The Internet has been an on-going debate. Many argue about whether it is our savior or our destroyer. Like many others here on the blog, while starting to read The Shallows by Nicholas Carr, I immediately noticed the negative aspects about the Internet he had tried to emphasize. However, I also tried to keep in mind of the benefits of the Internet ultimately coming with a mental list of pros and cons.
THE PROS: The Internet allows for communication throughout our world, allowing for peoples of different regions to speak meanwhile spreading cultural ideas. We have become interconnected and communicate more easily with the aid of the Internet. Also, research has become easy and fast. With search engines such as Google, researching a topic for that once took hours now becomes a couple of minutes.
THE CONS: Our attention span, patience, ability to simply read, and memory have all been sacrificed. Distractions now come more easily then before. We used to be able to read a book for an hour or so straight, entrapped and engulfed in the novel. Now, however, we can't read a book for 30 minutes straight without checking our phone or opening the Internet Explorer icon on our laptop screen.
Thus, I was faced with the dilemma. Which side do I take in this controversy? Is the Internet bad? Or good? Well, does it have to be either one?
The Internet, in my opinion, is like an over-the-counter drug. When we are sick, we usually need to take some sort of cold medicine right? Well the same applies to the Internet. When we need the Internet for a report or to send an email, we must use it. However, like a drug, an overdose is harmful. If you take too much of the medicine or take it when you don't need too, your body becomes exceedingly damaged. Likewise, if you use the Internet too much, your mind is damaged. Who says we have to take one side over the other? Can't we find a perfect medium? I believe that the question is not whether the Internet is "good or bad" but how much we should use it. How much should we use the Internet? Will we ever be able to limit ourselves? Will we have the willpower?
I definitely agree with your pros and cons listed from Carr's book. However, one thing to remember is that when you criticize or assess the internet, you are comparing the content of the medium to the effects of using the medium itself, which makes it very difficult to make a conclusion.
ReplyDeleteIn the prologue, "The Watchdog and the Thief," a media mogul, David Sarnoff is quoted, "The products of modern science are not in themselves good or bad: it is the way they are used that determines their value." McLuhan scoffed at the statement, and I'm sure Carr was also critical of the belief that it is the way you use the internet that determines its value.
Personally, I believe that the main problem is that we are totally unaware and oblivious to how the internet is affecting our ability to focus and concentrate. If we understand what it is doing, I believe we can keep using the internet as we are as long as we set our priorities straight. So if we are reading a book, we should make our best conscious effort to remove the temptations of distractions around us so that we may focus only on acquiring a deep understanding of the book we are reading. However, this will take a great deal of willpower. For some, it will probably be too much. We can still always make our best conscious effort to abate the negative effects of internet usage.
I believe that the Internet Is useful more than not. As you said we use Internet to communicate with countries around the world, no longer alienating ourselves, we also use the Internet to reaserch, but I believe the cons you state are not all that problematic. You said that our patience and attentions spans weign because of the internet and that we no longer are able to read deeply but that's not true. I, myself, along with quite a few people I know, become so engrossed in our books that the outside world and especially internet, becomes nothing. When I'm reading a 400 page book, I can rip through that book within hours yet you say that we don't have enough patience to read for even 30 minutes. I do though, believe in your point in saying that distractions come more easily, but I think that's because those distractions are just there. What would we do if we had a puzzle sitting in front of us instead if a computer?
ReplyDelete
DeleteIf we had a puzzle in front of us instead of a computer all along, our society would be very different. Less like Times Square and more like the Amish community. We would rely a lot more on the natural course rather than use artificial methods of functioning. People would be more family oriented and not as wrapped up in their occupations. Community would become closer and more suburbian-typed than distant and on their own. Ultimately, old-fashioned would not be a word , rather it would be the way of living.
The Internet is a very good example of how over-the-counter drugs affect the public. Like them, the Internet does have a medium zone, just not that many people are on that level. Will power is like common sense; it should technically be notable in everyone, but one a fraction of people have it and are determined enough to use it. A lot of people do not notice the results of television. In my opinion, television does grind down someone's will power and patience, which when addressed does not look bad, but in retrospect, it is quite lethal to the human race.
ReplyDeleteImagine this: a man comes home from his job to his family. He is tired and only wants to relax. Despite these desires, he must help his wife with the baby, take out the trash, help his daughter with her project, and fix the lamp in the living room. He does it begrudgingly, but the chores get done. The next day, he comes home, says hello to his family, sits down on the couch and watches television. He then becomes distracted and does not help around the house at all. He feels a sense of bliss and peace when watching football by himself. This now becomes a daily thing. It has now been six months since he has helped his wife or kids with anything at all. Although he enjoys watching his favorite sitcom, he wants to help his family. Unfortunately, he no longer has the attention span or will power to be motivated to do anything.
The same thing goes for an Internet junkie.
Even though I enjoy blogging and looking up celebrity gossip, I find the Internet to be bad for anyone who is easily amused and distracted. If someone is already impatient and then endures themselves in television or the Internet without caution, the aftermath will be anything but pretty.