The Shrinking Seam of Knowledge

I was listening to a recorded episode of NPR's Talk of the Nation last night, and was struck by a strange thought. On it, experts were discussing the future of our public libraries: their roles, the costs of funding, their changing mission. And one of the experts talked about how new forms of media are "lessening the seam of knowledge between information and our brains." Now immediately I had thoughts of Neo, plugging in, downloading, and becoming Bruce Lee. And interestingly, I was disturbed by this. It struck me that I am not sure I want to gain knowledge that directly.

So the question then becomes, why? And it struck me that direct transfer of knowledge, from download versus a book, recording, lession, etc., might impart the same information in a more effiecient manner, but it does away with the art of the information. I don't watch films to learn plot lines, but to enjoy the manner of storytelling. I don't listen to jazz to learn melodies, but instead to enjoy each performer's individualistic determination. The artfulness of an experience does not necessarily lie in the content of the experience, but rather it's manner. And it seems to me that without having an intervening medium for the transmission of content, we leave the opportunities for artfulness behind us.