Mine Eyes Deceive Me

Is the internet bringing the world into sharper focus?

Virginia Postrel | October 2, 2000

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"Free your mind," preached The Matrix. A start, but just a slogan, and not much of a guide. Look through your telescope yourself, but what do you see? The challenge is in interpretation, in judgment. Are sunspots "an illusion of the telescope," or perhaps undiscovered planets hovering around a pristine and perfect star? Nature, unadorned by reason and imagination, may be "true," but it is also incomprehensible. Galileo was a master not only of observation but also of imagination and argumentation. The truths he uncovered were not easy to discern.

Appearance and reality do not come with labels. Confronted with new tools, new cultures, new ways of telling stories, we are shaken from the complacent assumption that truth is simple and obvious. We grow anxious. We ask questions. The pursuit can make us as crazy as Hamlet or as creative as Galileo. Either way, the search starts with a truth we forget at our own peril. There are indeed more things in heaven and earth than we once dreamed--and we must inspect every one of them through the lens of our imagination.

This article appeared in the October 2, 2000 issue of Forbes ASAP.