They dont applaud anymore
I’ve always been impressed by the tradition of applauding for the pilot when you land in Europe (at least I’ve experienced this in Greece and Italy when I traveled a few years ago). On this trip, there was no applause upon landing and it prompted some thoughts that have made their way here (in front of all of the readings that I need to write about).
Why do we applaud things? We applaud them because they are unusual, because they are exceptional, or in appreciation. As things become common place we are less likely to applaud what would have caused us to applaud early on. Have we stopped applauding computer science?
New developments, new applications, new inventions - while applauded within our own community do not often make the larger news in current times. I wonder what affects that has?
Just some quick notes - more about Koli perhaps on the way home.
Saturday, October 31st, 2009