideas, though. Like Korzybski, a writer whom Morozov correctly identifies as one of the sources of my thinking, I believe that language and the ideas it reflects are a map that helps us to see the world more clearly and that can lead us to our destination or can lead us astray.
Criticism is useful for any thinker. Dialogue and debate are effective ways to improve our maps. Unfortunately, Morozov's style of criticism fails precisely because it is not meant to be useful. His disdain for engagement and discussion, his willingness to say "I know what you think better than you do," demonstrate someone with an axe to grind rather than someone who wants to find the truth.
