Digital Barbarism Mark Helprin (2009)

In the spring of 2007, Mark Helprin published an OpEd piece for the New York Times that posited that copyright should be extended far beyond the current limit of 70 years after the death of the author. Helprin noted that the fruits of his labor, unlike those of other people, would be taken from his children within their life time. He reasoned that if the architect of a successful business bequeaths ownership to his heirs, the benefits of ownership do not expire after 70 years, so why should it be so for an author.

Helprin assumed that his OpEd piece would receive little notice or interest among the readers of the New York Times. Much to his surprise, the piece actually set off a firestorm with three-quarters of a million "hits" all of which, according the Helprin, were negative.

This event led to Helprin writing Digital Barbarism, which uses copyright as the centerpiece around an argument that pits individualism against collectivism. Throughout the book, Helprin reiterates the injustice of authors not being able to secure ownership of their work for their progeny. Unfortunately, most of the book degenerates into an often incoherent rant against higher education, public education, publishers, youth, computers and modernity. Helprin's descriptions of education and society resonate like the musings of one who has read about a world that he has never actually visited.

For instance, Helprin places much of the blame for the embrace of open source and the Creative Commons at the feet of public education. Helprin states that schools today prize collaboration, rather than individual achievement. He states, "Students gather and 'brainstorm' (a comic-book word) to decide topics and approaches. They submit their work to what are in essence factory-floor soviets...as if they were composing essays in a luxurious Vietnamese reeducation camp."

Helprin's disdain for his critics from higher education is evident in his referencing articles from the "Chronicle of [Supposedly] Higher Education." He compares wiki builders to Soviets and describes "bloggy-type wikis" as analogous to "spitting on the street."

Helprin rebukes those who idolize "The Machine." He notes that some who, "lap at the first trickles of what is new even have a name. They are called "early adapters." From Helprin's description of this hapless group, one must conclude that he is actually referring to "early adopters." One is also left with the impression that he has never actually met one, but he knows all about them.

One of the last chapters is devoted to dispelling the myth of "Convergence." Helprin explains that this is an "all explanatory unified field theory in physics; of the notion that the sexes will merge into one; of the quest for a single instrument embodying all convenience technologies; of the desire for a world government" etc. Huh? I thought the Unified Theory of Physics had to do with resolving conflicting laws and properties that exist between quantum and classical physics. One might assume that Helprin is actually referring to the "Singularity" theory promoted by Ray Kurzweil, a researcher and writer in the area of Artificial Intelligence.

Of education, Helprin writes, "If our teachers scoff at dividing their subject matter into history, literature, and science, and wade instead into an amorphous 'interdisciplinary' bouillabaisse that relieves them of the responsibility of knowing what they are talking about...it is because we lack the discipline, focus, and clarity required to make refusals, maintain divisions, and uphold distinctions." Clearly, Mr. Helprin does not recognize that it takes a far deeper understanding of one's discipline to be able to see points of intersection with other disciplines than simply to become an insulated expert (see Chris Mooney, Unscientific America, 2009).

Copyright is an extremely important topic for educators. Understanding ways to protect and at the same time share intellectual property is one of the great challenges of the 21st Century. Educators need to lead this discussion as it encompasses most of the tools of our trade.