He overstated his case, of course. And we are, most of us, a social bunch. Sure, there are dull people who can get their kicks from their preoccupation with a dreary subject like rutabagas. Call them the information averse. They may develop information-averse tendencies not out of ignorance but out of opportunity, and we may miss them when we debate the big issues.
Social isolation is part of the online culture, and there are other dangers, too.
It seems increasingly clear that conventional notions about ideas and ownership are doomed. Katz is right. It is a self-indulgent medium full of passion and argument. It can be short on facts and dispassionate analysis. Objectivity, a fragile idea in the most hospitable environs, can get lost in the din.