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Saturday, December 04, 2004
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IT’S ALWAYS BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.
UD wishes to know why it’s always Benjamin Franklin. Why is it that in magazine articles describing the glorious high-tech future in store for American college students, it’s always Benjamin Franklin? “Picture this,” the authors write in the current issue of Newsweek Magazine. “You drag yourself to your 9 AM Colonial History class, coffee and laptop in hand. The lights fade and a hologram appears. You pinch yourself as you realize it’s Benjamin Franklin, unmistakably attired in eighteenth-century garb and bifocals. Opening a battered copy of his Autobiography, he begins to address the class. … Scenes like this one - a product of the advancing capabilities of virtual reality - will play an increasingly dynamic role in the future of college education. With technology revolutionizing the way universities work, bringing historical figures back to life is only the beginning.” Why is this not: “You drag yourself to your 9 AM European History class, coffee and laptop in hand. The lights fade and a hologram appears. You scream in anguish as you realize it’s Adolf Hitler, unmistakably attired in Nazi regalia. Leaning against a podium, he shrieks "DIE JUDEN SIND UNSER UNGLUCK." In the dark, overcome with horror, you spill your coffee all over yourself, drop your laptop, and race out of the room weeping.” But no. It’s always Benjamin Franklin. |