Blown To Bits

An Extreme Case of Homophily

Sunday, June 1st, 2008 by Harry Lewis
Experiencing cialis sale itchiness in the throat and face is an uncommon asthma cialis online symptom, which can be the result of allergies. These include cephalexin online stores a chronic dry cough without other symptoms, anxiety, difficulty exercising, cheap cialis without prescription and sighing. Wheezing may indicate that an underlying condition is synthroid online stores causing inflammation or narrowing of the airways. According to the for discount buy online info Allergy and Asthma Network, some older research indicates that hot viagra australia drinks containing caffeine, such as coffee, may have a slight free discount online order bronchodilating effect. Some conditions, such as allergies and asthma, may order viagra in canada become worse after exposure to an allergen, which is something cialis australia that triggers a person's symptoms to appear or worsen. People viagra order should also ensure that they take all prescribed medication as generic cephalexin directed by a healthcare professional. The researchers note that children buy viagra from canada and females may be particularly at risk of adverse effects of.

No, not hemophilia, and this term has nothing to do with homophiles either. Homophily is your tendency to hang with people like you. There is good reason to think that the communications revolution encourages it. When we we spent our time talking with the people fate had put in our neighborhoods and workplaces, we got used to dealing with ideas and attitudes different from our own. With the infinite connectivity of the Internet, even the oddest splinter groups can draw huge numbers from a world-wide pool, and we can happily spend all our time talking to our alter egos. (The opposite of homophily is xenophilia. I took a lot of heat in 1995 for trying to encourage a bit more xenophilia by changing the method by which Harvard students are assigned to the residential Houses. Ethan Zuckerman has a good blog about these terms here.)

CBS News is reporting that extremist Muslim women are banding together anonymously to protest being excluded from Al Qaeda. Some complain of being powerless, and others point with pride to the rising number of suicide bombings being carried out by women. As the story explains, Al Qaeda uses the Internet, but “the Internet has also given those disenfranchised by al Qaeda – in this case, women – a voice they never had before.”

One Response to “An Extreme Case of Homophily”

  1. Blown to Bits: Your Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness after the Digital Explosion Says:

    […] Homophily rules. Universal connectivity won’t bring us together; it will simply create the opportunity for likeminded souls, no matter how extreme and ridiculous their views, to come together in their own ignorant corners of the Internet. Or the nation. And that is How We Could Know Less #2. […]