I enjoyed how he started, but he lost me when he used Newton under an apple tree and Moses in the wilderness to point out integrated learning. It may have been an homage to myth, but it missed the mark. Also, he conflates the oral tradition with Aristotelian poetics. In general, his interpretation of myth and narrative denies any acknowledge of postmodernity and post-structuralism. It is like he never left his cave after reading Levi-Strauss. I think you could learn more about 21st C. metaphors of cyberspace by skimming a Cory Doctorow novel.
Hi Troy- Good to meet you here. I haven't reread the article recently but wonder if we approach it in different ways. This reminds me of our conversation about Parker Palmer's writings (in the sense of our different approaches). I found the three metaphors useful in thinking about how/where I find places to develop professionally spurred further reflection. I have no idea who Cory Doctorow is nor can I comment on Aristotelian poetics, postmodernity or post-structuralism. However, I like the images of a campfire, a wateringhole, and a cave. Perhaps someone else can engage with you on the level of deeper discussion ...
No worries, Kris. I did enjoy his metaphors, but I think he took a bit of license with his appropriation of Native American oral stories. I get heated about this because it is what I have dedicated my life to, especially narrative theory. I have spent hours upon days with people fighting for their narratives - poststructural/postcolonial movement - and who believe a narrative, and all it tropes or figures of speech, unbinds truth, which allows for not just malleability but multiplicity. Cory Doctorow is the new William Gibson or Ursula Le Guin, so might put him in the same league as Philip K. Dick, but all in all, he is a cyberpunk writer cultivating a community neocyberpunks. His literary website is craphound.com, and he is the co-founder of the tech blog boingboing. He has help redefine narrative fiction in the cyber age.