当代研究生英语读写教程16单元课文原文.docx

当代研究生英语读写教程16单元课文原文.docx

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当代研究生英语读写教程16单元课文原文

Cyberspace:

IfYouDon'tLoveIt,LeaveIt

SomethingintheAmericanpsychelovesnewfrontiers.wehankerafterwide-openspaces£»weliketoexplore£»weliketomakerulesbutrefusetofollowthem.Butinthisageit'shardtofindaplacewhereyoucangoandbeyourselfwithoutworryingabouttheneighbors.

Thereissuchaplace:

cyberspace.Formerlyaplaygroundforcomputerfans,cyberspacenowembraceseveryconceivableconstituency:

schoolchildren,flirtatioussingles,Hungarian-americans,accountants.Cantheyallgetalong?

Orwillourfearofkidssurfingfordirtypicturesbehindtheirbedroomdoorsprovokeacrackdown?

Thefirstorderofbusinessistograspwhatcyberspaceis.Itmighthelptoleavebehindmetaphorsofhighwaysandfrontiersandtothinkinsteadofrealestate.Realestate,remember,isanintellectual,legal,artificialenvironmentconstructedontopofland.Realestaterecognizesthedifferencebetweenparklandandshoppingmall,betweenred-lightzoneandschooldistrict,betweenchurch,stateanddrugstore.

Inthesameway,youcouldthinkofcyberspaceasagiantandunboundedworldofvirtualrealestate.Somepropertyisprivatelyownedandrentedout£»otherpropertyiscommonland£»someplacesaresuitableforchildren,andothersarebestavoidedbyallcitizens.Unfortunately,it'sthoseplacesthatarenowcapturingthepopularimagination,placesthatofferbomb-makinginstructions,pornography,adviceonhowtostealcreditcards.Theymakecyberspacesoundlikeanastyplace.Goodcitizensjumptoaconclusion:

betterregulateit.

Butbeforeusingregulationstocounterindecencyitisfundamentaltointerpretthenatureofcyberspace.Cyberspaceisn'tafrontierwherewickedpeoplecangrabunsuspectingchildren,norisitagianttelevisionsystemthatcanbeamoffensivemessagesatunwillingviewers.Inthekindofrealestate,usershavetochoosewheretheyvisit,whattheysee,whattheydo.It'soptional.Inotherwords,cyberspaceisavoluntarydestination--inreality,manydestinations.Youdon'tjustget"ontothenet"£»youhavetogosomeplaceinparticular.Thatmeansthatpeoplecanchoosewheretogoandwhattosee.Yes,communitystandardsshouldbeenforced,butthosestandardsshouldbesetbycyberspacecommunitiesthemselves,notbythecourtsorbypoliticiansinWashington.

Whatmakescyberspacesoalluringispreciselythewayinwhichit'sdifferentfromshoppingmalls,television,highwaysandotherterrestrialjurisdictions.Butlet'sdefinetheterritory:

First,thereareprivatee-mailconversations,similartotheconversationsyouhaveoverthetelephone.Thereareprivatee-mailconsensualandrequirenoregulationatall.

Second,thereareinformationandentertainmentservices,wherepeoplecandownloadanythingfromlegaltextsandlistsof"greatnewrestaurants"togamesoftwareordirtypictures.Theseplacesarelikebookstores,mallsandmoviehouses--placeswhereyougotobuysomething.Thecustomerneedstorequestanitemorsignupforasubscription£»stuff（especiallypornography）isnotsentouttopeoplewhodon'taskforit.SomeoftheseservicesarefreeorincludedaspartofabroaderservicelikecompuserveorAmericaonline£»otherschargeandmaybilltheircustomersdirectly.

Third,thereare"real"communities--groupsofpeoplewhocommunicateamongthemselves.Inreal-estateterms,they'relikebarsorrestaurantsorbathhouses.Eachactiveparticipantcontributestoageneralconversation,generallythroughpostedmessages.Otherparticipantsmaysimplylistenorwatch..someservicesaresupervisedbyamoderator£»othersaremorelikebulletinboards--anyoneisfreetopostanything.Manyoftheseservicesstartedoutunmoderatedbutarenowimposingrulestokeepoutunwantedadvertising,extraneousdiscussionsorincreasinglyrudeparticipants.

Cyberspacecommunitiesevolvejustthewayterrestrialcommunitiesdo:

peoplewithlike-mindedinterestsbandtogether.Everycyberspacecommunityhasitsowncharacter.Overall,thecommunitiesoncompuservetendtobemoreprofessional£»thoseonAmericaonline,affluentyoungsingles£»prodigy,family-oriented.Thenthereareindependentslikeecho,ahip,downtownnewyorkservice,orwomen'swire,targetedtowomenwhowanttoavoidthemalecultureprevalentelsewhereonthenet.OntheinternetitselftherearelotsofpassionatenoncommercialdiscussiongroupsontopicsrangingfromHungarianpolitics（hungaryonline）tocopyrightlaw.

What'suniqueaboutcyberspaceisthatitallowscommunitiesofanysizeandkindtoflourish£»incyberspace,communitiesarechosenbytheusers,notforcedonthembyaccidentsofgeography.Thisfreedomgivestherulesthatpresideincyberspaceamoralauthoritythatrulesinterrestrialenvironmentsdon'thave.Mostpeoplearestuckinthecountryoftheirbirth,butifyoudon'tliketherulesofacyberspacecommunity,youcanjustsignoff.Loveitorleaveit.Likewise,ifparentsdon'tliketherulesofagivencyberspacecommunity,theycanrestricttheirchildren'saccesstoit.

What'slikelytohappenincyberspaceistheformationofnewcommunities,freeoftheconstraintsthatcauseconflictonearth.Insteadofaglobalvillage,whichisanicedreambutimpossibletomanage,we'llhaveinventedanotherworldofself-containedcommunitiesthatcatertotheirownmembers'inclinationswithoutinterferingwithanyoneelse's.thepossibilityofarealmarket-styleevolutionofgovernanceisathand.Incyberspace,we'llbeabletotestandevolverulesgoverningwhatneedstobegoverned--intellectualproperty,contentandaccesscontrol,rulesaboutprivacyandfreespeech.Somecommunitieswillallowanyonein£»otherswillrestrictaccesstomemberswhoqualifyononebasisoranother.Thosecommunitiesthatproveself-sustainingwillprosper（andperhapsgrowandsplitintosubsetswithever-more-particularinterestsandidentities）.Thosethatcan'tsurvive--eitherbecausepeopleloseinterestorgetscaredoff--willsimplywitheraway.

Inthenearfuture,explorersinthecyberspacewillneedtogetbetteratdefiningandidentifyingtheircommunities.Theywillneedtoputinplaceandaccepttheirownlocalgovernmentsapartfromterrestrialgovernments,justastheownersofexpensiverealestateoftenhavetheirownsecurityguardsthoughtheycancallinthepolicetogetridofundesirablecustomers.

Thenwhatshouldbedoneaboutundesirablematerialincyberspace?

Whattodo,forinstance,aboutpornography?

Theanswerislabeling,besidesbanning,questionablematerial.Itmakessenseforcyberspaceparticipantsthemselvestoagreeonaschemeforquestionableitems,sothatpeopleorautomaticfilterscanavoidthem.It'seasyenoughforsoftwaremanufacturerstobuildanautomaticfilterthatwouldpreventyouoryourchildfromeverseeingtheundesireditemonamenu.（it'sasiftheitemswerewrapped,withlabelsonthewrapper.）someonewhopostedpornographicmaterialunderthetitle"kid-fun"couldbesuedformislabeling.

Withoutalotoffanfare,privateenterprisesandlocalgroupsarealreadyproducingavarietyoflabelingservices,alongwithkid-orientedsiteslikekidlinkandkids'space.Peopledifferintheirtastesandvaluesandcanfindservicesonthenetthatsuittheminthesamewaytheyselectbooksandmagazines.Ortheycanwanderfreelyiftheyprefer,makinguptheirownitinerary.

Intheend,oursocietyneedstogrowup.Growingupmeansunderstandingthattherearenoperfectanswers,noall-purposesolutions,nogovernment-sanctionedsafehavens.Wehaven'tcreatedaperfectsocietyonearth,andwewon'thaveoneincyberspaceeither.Butatleastwecanhaveindividualchoice--andindividualresponsibility.

WhyIsItSoHardforMenandWomentoTalktoEachOther?

IWASADDRESSINGasmallgatheringinasuburbanVirginialivingroom--awomen'sgroupthathadinvitedmentojointhem.Throughouttheevening,onemanhadbeenparticularlytalkative,frequentlyofferingideasandanecdotes,whilehiswifesatsilentlybesidehimonthecouch.Towardtheendoftheevening,Icommentedthatwomenfrequentlycomplainthattheirhusbandsdon'ttalktothem.Thismanquicklyconcurred.Hegesturedtowardhiswifeandsaid,"She'sthetalkerinourfamily."Theroomburstintolaughter£»themanlookedpuzzledandhurt."It'strue,"heexplained."WhenIcomehomefromworkIhavenothingtosay.Ifshedidn'tkeeptheconversationgoing,we'dspendthewholeeveninginsilence."

ThisepisodecrystallizestheironythatalthoughAmericanmentendtotalkmorethanwomeninpublicsituations,theyoftentalklessathome.Andthispatterniswreakinghavocwithmarriage.

ThepatternwasobservedbypoliticalscientistAndrewHackerinthelate'70s.SociologistCatherineKohlerRiessmanreportsinhernewbook"DivorceTalk"thatmostofthewomensheinterviewed--butonlyafewofthemen--gavelackofcommunicationasthereasonfortheirdivorces.Giventhecurrentdivorcerateofnearly50percent,thatamountstomillionsofcasesintheUnitedStateseveryyear--avirtualepidemicoffailedconversation.

Inmyownresearch,complaintsfromwomenabouttheirhusbandsmostoftenfocusednotontangibleinequitiessuchashavinggivenupthechanceforacareertoaccompanyahusbandtohis,ordoingfarmorethantheirshareofdailylife-supportworklikecleaning,cooking,socialarrangementsanderrands.Instead,theyfocusedoncommunication:

"Hedoesn'tlistentome,""Hedoesn'ttalktome."Ifound,asHackerobservedyearsbefore,thatmostwiveswanttheirhusbandstobe,firstandforemost,conversationalpartners,butfewhusbandssharethisexpectationoftheirwives.

Inshort,theimageth