COLUMN: Will the Internet destroy us all?
I have a friend who thinks the Internet will bring about the end of civilization. She thinks using computers as a buffer between people is going to make us all crazy. The anonymity, she says, will turn us all into recluses – demented despots, each of us ruling a world of one, with all of us maintaining an electronic arm’s length from each other.
She could be right. She’s been right about a lot of things. But they said the same thing about TV and we’ve all grown up just fine. Haven’t we?
My own family owns four televisions and they’re almost always on. Sometimes they’re even tuned to the same program with dad, mom and all the kids curled up in their respective rooms staring blissfully into the glowing magic. They never fight. Probably because they seldom interact – except in the kitchen when it’s time to compete for the best snacks. When there’s nothing good on TV, they turn to their four PC’s, play games and browse the net.
The odd thing is I don’t think of my family as being all that strange. What would be strange is if we all gathered around the fire in the evening listening as father recounted stories passed down to him through the generations. We in turn would memorize them, ponder their meaning and prepare for the day we too could tell those stories to our children. That’s what our noble ancestors did.
I suppose my friend would say this is exactly what we should be doing. She’d say we should unplug and walk away from all of this dangerous technology. This, she said, would help us remember what it is to be human. Maybe.
But if human interaction is so great, why is history, both modern and ancient, checkered with the very crimes people blame television and the Internet for? Despite all their human interaction, our ancestors weren’t any nobler than we are. They fought wars, murdered, pillaged and raped the same as we do. It might have taken them a little longer, but the depravities of today are little changed from those perpetrated 100 years ago.
I don’t know. Maybe time will prove my friend right. Maybe my children’s children will forget how to speak, preferring instead the sterile interaction of electronic communication. Maybe the Internet will, like author Michael Crichton asserts, sap away our individuality and cause the eventual decline of society. Of course, the ironic thing about his theory is you’d have to visit his Web site to read about it.