Egypt: Jan 25 and the internet
[ by Charles Cameron — cross-posted from Brainstormers on the Web ]
There are so many possible lessons to take here:
That a single image speaks louder than dozens of words. That we are more easily persuaded by images than by words. That FB and Twitter are clearly important to Egyptian youth. That dozens of words can convey nuances that a single image misses. That FB and Twitter were at best among the vehicles, rather than the drivers, of the events of January 25th.
That we’d do well to bear the Aristotelian distinction between material, formal, efficient and final causes in mind when talking about what “caused” or “becaused” those events – and elsewhere.
That the simple juxtaposition of two closely similar ideas can illuminate both, and perhaps create a spectral “third thing” which possesses the full detail of both with greater depth than either one in a single understanding, by a sort of stereo process not too different from stereoscopic vision or stereophonic sound.
That we live in exciting times…
February 7th, 2011 at 9:21 am
For what it’s worth, the white arabic text (on the left of the Facebook sign) reads "Al-Jazeerah".
(I’m not sure about the black arabic text. If I assume one of the two vertical dots is spurious, it means "slave to the police". Anyway, it’s obviously by a different hand).
February 7th, 2011 at 9:03 pm
Thanks, Toto:
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You can see a better (wider and larger) image here, 3rd picture down:
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http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/02/04/5987846-details-create-the-big-picture-in-cairos-tahrir-square