From popserver Wed Oct 18 23:11:07 GMT 1994 Received: from argus.cso.uiuc.edu by ux4.cso.uiuc.edu with SMTP id AA09151 (5.67b/IDA-1.5 for ); Tue, 18 Oct 1994 18:04:50 -0500 Received: by argus.cso.uiuc.edu id AA12164 (5.67b/IDA-1.5 for roth@ux4.cso.uiuc.edu); Tue, 18 Oct 1994 18:04:44 -0500 Received: from merle.acns.nwu.edu by argus.cso.uiuc.edu with SMTP id AA16254 (5.67b/IDA-1.5); Tue, 18 Oct 1994 18:04:42 -0500 Received: by merle.acns.nwu.edu (1.37.109.11/20.1) id AA181471459; Tue, 18 Oct 1994 18:04:19 -0500 X-Ph: V4.3@argus.cso.uiuc.edu From: navaho@merle.acns.nwu.edu Message-Id: <199410182304.AA181471459@merle.acns.nwu.edu> Subject: Hum... (fwd) To: deluded@mit.edu (Ronald Schmelzer with an "l"), hemlock@chinet.chinet.com (rachel leah leibovitz), dsjelen@students.wisc.edu (dov (I won't print your middle name) jelen), ds-cohen@ux4.cso.uiuc.edu (deborah shoshana cohen), r-mcghee@ux4.cso.uiuc.edu (ryan mcghee), amerchan@ux4.cso.uiuc.edu (abbas merchant), roth@uiuc.edu (mark roth), dan@overbyte.mit.edu (daniel pomerantz), rfeldhei@ux4.cso.uiuc.edu (rachel feldheim), mbblum@uiuc.edu (michael blumenthal), u59965@uicvm.uic.edu (richard martinoff), u59927@uicvm.uic.edu (michelle yaffee), u20846@uicvm.uic.edu (ariella fay rosenberg), U16125@uicvm.uic.edu (Brucha S. Meyers), u28537@uicvm.uic.edu (reva robeson), ysoloff@mail.sas.upenn.edu (yedida leah soloff), kpolsky@mail.sas.upenn.edu (keren polsky), altman29@wharton.upenn.edu (steve altman), mwilson@merle.acns.nwu.edu (lord matthew james wilson), chadford@epsilon.eecs.nwu.edu (Charad Sheerajin), wn9s@nwu.edu (albert schmelzer), baltman@merle.acns.nwu.edu (brian altman), emery@merle.acns.nwu.edu (emery chang), antman@merle.acns.nwu.edu (adam gibbons), mlb256@lulu.acns.nwu.edu (maria belyayeva), tgordon@husc.harvard.edu (tamar gordon), klynn@ripco.com (kate hugart), jhm1685@is.NYU.EDU (Jacob H. Mendelsohn) Date: Tue, 18 Oct 1994 18:04:19 -0500 (CDT) Reply-To: navaho@nwu.edu (Nava Cohen) X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL24alpha3] Content-Type: text Content-Length: 2189 Status: RO The following excerpts are from an English translation of Umberto Eco's back-page column, "La bustina di Minerva," in the Italian news weekly "Espresso," September 30, 1994. ....."Insufficient consideration has been given to the new underground religious war which is modifying the modern world. It's an old idea of mine, but I find that whenever I tell people about it they immediately agree with me. "The fact is that the world is divided between users of the Macintosh computer and users of MS-DOS compatible computers. I am firmly of the opinion that the Macintosh is Catholic and that DOS is Protestant. Indeed, the Macintosh is counter-reformist and has been influenced by the 'ratio studiorum' of the Jesuits. It is cheerful, friendly, conciliatory, it tells the faithful how they must proceed step by step to reach--if not the Kingdom of Heaven--the moment in which their document is printed. It is catechistic: the essence of revelation is dealt with via simple formulae and sumptuous icons. Everyone has a right to salvation. "DOS is Protestant, or even Calvinistic. It allows free interpretation of scripture, demands difficult personal decisions, imposes a subtle hermeneutics upon the user, and takes for granted the idea that not all can reach salvation. To make the system work you need to interpret the program yourself: a long way from the baroque community of revellers, the user is closed within the loneliness of his own innter torment. "You may object that, with the passage to Windows, the DOS universe has come to resemble more closely the counter-reformist tolerance of the Macintosh. It's true: Windows represents an Anglican-style schism, big ceremonies in the cathedral, but there is always the possibility of a return to DOS to change things in accordance with bizarre decisions; when it comes down to it, you can decide to allow women and gays to be ministers if you want to. ..... "And machine code, which lies beneath both systems (or environments, if you prefer)? Ah, that is to do with the Old Testament, and is talmudic and cabalistic..." -- o Nava I'm so innocent, you can almost see the halo over my head.