The Silicon Tower -- An Explanation

The "Silicon Tower" is a play on words, referring to the "ivory tower" of academia... except made out of silicon, which is the core semiconductor at the heart of integrated circuits pervasive in our modern technology.

This blog is designed to explore the realm where academia and technology converge. Academics are often referred to in their "ivory tower," with connotations both positive and negative. It implies a space of academic or philosophical exploration and solitude, removed from the troubles and practicalities of the mundane world.

To some, the "ivory tower" symbolizes a purity of thought and concentration of focus in striving for truth and knowledge. By the same token, many criticize this removed, monastic focus as a representation of impractical academic elitism, of study detached from practical purpose.

We must keep this yang and yin of academics close at hand as we approach the philosophies, policies, and paradigms of our digital age. On the one hand, powerful silicon processors have opened new worlds of exploration, efficiency, and learning. In the realm of academics, electronic technology has heightened the ivory tower by magnifying and expediting both the creation and sharing of knowledge.

But at what cost? Just as the "ivory tower" can be accused of misguided energy or impractical pursuits, so too can we view the "silicon tower." Just as some academics can be accused of esoteric excursions into "learning for learning's sake," there are also many people these days who get caught up in "gadgets for gadgets' sake." These technophiles may whole-heartedly love and embrace new technologies without weighing cost, value, return-on-investment, or other important economical, sociological, psychological, and environmental impacts.

The digital realm can be a great place of solitude, focus, and innovation. But without pragmatic purpose -- without improving the "world outside the tower" -- is all of this knowledge and innovation worth the investments in time, money, and energy?

It is with these thoughts in mind that this blog will explore and consider technology and academia -- particularly, technologies related to information, learning, and education. Surely we must not shun academia and intellectual growth; at the same time, we must not necessarily plunge headlong into love affairs with the newest shiny toys to appear on the scene.