Is The Internet Improving Us or Hindering Us?
Where are you in the cybernet debate?
Are you a cyberpessimist or a cyperoptimist? We discussed the reading on this very topic, and the middleground came up; hope for the best, keep in mind the worst.
Frankly, I can see where all the debate spurs from. I do know that “Google-ing” something is much easier than looking it up in hard copy. I do know that people are constantly on their devices. That communication has suffered because of it, that people are looking down into screens instead of up into faces, and conversation and interaction is being replaced by silence or the dull sound of music from headphones. I do know that thoughts can be broadcasted around the world with just a click of a button, giving power to to good people and bad people; people who have something important to say and people who think what they’re saying is important. I do know that students are compiling notes online, for those who missed class, for those who don’t take notes, for those who want to help, and I also know that this can lead to cheating. I know that each advancement in technology comes with affordances and constraints, and as social media buzzes inside our pockets we are left to wonder where our authenticity has gone.
I know all this; so do others. That’s why we sends notes but not assignment papers. We donate to websites like Kickstarter to encourage advancements and new ideas. We try to turn our phones off (or at least on silent) when we’re in class. We cite our sources to give credit where its due. We engage with communities all over the world. We video call our relatives to show them they are never forgotten. We use websites like FreeRice (where each correct answer donates 10 grains of rice to the World Food Program to end world hunger) , and browsers like Ecosia (where over 80% of the profits from your web searches are used to plant trees where they are needed most). We are taking courses like Digital Lives in school, where we try to understand technology and how to better use it in our lives.
I feel people have now reached the middleground, where we are focusing on the good of technology, keeping the bad on the backburner as a reminder, and striving towards doing what we can with the resources we now have.