Keep the Pipes Clean!

I was sending an email this morning and I noticed something about my email signature, which I must admit I have not changed for quite some time (perhaps 2 or 3 years). It reads thusly:

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Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel. (Socrates, apparently.)
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This email is sent using recycled, sustainable electrons!  Keep the pipes clean.
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I realised, belatedly, that the last bit of that could be interpreted in two ways.  Obviously with the “Clean Feed”, that last statement could be read in support of a filtered internet, but it is not my intent.  Given the analogy that is often used to help explain the internet as a ‘series of tubes‘[1], and the network neutrality debates, I seek to make a statement that the tubes/pipes/network should not be limited nor blocked in any way.

I figure it this way: if all our data flows through these pipes, then any kludge on the sides of the pipes restricts the flow of information.  Providing preferred ‘flow’ for any information, as has been proposed by some very large ISPs particularly in the US, is a form of kludge for all other information.  So too for the “clean feed”.  It is, in effect, a blockage in the system.  It is dirtying the pipes, something we would be loath to do with our actual plumbing.

I guess the real problem, then, is that some people already have their pipes partially blocked with spyware, malware and popup generators of all kinds.  And just like our actual plumbing, when you get a problem on your end, you call a plumber.  You don’t whinge and complain that there is too much poop in your plumbing.  You fix your plumbing.  You clean out your pipes!

Perhaps we need an education program around how much like a toilet your computer really is.  Or perhaps not.

…

But, wait, yes!  This is what we need.  If you are relying on the Government to clean and look after your toilet, there is really something wrong!

Which brings me to the first part of my signature.  Filling a vessel vs kindling a flame.  Two very different views of learning.  One tells us that we have no control, that we are passive and need guidance and will be filled by whatever anyone tells us [2].  The other, well, it points to the very nature of the Internet – a brightly burning source of inspiration, knowledge, connection and the potential to provide for ourselves.

I know which Internet I want.

1. the plumbing analogy [↩]
2. I’m looking at YOU, Jim Wallace! [↩]

This entry was posted on Friday, February 6th, 2009 at 10:13 am and is filed under Ramblings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.