Disassociation and The Internet

Thinking back on my days as a sociology student at a large university in a fairly liberal city, I remember the theories of the industrial age. Summarizing, "technology and industry only serve to disassociate man from society... essentially isolating and dehumanizing him." I know, that was probably the vastest overgeneralization anyone has ever made, but it's what I've surmised from my readings of the old sociologists.

Anywhoo, I was thinking about gaming in libraries today and how many libraries are using online games to bring comunities closer together. I think this is a wonderfully socially-enriching endeavor, and I just love how it smashes the old time industrial sociological theories (in this one particular aspect). Don't get me wrong, a lot of the rest of our strange, commercialized lives prove their points, but libraries continue to represent a piece of the glue that holds our stinking nation together. As long as I believe that, I'm in the right place.