The Net … will further erode the relevance of geography in human relations. Everybody in cyberspace is a few keystrokes from everyone else; the canonical six degrees of separation seem more like two … At present, only a tiny fraction of my physical friends and relations are on the Net, but in the near future most of them will be here, together with mailing lists running out of all the neighborhood associations to which I belong: reading groups, discussion groups, vocational and political societies, alumni organizations, church groups.
Predictor: Hapgood, Fred
Prediction, in context:In a 1994 article for Wired magazine, Fred Hapgood, a science and technology writer based in Boston, writes: ”The Net … will further erode the relevance of geography in human relations. Everybody in cyberspace is a few keystrokes from everyone else; the canonical six degrees of separation seem more like two … At present, only a tiny fraction of my physical friends and relations are on the Net, but in the near future most of them will be here, together with mailing lists running out of all the neighborhood associations to which I belong: reading groups, discussion groups, vocational and political societies, alumni organizations, church groups.”
Biography:Fred Hapgood took on the role of moderator of the Nanosystems Interest Group at MIT and wrote a number of articles for Wired and other tech publications of the early 1990s. (Author/Editor/Journalist.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1994
Topic of prediction: Community/Culture
Subtopic: Relationships
Name of publication: Wired
Title, headline, chapter name: Persistence of Locality
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.12/hapgood.if_pr.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney