Why John McCain can't rely on technology advisors

A reader asked me if I think McCain could manage competently with technology advisors. Is there something uniquely different about technology compared with economics, foreign policy, or the environment?

My reply:
First off, while he may not know a lot about economics or foreign policy or the environment, he'll have some personal direct experience with all of these areas.

Direct experience is the key here. So, he'll have some personal direct experience from which to draw on to help him discern the information from his advisors. Not so with computer technology. All he'll know is what he'll be told. This will make it easier for a clever, ambitious group of people to steer him into decisions with misinformation. In short, it's easy to trick someone who depends on you for all his information. We went through that problem in Ronald Reagan's presidency. He had early Alzheimer's disease, which was hidden until he was out of office. His trusty advisors ran the Whitehouse and we had Contragate. Not good.

But the more important point is that computers are the entry point for using the Internet and not only has the Internet has changed our lives; it's changed our thinking.

I've owned a personal computer for 20 years. Just this last year I've ventured forth beyond MapQuest and email and reading the New York Times and the Washington Post online. As I've been getting acquainted with the Internet, I am astounded.

The Internet has almost driven staid, old newspapers that are read worldwide, like the NYT and Washington Post, out of business. We get the news from sources that are concepts that didn't exist a few years ago: Youtube, of all places, has been influential in this presidential campaign. That's where I went to find the video of McCain saying he was computer illiterate.

There's also Technorati, Newsvine, Sphere, Zinester, all kinds of services popping up monthly. Nowdays, someone with almost no money but a big idea and a little bit of technical understanding can launch something that grows exponentially and has national or even international influence.

We don't know where we're going with the Internet and all that it offers. I notice that Nicholas Kristof from the NYT has a page on Facebook, as do many other famous newspapers. Why? To attract the young, of course, but I also think they want to have a presence because we don't know how Facebook will be used in months to come.

We don't know how much more is possible with the Internet. The only limit seems to be the human mind and it's wonderful creativity. There is no physical structure to the Internet, so it's growing organically at a rapid speed. All we know is that it is changing how we live and how we think.

That's the point I'm driving to: It's changing how we think.

I mean that in a deep way. How we think about ourselves in the world, how we are placed in the world and how we impact the world. I really don't believe a person can understand this without some minimal direct experience.

Like I said at the beginning of this entry, I've owned a personal computer for twenty years. But when I got my own website and began blogging, I started to really explore the Internet. I have only seen a small portion of the Internet, yet it boggles my mind. There are amazing things happening on the Internet, yet there is still unrealized potential. The Internet is already a living, organic entity that is whipping its users.

McCain hasn't even taken that first baby step into using a computer. How can he understand the Internet without any direct experience? His mind won't catch an understanding on advice alone.