SillyValley Asocialites

[kelley]

NETWORKED STRANGERS
One of the findings of the just-published Social Capital Community 
Benchmark Survey, http://www.cfsv.org, is that Silicon Valley is a 
community that is relatively backward socially compared to national 
statistics: people in the Valley are 27% less likely than people elsewhere 
to visit with relatives, and are not very inclined to serve as community 
leaders, join clubs, or even attend public meetings. But even nationally, 
says survey director Robert Putnam, "there has been a serious erosion in 
American connectedness." James Koch of the Center for Science, Technology 
and Society at Santa Clara University says of Silicon Valley: "This is a 
region that is enigmatic. We have tremendous prowess when it comes to 
innovation and commercialization of technologies. That's often attributed 
to the robust networks that exist in this region. But we are remarkable 
weak in social ties. We are like a very, very well-trained athlete who can 
do one thing especially well. But we haven't cultivated this larger 
capacity for civic engagement." (San Jose Mercury News 1 Mar 2001) 
http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/svtop/social030101...