In edit class this semester we spent a great deal of time talking about the Internet and its pros and cons. we talked at great length about how the Internet is a tool that should be used for the good of man kind. we also spoke about how the it can be very dangerous if used for the wrong reason. With all these things said, I still find it fascinating that the Internet has, for lack of a better word mutated far beyond the control of its creators, to the point where no one entity can control it. there is no Donald Trump or Rupert Murdock on the other end of the Internet controlling what we can and can not access. the closest thing we might have right now is google, and even that cannot limit what people can access.
I had a teacher once who spoke very passionately about Frankenstein. She argued that the the story of Frankenstein has become one of the most re told stories of our time. Think about it. The movies Terminator, the Matrix, I Robot, and Tron are all stories about how man creates something that eventually grows beyond his own control.
It seems to me like the Internet has become our own real life version of Frankenstein. It may be good, it may be bad. that's for us to find out. All I know is that briliant minds that created the Internet didn't have a clue what they had made until the moment they stepped back and realised "its alive!". Ok maybe not, but it is definitely not under their control any more.
I remember hearing a quote once upon a time: "The Internet is the only thing that mankind has created which it does not fully understand."
ReplyDeleteThe comparison to Frankenstein's monster is very interesting. Much like the monster, I think the Internet started out fairly innocuous, but people who have since encountered it have changed it into something very dangerous, and given it the potential to do great harm. That said, the Internet also has the capacity for great good - it serves as a rich source of information and connects people in ways that have never before been possible. The Internet is the best reflection that we have of humanity - it encompasses every aspect of our global character, from the benign to the malevolent. This is what makes it both wonderful and wretched, as the people who use it are both wonderful and wretched.
I don't think there will ever come a time when humanity collectively understands the Internet. We don't seem to understand ourselves, let alone something as vast as the Internet has become.
Consider facebook. I've heard way too many stories and personally known too many people who have heard about the death of a relative over someone else's facebook status. How horrible! It's bad enough news to be given in person, but through a social networking site? And relationship status changes... goodness! That such detail in a person's life should suddenly become everyone's business just seems ridiculous. People become too wrapped up in the intimate details of other people's lives, and come to expect such information to be handed over to them for meticulous scrunity, despite how limited their understanding of the situation really is. Not only that, but we come to behave as though such information is ours to share with the world. Facebook and myspace and all other social networking sites have been developed without there first being a set of rules on how to behave. People seem to have a hard enough time being courteous and practicing proper etiquette in the real world, how can we expect them to act responsibly in a situation with some element of anonymity?
There is a song called Virtual life by Paul Brandt. It is all about how our lives really are totally consumed by technology. It is almost like without tecchnology we would not have a life. It is important that every once in a while people do evaluate their use of technology and the amount of time that they use technology so they do keep it under control. I also agree with Emily when she says that all of our business is out on the table via social networking. I had never thought of it before but we certanly do think that it is somewhat our right ot the information that we and others put out there for every body to view. I think that as teachers it is important to teach students about thing like ethics so when they are on the internet they do have a basis to go off of when making decisions on what to post. Although the internet can be a very dangerous tool it should still be utilized in the classroom. Teachers are constantly being nudged by principles, parents and others to protect the children on the internet. I think that it is more important that we teach the children how important it is that they protect them selves. Every body knows that these children will have the greatest access to the internet of any generation. They can not be suprivsed all the time so they must be taught how to use the internet properly and develop these skills as a second nature.
ReplyDeleteHey Shawn. I was inspired to write a response to your blog because I think your “Frankenstein” comparison to the Internet is a great analogy. I recently discovered one of Mary Shelley’s inspirations for her ‘monster’ is based on Greek myth: The Titan, Prometheus, stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortal mankind (hence the subtitle “Modern Prometheus”), but to Shelley, Prometheus wasn’t a hero, but a demon because now mankind was seduced to kill and eat meat (with cooking fires). Shelley’s book, as you probably know, was written in the early 19th century – and a warning against the ‘monster’ of the Industrial Revolution. To a Romantic like Shelley, the Industrial Revolution was changing the natural order of man; it was an attack on humankind as well as nature. Another 19th century Romantic, William Blake, describes this analogy in his poem “Jerusalem”: And did the Countenance Divine/ Shine forth upon our clouded hills?/ And was Jerusalem builded here/ Among these dark Satanic mills?
ReplyDeleteSo to continue with your theme, I think perhaps I am a bit of a Romantic when I look at the Internet’s bad connotations. For example, the ease with which criminals can extend their tentacles and pray upon innocent, decent people (especially children) infuriates me; the Internet, to victims, would seem a ‘dark Satanic mill’. But on the other hand, the Internet is so full of amazing tools and potential (off hand, I’m just thinking about the use of social media in Japan’s efforts to find lost family or the use of the Internet in allowing us to provide monetary relief); the Internet has so many uses for honourable, creative, and cooperative endeavors.
Personally though, as a cynic, I think the Internet, or ‘monster’, does need some kind of leash around its neck. Some critics would argue this alienates our inherent freedoms; the Internet doesn’t need ‘Big Brother’ watching its every move. Big Brother, of course, being from George Orwell’s book “Nineteen Eighty-Four”, where the totalitarian state watches and manipulates the population – in such a regime, you have no individuality or freedoms; aspirations only serve the state.
As good as this argument is, I think it is alarmist. If we were arguing about political ideologies my argument would certainly change – as Orwell’s book mirrors communist and dictatorial doctrine. Nevertheless, mankind needs law; in an enlightened world, democracy needs law. If I may quote John Locke, an English philosopher of the Enlightenment during the 18th century, and the Father of Liberalism: “The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom. For all the states of created beings capable of law, where there is no law, there is no freedom.”
To enforce these laws we need to be watched – it deters criminals to act. Unfortunately, for our society, all the pedophiles, identity thieves, and dregs of our society, have ruined our Internet freedoms. Mankind is cursed with the sins of others. To that end, knowing we will always live with sin, the only recourse is to sacrifice some of my freedom to counteract injustice; by this sacrifice, according to Locke, I am preserving and enlarging freedom. I would gladly sacrifice some of my Internet rights or privileges – especially if that means criminals cannot target innocent victims. And if that means that the government can control (or watch) my Internet actions…so be it.
But then again, I AM a good citizen – what gives them the right to filter my content?
In true Orwellian fashion, this theme leads us into the irrational milieu of ‘doublethink’!
wow thanks for your feedback!
ReplyDeletewhen I think about the internet being controlled VS being free I often refer back to when the olympics were in Beijing. I can remember hearing all sorts of criticism towards the Chinese govenment and their efforts to control internet content. "the great firewall fo china" is what I heard it called.
I was going to school at this point in time, and up to my ears in essay's. Many of the assignments I was given required me to search for resources. After great de liberation, I found found myself steering away from use of the internet and depending on books in the library.
My reasoning for this was that the internet is full of information that is not academicly recognised as being correct. Especially at university.
In fact I was given a very hard time from my university professor for citing information I got off of wikkipedia.
It was at this time that I thought to myself "maybe China has a point," becuase it sure would have made my life easier if someone had filtered out all the useless information I had to search through.
Up until that point in my life I had been a firm believer that the internet should be free and limitless. I now see that there needs to be limits.
I agree with the fascinating facts about what the internet has to offer. Before this class I had no idea about the tools that you can use. With the web 2.0 application everyone can pick and choose what goes onto the internet and I really enjoy that fact. Its nice to have the freedom to put whatever information you want and not have to worry about only accessing information put on the internet by a select group of people.
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