Where Is the Written Word Going?

The latest gimmick by mags seems to be an offering of reduced renewal costs if one identifies a friend who will get a free subscription. We took advantage of one of these.

However, I must admit that I am relieved not to be still teaching with the apparent shift over from books to computers. I am fortunate to have children who can bail me out when I need help with the latter, but I wonder how my older colleagues are doing with all the notices that they are receiving from our library, etc. on what is and is not available for students.

I used to make research and writing long papers my primary requirement for my students. I did get one reprint of an article from the Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Now with a few late papers I discover that websites are the bibliography.

What does this do to thinking? I enjoyed reading books from all backgrounds and learned much therefrom. But I wonder how many students do more than they have to for courses and, thus, narrow their knowledge span. Certainly much of our political nonsense these days seems so bound in. Obama did international affairs at Columbia as well as law school thereafter. He seems to respect facts -- that there actually are such. But one can find anything on the web that one wants to back up the craziest opinions.

Help! What do you think?
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"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
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Ed Kent [blind copies]