If you're in the habit of reading Internet think pieces, then you've probably heard that our generation is in crisis. We go through life glued to our electronic devices, too busy recording our lives on social media to actually experience them. We forgo authentic relationships for a string of casual hookups. We have short attention spans, poor grammar, and most of us never pick up a book. All in all, the popular sentiment seems to be that technology has impoverished millennials intellectually, socially, and morally—and that it's driving our society to ruin.
Socrates felt the same way about books.
Yes, really. In his dialogue "The Phaedrus," Socrates warns of the dangers of a newfangled practice called writing: "This invention will produce forgetfulness in the minds of those who learn to use it, because they will not practice their memory." Socrates worried that students who read could never retain knowledge as well as those who experienced it directly, through dialogue and debate. Writing, he thought, would prevent students from actually learning information, since they could just reference it in a text.
The funny thing is, he was right. The written word radically changed the way we store and process information, and some skills got lost along the way. I don't know a lot of people who can recite "The Iliad" from memory nowadays. But books also enriched society immeasurably, allowing us to record and exchange information and develop an intellectual culture that would never have been possible otherwise. Likewise, the Internet has brought about huge changes in our society in a very short amount of time, changes that are understandably scary. But when we flat-out condemn technology and the people who use it, we ignore the many ways that technology is shaping the world for the better.
For one thing, the Internet brings together people with similar interests who would never have gotten to meet otherwise. Fandoms—essentially online communities formed around common love for a book, TV show, or other work—give fans a space to share their passions with like-minded people. The Internet also helps marginalized groups form communities that transcend geographical barriers. For a gay or trans kid growing up in a small rural town, the Internet might well be the only option for finding a community that makes you feel like you're not alone. Social media critics are quick to dismiss online relationships as less deep and meaningful than face-to-face interactions, but just because online friendships look different doesn't mean they are any less real.
The Internet has also made information far more accessible. As a student, I benefit from online academic archives such as JSTOR, which provide an enormous volume of books, journals, and periodicals, many of them free of charge. These resources make academic research less costly and time-consuming, which means more people now have the opportunity to pursue higher education. On the more mundane side of things, the Internet provides all sorts of information to help us navigate everyday life: I can check traffic patterns to avoid congested roads, look up the hourly weather forecast, and even check Find My Phone to make sure my family members are home safe.
As Socrates shows us, technological progress has always and will always make people anxious, simply because we don't know what the future will look like and how we will fit into it. But there's a point at which popular disapproval of technology becomes counterproductive, especially when the same arguments are being rehashed over and over again. There are so many important discussions we should be having about technology and its effects on society. How will social media influence political participation? Will traditional publishing become obsolete now that anyone can publish their work online? Will millennials still marry and form nuclear families, or will new family structures become the norm? But instead, I have to read endless articles about how Tinder is ruining dating.
Technology has produced negative side effects, and it's important to comment on them, but let's not forget to have a little optimism. I can access the entire body of human knowledge from a machine that fits in my pocket, and I think that's amazing.
