Of all the arguments surrounding the passing of Senate file 519, I must say that Carmen Cerra’s (Take up the pen) is the most inane. I quote : “In fact, using the Internet simply bypasses the human mind.” Ms. Cerra has failed to notice that while it is our fingers that plunk out the keys on the keyboard they are being directed by, in almost all cases, by our minds. I must also assume that Ms. Cerra has developed a very patentable technique whereby her mind is able to grasp her pen directly … presumably through a prehensile spinal column. Furthermore when she begins to market such a time-saving technique she might also include that essay composing computer program in her catalog of delights as I find no trace of it on my copy of Microsoft Office.

All kidding aside, it’s clear that Ms. Cerra is trying to point out that computers and Internet access are not necessary to the composition of meaningful exchanges of information, and she is quite right is saying this. Modern tools such as the computer and the Internet, however, have enhanced our ability to share information almost instantly with an ever increasing global audience. Our minds can now communicate with other minds more directly than ever before thanks to the tools we use, much in the same way that pens, paper and presses allowed our forebears to communicate with people other than those within earshot of themselves.

I conclude by noting that if you replace all instances of ‘computer’ and ‘Internet’ in Ms. Cerra’s letter with ‘pen’ and ‘paper’ and then replace her references to writing with debate and public speaking you achieve a nice Dark Ages treatise on the ills of literacy … sigh.

Michael L Jacobs

Graduate Student

Astrophysics