Timelessly evolving, yet forever staying the same ... all on the same day.
Two events that took place on this date wonderfully offer themselves to our traditional
date tie-in. In a sort of mirror-image contrast, while this month's column deals with the difficulties we encounter as we lead our cyberspace-based lives in the immediate now,
the events of the date tie-in present us, on the one hand, with a continuous then, and on the other, with a perhaps never to
be achieved later.
It was on this day, in 1831, that the HMS Beagle, a
British surveyor ship, set out upon its second voyage. On board was Charles Darwin
who, during this expedition, was to begin formulating his theory of evolution. Seventy
three years later, in 1904, the first production of the play Peter Pan by J.M.
Barrie was staged. That production brought to life a boy who will eternally remain in the here
and now. Two sides of the same coin? Perhaps, perhaps not. But certainly fitting events for bookending an attempt at examining online immediacy.
Go to: Now. Right now!