A nice quote from Wu's
The Master Switch (in discussing the advent of radio broadcasting) on the potential of new communication technologies to help solve mankind's problems.
When in the course of human affairs things go wrong, the root cause is often described as some failure to communicate...Better communications, it is believed, lead to better mutual understanding, perhaps a recognition of a shared humanity, and the avoidance of needless disaster. Perhaps it is for this reason that the advent of every new technology of communication always brings with it a hope for ameliorating all the ills of society. (p. 36)
Interesting to reflect on this in the context of the use of social media and the Internet generally in recent revolutions.
Perhaps at some point could start drawing out some of the ideas from the seeding debate to the main one.