The american folk song John Henry tells the story of a man who wins a railroad spike driving contest against a steam powered drill. However, despite John Henry's best efforts, we now depend on mechanization to produce our railroads. Since then, mass production has poured into our culture - from railroads to automobiles, household goods, clothing, music, and books. This essay will discuss the implications of mechanization on our ability to shape who we are and the society surrounding us, and how the internet presents a way for us to reassert our autonomy, enhancing our capacity for self fulfillment.

"A man ain't nothin' but a man"

Human beings are made of culture. In many ways, each of us is a product of what we are exposed to. What we want, like, and believe varies depending on where we are born and who our parents are. Due to each of our particular experiences growing up, we express different preferences. Holmes loves granite rocks and barberry bushes, while I prefer tree-lined side streets with cracks filled in with tar.

A corollary to this observation is that what we choose to do effects the choices that others make. We react to what we experience in others - manners, gestures, clothing, and goods. What others wear influences our idea of fashion, what we make influences how others make things, and when you read my last sentience it interacts with your mental picture, producing some new state, perhaps not the one I intended. This concept can be modeled by imagining that what we do ripples out around us to those able to observe us, shaping their world view. This in turn influences their actions, creating observational ripples back to us, shaping who we are out of the dynamic system called culture.

"The Captain said to John Henry, I'm gonna bring that steam drill 'round'"

The mechanized production of goods, services, and artistic works in this system effects the way that culture is produced too. Instead of the democratic picture - with each of us producing the same amplitude of ripples throughout the system when we act - mechanized production and delivery has the ability to create shockwaves through the culture system. Those with control over production and distribution have their decisions observed by more people, influencing more behavior and allowing them to possess an asynchronous capability to shape who we are.

This expanded capability has wide ranging effects into each and every portion of our lives. Television producers influence how we laugh with our friends, operating system designers influence how how we use computers, textbook makers influence how we learn to think, fashion designers influence what label (or lack thereof) fits 'us' the best, magazine editors influence what constitutes a 'normal' relationship, body type, or frame of mind, and mechanized production of crafts influences our sense of quality, practicality, and usefulness. In this sense, the designers of the mass produced goods influence what we want, how we work, and who we are.

This does not imply that an average person is powerless to shape themselves against these forces. Quite the opposite, this model describes a situation where we choose our actions in response to these forces; and through these choices we shape ourselves out of the culture that surrounds us. The implication is, however, that the control over this mass production effects the building blocks out of which we make ourselves, yielding a great deal of influence concerning who we are to those in control of the mechanization.

"That ain't no storm, Captain, that's just my hammer in the air"

The internet gives those with access the means to touch as wide a range of people as those whose decisions can be amplified by mechanized production and distribution. Creating and posting writings, audio, and video that can be accessed by any interested party is quick and simple. Further, this ability does not just extend to traditional media. For example, sites like etsy serve as a marketplace where people can buy and sell handmade goods, allowing people to make and sell goods to people across the globe. There are also communities that share design plans in formats that allow people to replicate their designs using a fabrication machine. Other tools allow people to comment and collaborate on top of other people's content, such as dispute finder and shift space. Finally, sites like reddit and digg replace the traditional role of editor with a community that votes upon articles which they find interesting or valuable.

The implication of the internet, as seen through these examples, is that an average person has the power like never before to shape culture with the same amplification effect as the mechanized producers.

This has a democratizing effect on culture, with each as able as any other to shape the culture, and thus, themselves.