However democracy cannot be defined as the existence of parliaments and elections alone.

At the root of the shy temperament is a deep fear of social judgment one so severe it can sometimes be crippling. Introverted people don't worry unduly about whether they'll be found wanting they just find too much socializing exhausting and would prefer either to be alone or in the company of a select few people.

Most high courts in other nations do not have discretion such as we enjoy in selecting the cases that the high court reviews. Our court is virtually alone in the amount of discretion it has.

What troubles me is the Internet and the electronic technology revolution. Shyness is fueled in part by so many people spending huge amounts of time alone isolated on e-mail in chat rooms which reduces their face-to-face contact with other people.

Never say never but the thought of electively cutting oneself is beyond my grasp and I also object to it politically. Denying the lines on our faces makes a comment about age and wisdom I don't care to make.

We are in an electronic technology age now and it's about time we put away the old stuff.

In this electronic age we see ourselves being translated more and more into the form of information moving toward the technological extension of consciousness.

Information is the oxygen of the modern age. It seeps through the walls topped by barbed wire it wafts across the electrified borders.