This could be a breakthrough for humans learning about humans, not just men and women learning about each other.
Predictor: Milhon, Judy
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 article for Wired magazine, Rosie Cross interviews Judy Milhon, known by her online name St. Jude, describing her as a hacker who “has been messing with code since 1967″; a member of a lefto-revolutionist programming commune in Berkeley, California, that created the first public online computer system, the Community Memory project; and a charter member of the cypherpunks – a term she coined. Here is an excerpt from the interview: ”Wired: Apparently the women’s conference areas on the Internet are being taken over by men. A lot of people feel this is men trying to become more feminine, to understand the female psyche. Do you think this is true?” ”St. Jude: How do you know they’re men? I’m no lady, darlin’. How do you know I’m not a man? How are you going to let only genuine gyno-type double-X, Barr-body bearing, real virtual women into your virtual salon? As those adventure games put it, “I see no genitals here.” If they say they’re women, I say they’re women, and should be treated just like the rest of us – badly. Anyway, I think it’s touching that men should become transsexual moles to try to understand women this way. It may be that this is the only way the alien sexes can honestly converse – when they’re bodiless, nothing at stake, behind the masks of their pseudonyms. Online you can learn to be fearless, you can afford to be bold. I’ve found myself saying things on the telephone that I wouldn’t say face to face. The Net subtracts even the human voice. When you’ve got nothing, you’ve got nothing to lose. I can play amazing pranks, or I can do something even more outrageous: I can be honest. Say stuff so personal and real that my mind boggles to think about it now. This could be a breakthrough for humans learning about humans, not just men and women learning about each other. Sounds OK to me.”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1994
Topic of prediction: Community/Culture
Subtopic: Relationships
Name of publication: Wired
Title, headline, chapter name: Modem Grrrl: Future Hacker St. Jude Has Some Advice for Women Who See Technology as a Problem: Get Modems
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.02/st.jude_pr.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney