Let’s say that at some point in the next week, we discovered
how to travel back in time. Let’s say we bring our smartphones with us to show
the old world.
How would we explain them?
“Here,” we could say, “in the palm of my hand, lies a device
that contains every piece of knowledge ever recorded in the history of
humanity; every song and text, every religious doctrine, every society and
culture that has ever risen and fallen, every observation ever made in the name
of science… With this device, I can know instantly any answer I seek. All I
need to do is ask the question.”
Upon which an ancient Greek scholar might look up and say,
“Praise be! What a world you must live in, where every
citizen is accurately informed of the nature of the world around them. How
simple discourse must be with such a device! How truly peaceful and civilised is
our future to come.”
“Yeah,” we look around nervously, “about that…”
~~~
We hold the world in our fingertips, and yet the vast
majority of the Internet consists of obfuscated data and code that isn’t accessible.
Of the 10% that is, a good three-quarters is porn. Why is this? Where the
goddamned heck is all the information?
It’s out there alright, but with great information comes
great bullshit. No matter what you believe, it takes only a few clicks to find
a community of people who agree with you.
This, combined with the guise of anonymity, is one of the
best and worst social and technological advancements of our time. The upside is
that free speech is rampant. The downside is that free speech is totally fucking rampant, and can
manifest in some pretty ugly ways.
Most of us are pretty wised up to this by now, though we
still don’t particularly care. Every day a media release or opinion piece
declares for the quadrillionth time that social media is manipulating our
feelings, deadening our children, or killing our way of life.
Maybe it is and maybe it isn’t. What we do know, is that
more and more people are getting sucked down the rabbit hole and not coming
out. Internet addiction disorder, while receiving a wealth of attention in
recent years, is not listed in the DSM-V. For nations such as South Korea and
Japan it has become a huge social issue. Every year, thousands of people die
from literally sealing themselves away in rooms with not much more than a
computer.
How can the Internet possibly be that attractive- that
addictive?
It’s become somewhat of an ironic statement to make, but
that fact is that the Internet, and social media in particular, is one big
reassuring, pampering, motherly machine. Whatever sub-community we choose to
identify with, their reassuring coo reminds that whatever we’re doing is okay.
Venture beyond this hivemind, however, and opinions that are
not our own start to appear hostile, even spiteful. “Why wouldn’t they agree
with me?” we say. “I’ve done research. I’ve conferred with countless others who
all share my belief. Anyone who disagrees with my way of life is obviously
against me.”
These days, having your opinion shut down online is one of the
greatest insults. We have conditioned ourselves into a corner by surrounding
ourselves with likeminded others, shunning anyone who may cause us to doubt our
convictions.
The real world doesn’t work this way. Outsides of the
digital confines we make for ourselves, debate and disagreement is everywhere.
We can’t simply close our eyes or hit backspace every time we see something we
don’t like. And yet, those of us who have been softened by close-minded, online
communities are constantly advocating for real life to reflect them.
Even at universities – institutions that champion
open-mindedness and debate as core values – students protest to be shielded
from dissenting information. They are our generation’s justice warriors, and
they are ignorant to the fact that hearing all sides of a debate is the key to
empathy, understanding, and change.
Their argument is straightforward, and seems rooted in
truth. Those who disagree with their opinions, they say, are attempting to
control them. Those who dispute their sources of information are trying to tell
them what to think and what to feel.
This sounds like a reasonable argument, until we realise that
those they agree with are doing the exact same thing. We can’t avoid it.
Parents, teachers, experts, advertising, cultural norms, big
business, charities, humanitarian organisations- all of them tell us what to
think and feel. Some do out of goodwill and some out of greed, but it is only
through constant learning that we can determine which is which. This means
hearing all sides and deciding on our own what is right, free from as much
influence as possible (even from those we like).
We hold the world in our fingertips, and yet most of us
choose to explore only a very narrow slice of it because it’s easy and comfortable. And if there’s one thing that Internet exceeds at, it’s making us
comfortable.
~~~
“So,” the ancient Greek scholar strokes his beard. “You’re
saying that, despite having all the world’s knowledge available to them, your
generation actively choose to hold onto that which they already believe? You’re
saying that some do this to such an extent that they seal themselves off from
those around them, even to the point of death?”
We show him the phone. “See for yourself. What do you wish to know?”
The scholar navigates to a database on Greek philosophy in
the scientific age. For a long while he reads, focusing especially on modern
theories that have made some of his longstanding predictions obsolete.
“Well?” we ask. “What have you found?”
“This is absurd! Our culture has been built from the
theories of these great philosophers; how can you so readily dismiss them? Who
are these people, who tell me what to think and feel? Who do they think they
are?”
Who indeed.
With great information comes great bullshit.
a.ce
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