The internet is an incredible resource that puts unlimited information right in front of you, whom ever you are, where ever you are (with wifi.) It was theorized that the internet and all of this new technology that we have would turn all of us into much smarter beings and make all of our lives infinitely easier. In some senses it has; I can now write a research paper using hundreds of primary and secondary sources without ever having to get up from my seat; I can now figure out what the weather will be like in Spain in two weeks in a matter of seconds. This is all a great improvement to the old ways that those things had to be done; however, it has had quite a few unexpected, serious consequences that we are just now starting to discover.
First of all, the internet can be a very dark place, not just certain sites but also in terms of human happiness. According to a recent study done by the Institute of Physiological Sciences at the University of Leeds shows that long periods of time spent on the internet can lead to depression. In other words, the amount of time one person spends on the internet had a high correlation to depression and feelings of sadness.
Social Media is making us more anti-social. More and more I find myself at a table with my friends, and we are all on our phones. No one is talking; no one is listening. Everyone is absorbed in their phones, checking what is going on in the world of technology. If we wanted to, we could all just text each other and that would be our whole conversation. The only problem with this is that text does not pick up on the tones that people are attempting to convey. This can lead to people getting upset over something that is simply misread.
The internet and technology can be very useful, but just like any tool, harmful.
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/02/03/surfing-web-make-depressed/
I agree with what you are saying the internet can be a very good thing, when it comes to school. But imagine our parents and what they went through and how they had to write papers going through encyclopedia and checking out books from the library and reading them. Like who does that anymore? But I can also see how the internet is a bad thing so many false websites and viruses. Identity thieves among much worse things. But to be honest I wouldn't mind reverting back to not having the internet I feel like times were much more simpler and everyone was more content with just being themselves.
ReplyDeleteI see the positives and negatives to the internet and i agree with RJ's comment and I wouldn't mind going back to the simpler time of not having the internet. The internet gives anonymity to people which makes cyber bullying such an issue. Yeah its easy to say "hey if you're getting hate on the internet just step away from the screen" but in a world that is becoming more and more centered around the internet and social media, its harder for people to "step away" unless they wish to be stigmatized for not being on the latest and greatest form of social media.
ReplyDeleteI'm someone who still has a few memories of life before the internet became so pervasive, as it began to do in the early to mid-90s. One of the paradoxes of technology and maybe even progress is that we both see many negatives, and yet would never go back. I'd never want to go back to an era before smart phones. And yet I really wish I weren't so glued to the thing sometimes. Freud called this phenomenon "civilization and its discontents." We become more restless and unhappy, even as we are more comfortable and richer. For me, one of the main values of the humanities is simply combatting this issue--they arguably become more necessary as civilization progresses, not less necessary. Freud certainly showed that just talking about things could cure many of the disease of civilization, and this is precisely what the humanities aim to do.
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