The Internet: A greater threat to the WTS than we ever dreamed

Elsewhere

Change "Politician" to "Watchtower Leadership" and "Voter" to "Jehover's Witness"

http://reuters.myway.com/article/20061004/2006-10-04T005304Z_01_L03419567_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-GOOGLE-POLITICIANS-DC.html

Google boss warns politicians about Internet power
Oct 3, 8:53 PM (ET)

LONDON (Reuters) - Imagine being able to check instantly whether or not statements made by politicians were correct. That is the sort of service Google Inc. boss Eric Schmidt believes the Internet will offer within five years.

Politicians have yet to appreciate the impact of the online world, which will also affect the outcome of elections, Schmidt said in an interview with the Financial Times published on Wednesday.

He predicted that "truth predictor" software would, within five years, "hold politicians to account." People would be able to use programs to check seemingly factual statements against historical data to see to see if they were correct.

"One of my messages to them (politicians) is to think about having every one of your voters online all the time, then inputting 'is this true or false.' We (at Google) are not in charge of truth but we might be able to give a probability," he told the newspaper.

The chairman and chief executive of the world's most popular Internet search engine was speaking during a visit to Britain this week, where he met British Prime Minister Tony Blair and spoke at the opposition Conservative Party's annual conference.

"Many of the politicians don't actually understand the phenomenon of the Internet very well," Schmidt told the Financial Times. "It's partly because of their age ... often what they learn about the Internet they learn from their staffs and their children."

The advent of television taught political leaders the art of the sound bite. The Internet will also force them to adapt.

"The Internet has largely filled a role of funding for politicians ... but it has not yet affected elections. It clearly will," Schmidt said.

Writing in the Sun tabloid, the Google boss said the online world has empowered ordinary people with the ability to challenge governments, the media and business.

"It has broken down the barriers that exist between people and information, effectively democratizing access to human knowledge," Schmidt wrote.

"This has made us much more powerful as individuals."

Dansk

I'm only sorry it wasn't available to me in 1989, otherwise I'd never have joined the cult!

Here's to the internet and here's to JWD!

Ian

itsallgoodnow

I don't think some politicians really understand much about the internet...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIn_J_jxf-o

greendawn

That's a very potent tool that will arrive in a few years and no doubt the ex JWs will see to it that it will also be applied to the veracity of the GB statements policies and doctrines. People will not have to look around here and there to gather information.

Dismembered

Great post Elsewhere!

Amen Ian Cheers to you

Dismembered

James Free

The Internet: A greater threat to the WTS than we ever dreamed

The Internet damages the WTS, but is not much of a threat. The damage comes by alerting the public to the WTS before the potential convert is trapped into the 'expect persecution coz Satan doesn't want you to know this...' manipulation that happens at the beginning of a 'study' course. Less people are conned into the 'truth' than before, and those with doubts can find out what they need to know.

But I am not sure I would call it a threat. The average Witness is trained to reject anything said that is negative as a test from Satan himself! They close their minds to anything that is contrary to the WTS, and so growth from within continues. If you discounted children getting baptized, the final figures would be shockingly poor, but the WTS is not about to implode, more's the pity.

The WTS is certainly in decline, in numbers and in 'quality'. The Internet plays its part. A threat, no - but a bloody nose - definitely!

jgnat

"It has broken down the barriers that exist between people and information, effectively democratizing access to human knowledge," Schmidt wrote.

Absolutely. When I need a relish recipe for my green tomatoes, there it is.

AuldSoul

James Free: But I am not sure I would call it a threat. The average Witness is trained to reject anything said that is negative as a test from Satan himself!

The average JW is rapidly increasing in average age. The WTS expresses its concern as grave concern for the young people who are not sticking with the truth. My generation is catching on to Google.

The generation just younger than me has never been without Google. My generation makes a conscious decision to Google our questions. The generation just my junior has to make a conscious decision to do anything else to find their answers.

One of two things will happen: (1) The Internet (free access to information) will affect the organization so heavily that they cannot withstand the strain and it will fall, or (2) it will die out from aging. The only way to avoid one of these eventualities is to make use of the Internet a disfellowshipping offense. Cults cannot survive their adherents accessing the Internet.

Respectfully,
AuldSoul

Dismembered

Greetings James Free,

:The average Witness is trained to reject anything said that is negative as a test from Satan himself! They close their minds to anything that is contrary to the WTS, and so growth from within continues.

That's outstanding. So true and so much said in very few words.

Dismembered

jgnat

James Free, with all the WT's hard work to the contrary, JW's still do browse the internet.

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/15/121532/2148182/post.ashx#2148182

Since all WT controls are external (enforcement) rather than internal (God is gonna get you), I suspect that there are very many "closet" JW's that do whatever they like in private. I suspect that internet pornography is a BIG problem with Witnesses. How much farther away is google?

The Internet: A greater threat to the WTS than we ever dreamed

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