Google Wins

Jon Kabat-Zinn went to Haverford College, a Quaker institution. This is the Haverford College Duck Pond by reuterslowdown on Flickr



SEARCHING FOR 'JOHN CABOT ZINN'

Jon Kabat Zinn speaks at Google—more points for Google!

Praise God for search engines that are

forgiving and whose admonishments, if

any, are well-mannered, even sweet and

gentle. The unenlightened ones, if I am

looking for "John Cabot Zinn," a very

feasible misspelling, give a response

that tells me someone needs her nap

because she's beastly, crabby, all

undone. She snarls (or else he

does), "Your search turned up not

even one result. What's wrong with

you?" And then he/she dissects your

personality and makes offensive

comments re your mom, your

parentage in general, and the

futility of your existence; and

infects your laptop with a virus

that's incurable.

A monument to Shays' Rebellion in western Massachusetts

Now Google understands "John

Cabot Zinn" because it's logical;

and Google knows that many

of our intellectuals can't spell for

crap, and so, respectful of your

dignity, it simply takes you to

a list of URLs relating to "Jon

Kabat-Zinn" but doesn't simply

drop you there; with due

humility, it offers you an opportunity

to make a further search anent

"John Cabot Zinn," in case

that's what you really meant.

From Wikipedia, I'd hoped

for better. Faced with what I've

learned is nonexistent or

unmet in cyberspace, "John

Cabot Zinn," it takes the path

of least resistance; id. est:

The page "John cabot zinn" does not

exist. You can ask for it to be created,

but consider checking the search results

below to see whether the topic is already

covered. For search help, please visit Help

"Lowell Mill Girls" was the name used for
female textile workers in the 19th century in
Lowell, Massachusetts —Wikipedia

...and then offers links to Shays'

Rebellion and the Lowell Mill

Girls, Anti-Union Violence,

and Christopher Columbus\—

none of which, I hardly need to

say, is pertinent. I'm very fond

of Wikipedia and wish it well,

but if you plan to search in

Wikipedia, you'd better learn

to spell.

So Google wins the prize--which

is my faithful, frequent use of it--for

patience, tact, and accuracy,

plus it's free, which  matters

greatly to the poor, including me,

and also to the simply frugal; and I

wish, in this respect at least...

Gee, if they made me Supreme

World Queen, before

I did another thing, I'd issue

this command: Be More Like

Google.

Amen

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