They say everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, but, lately, I have found myself questioning whether opinions should indeed be a God-given right. More and more, I`ve been starting to feel that opinions - or at least the ability to air them publicly - should be a privilege. Pretty much like singing - some people should do it in public, others only in the showers, and others still should not do it at all. Anywhere.
Well, if I wasn`t convinced before, some presentation papers that ended up in my inbox this morning definitely tipped the scales. Yes, I can confidently say that opinions should be earned.
Entitled, "Technology is the root of all evil" and "Technology widens the rich-poor gap", these are apparently excerpts from a keynote address delivered by Nigerian-born Philip Emeagwali, the 1989 Gordon Bell Prize winner, at the African Diaspora Conference, in Tucson, Arizona.
Well, full-marks for originality, I have to say. Emeagwali, in his piece "Technology is the root of all evil", condemns the compass - yes, the compass - as a technological tool of suppression, used by gun-wielding European slave traders to kidnap one in five Africans and transport them across the oceans to the Americas.
Wow. The compass. Who would have thought? I will never look at that little piece of technological bastardry the same way again.
Emeagwali states: "It was the compass that created the Atlantic slave trade, enabling the early colonial navigators - and their blood merchants - to chart an accurate course from Gor'ee Island, off the coast of Senegal, to Brazil; paving the way for the trans-Atlantic slave trade..."
Right about now, I have to ask: How far can one push delusional paranoia? I mean, if the compass is evil, what about boats? Ship-building should be on par with the Third Reich. How about guns, whips and shackles? Should these not be condemned, with equal venom, for enslaving Africa?
Wow. The compass. Who would have thought? I will never look at that little piece of technological bastardry the same way again.
Martin Czernowalow, news editor, ITWeb
But it gets worse. "The compass became the de facto weapon of mass destruction, which led to the de-capitalisation and decapitation of Africa. It created the African Diaspora with one in five people taken out of the motherland."
Emeagwali rambles on like this for some time, before saying: "Today, it is hard to imagine that such destruction and the wholesale abduction of a race could result from a tool as common as the compass." Yes, yes it is. It`s also hard to imagine that Emeagwali is allowed to not only walk the streets freely, but to present this dribble on a public platform.
Towards the end of his piece, Emeagwali warns that Africans must realise that the Internet is the modern-day compass.
"Africa`s lack of substantial technological knowledge of the Internet and its potential may lead it to be assaulted or manipulated in unexpected ways, just as it was devastated generations ago for the lack of a simple compass. We didn`t recognise the power of the compass then; the danger is that we don`t recognise the power of technology today. While Africa merely contemplates the future, the West, the quickest off the mark to wield technology`s weapons, actually makes the future."
Pretty disturbing stuff. What`s even more disturbing is that Emeagwali is not enjoying a quiet relaxing stay in his padded cell. No, far from it. Apparently, according to the accompanying notes in his e-mail (written by himself, about himself, in the third person - where are the little men in white coats?) he has been called "a father of the Internet" by CNN and Time.
Furthermore, former US president Bill "Free Willy" Clinton supposedly described Emeagwali as "one of the great minds of the Information Age". Free Willy apparently also called him "the Bill Gates of Africa".
Now I take issue with this. Bill Gates has had his moments of madness - who can forget Windows Vista? - but let`s not push it.
By the way, I would love to hear Emeagwali`s views on GPS technology. If he thinks the compass was bad, boy is he in for a surprise.
So I say again, the expression of opinions should be a privilege, and some people should be in straitjackets.
* PS. A black colleague of mine says she is not afraid of compasses, but hated the movie The Golden Compass.
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