"Almost nothing of any importance is on the Internet." - Robert van Vliet
You may have read "The Mystery of the Bloomfield Bridge," a blog post which got a surprising amount of attention in the past month. The author wondered why a seemingly useless pedestrian bridge had been built over an interstate in Minneapolis. Most of us would stop there, but he set out on a heroic (some might say obsessive) quest to find the answer, and documents his quest in exquisite detail. If you've ever done any kind of serious research, you'll especially appreciate it. This post is partly just to draw your attention to the article if you haven't come across it. (Note: he found the answer to his idle question!)
I especially appreciated this reflection on the article by Robert van Vliet. An excerpt, with added emphases:
Other commentators have marvelled at his tenacity. Okay, sure. But the most remarkable thing, I think, is how utterly analogue almost every important step he took was, after those initial Internet searches. He would have been completely stuck without accessing old newspapers, or rifling through bankers’ boxes full of handwritten documents, or visiting, for crying out loud, a bunker under a field in western Missouri.
This, then, is your reminder that (1) there is no level of obsessive tenacity you can’t attain if you would just put down your damn phone, and that (2) almost nothing of any importance is on the Internet. To believe the world and the Internet are the same is just the rage of Caliban at seeing his selfie on Instagram.
Yet, here I am contacting you on the internet. Lord, have mercy.
___ Gentle. Small. Humble. Slow. Simple. - The Abundance of Less Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; give thanks in all circumstances. - 1 Thess.
About John Brady
Occasional thoughts, mostly about the Orthodox Church.
