I was recently asked by a child if I thought the internet was a good or bad thing.
Being a technology major I've thought much about this. Here's my take.
THE GOOD
Think about it: the internet is the greatest communications revelation since the printing press.
Literacy was long a coveted privilege of the few. Compare to now where more knowledge and resources are instantly available on any topic imaginable. Never before has raw information been so readily available. We are seeing the very beginning of the most informed era in human history.
Does that sheen fade slightly when you remember a whole lot of it is cat videos and porn?
Sure.
But the web was born out of a need for research and learning. It was founded on (mostly) good intentions.
Immeasurable productivity occurs every single day. Online business, instant customer service and support, forums and niche conversational spaces, new friends, old memories, etc.
Humans are social creatures. We can stay in touch with others in a way simply not previously possible. Lives are saved every day with just a few friendly words on the screen. Hearts yearning for commonality or companionship will certainly find it.
Hell, I met my girlfriend on Tinder.
When's the last time anyone had to search through a huge phone book only to find the page you need ripped out? When's the last time you had to print out inaccurate directions only to get hopelessly lost?
When's the last time you truly felt alone?
I'll wait.
THE BAD
Many once typical rituals are all but exterminated. Who needs the post office or the mall when clothes, stamps and transactions can all be handled from the couch. Physical stores are an awful lot of overhead and the advantages of owning one are fading.
I know those who rarely write with a pen. Notes, to-dos, paper documents, all behind our magic rectangles. When's the last time you doodled?
Immediate gratification is the name of the game. This expectancy is destroying our collective ability as a species to simply sit and do nothing for five minutes. It's easy to lose sight of what's really important with such stimulus entering at literal light speeds.
Let's not forget about digital crime - no guns, no getaway vehicles, rarely witnesses. Just a secure internet connection, technical know-how and maybe a few friends. Million dollar heists are achieved daily, all at once from organizations or piecemeal from our friends and relatives. Tax fraud certainly thinks the internet is a good thing.
Viruses and malware can spread on their own, infecting millions of machines and autonomously committing more crime. Your computer is being slow lately for no apparent reason? Maybe it's too busy quietly helping Russia crack our nuclear launch codes.
Everyone's social networks are ultimately extensions of their own mental networks. By this I mean they can quickly turn into echo-chambers devoid of new thinking. The availability of information does not mean everyone will make use of it or even care. False information and news lent enough credibility to put an oompa-loompa in the white house. It's a serious problem.
Free products and services turn your data into their product. The FBI is coming to Facebook for facial scanning technology and who is learning more about our behavior than social networks? Every face tag brings us one step closer to Terminator.
Am I being dramatic? Perhaps.
Honestly my main gripe with the internet has barely anything to do with the internet.
It's more to do with HOW we interact with the internet.
Those magic rectangles? They're awfully confining for the vast world beyond, no? It's like being able to teleport anywhere but being stuck in a phone booth.
I've talked more about the human brain being raised on nice shiny digital products and content. It's all meant to be perfect but life isn't perfect. Makes for false expectations.
Being connected can be great but our means of access could be better.
Not to say I'm complaining about all the awesome computer technology, just that one day it will be more natural. Imagine contact-lens computers powered by your heartbeat. Need to fix your car? That lens could illuminate the proper parts and overlay instructions, hands-free. Imagine being able to think your text messages.
Combined with future augmented reality and bio-technologies information can be available when AND where you want it. Enhancement, not enlightenment. I'm eagerly awaiting the day.
