The codgers out there probably remember Stewart Brand, creator of the Whole Earth Catalog, one of the ultimate documents of ’60s-era hippiedom. The catalog, which first appeared in 1968, was a sort of pre-electronic World Wide Web devoted to organic farming, composting toilets, handicrafts, solar power, and other topics of interest to the do-it-yourself, back-to-the-land movement. A bit of contemporary technology appeared from time to time, but the overall approach was rooted in deep love of the old.

Well, surprise. Stuart Brand was invited to contribute an essay to John Brockman’s splendid Web site The Edge—for Brockman’s annual Big Question project. This year’s question was What have you changed your mind about and why? Brand’s answer starts out by talking about his love of sailing, his desire to have an old-fashioned wooden boat, and his discovery that he didn’t really like it. After reviewing other choices between the old and the new, he reaches this conclusion:

The message finally got through. Good old stuff sucks. Sticking with the fine old whatevers is like wearing 100% cotton in the mountains; it’s just stupid.

Give me 100% not-cotton clothing, genetically modified food (from a farmers’ market, preferably), this-year’s laptop, cutting-edge dentistry and drugs.

The Precautionary Principle tells me I should worry about everything new because it might have hidden dangers. The handwringers should worry more about the old stuff. It’s mostly crap.

One eloquent aging arch-hippy won over. And plenty more yet to persuade.