Silence is Golden...who said that? In the real world it seems silence is becoming a real problem. People just don't communicate enough, they're forgetting how to talk to each other and all indications point to that getting much, much worse. My own preference is for the expression, "Communication is key." I think often about the distance people create from others with their silence. More problems in relationships are caused by lack of communication than anything else. What frightens people? Is it accountability? Fear of being wrong? Perhaps it is an assumptive fear of confrontation that results in communication being avoided altogether. I don't know, what I do know is that one medium where people do seem able to speak their mind is on the internet in formats where accountability and being wrong don't really come into play. Nor do being sensitive, having any degree of self respect or any consideration for others whatsoever.
I’m too old to have had much experience with internet bullies but from what I hear it is a real problem and that's just one of too many problems on the rise for me to get into . What I ponder is this: will all this tech we are becoming so dependent upon have a positive or a negative long-term affect? If someone posted this as a question in a forum I might reply that it would be subjective, that there are too many variables, everyone is different and all that rot. Still, I can’t help but wonder, overall, what will happen? Will we be distributed chips at birth right along with those first shots that we have been convinced every child will die without? Perhaps I’ve seen too many sci-fi films but that thought is a bit off-putting to me, mostly because I remember a world where people didn’t carry around computers in their pockets. The youth of today would likely be totally fine with it, they would line up for an implant as quickly as people line up for flu shots, it’s frightening.
I like to question things and often the internet is where I look for answers, with scrutiny of course. I don't look at the issue of tech as a one way or the other thing. I am not anti-tech, that would be like being anti-hammer and nails. I have my own devices and I like my tech. These devices are useful and come in very handy. They make a lot of things more convenient and yet I can't help but wonder sometimes, is all this tech dumbing us down? Are people going to change their behaviors in the real world based on behavioral habits they develop online? If that happens it will be a mass dumbing down, the kind that Christians will see as a sign of the "end of days." A world where humans have forgotten how to be humane. A different sort of zombie apocalypse with all the classic symptoms of the real thing.
It's easy to feel like we know more because we have access to more information than ever before but being able to Google something doesn’t make us smarter, it just makes us better typists and just because we feel smarter doesn't mean it has to manifest as being a smartass. It doesn't help that there is more mis-information than information out there and that is only going to get worse too. I guess I’m torn, I love technology but it’s a little daunting. What will the cost be in the long run? New tech is coming out so fast it’s like a whirlwind we only imagine we are keeping up with.
I like to question things and often the internet is where I look for answers, with scrutiny of course. I don't look at the issue of tech as a one way or the other thing. I am not anti-tech, that would be like being anti-hammer and nails. I have my own devices and I like my tech. These devices are useful and come in very handy. They make a lot of things more convenient and yet I can't help but wonder sometimes, is all this tech dumbing us down? Are people going to change their behaviors in the real world based on behavioral habits they develop online? If that happens it will be a mass dumbing down, the kind that Christians will see as a sign of the "end of days." A world where humans have forgotten how to be humane. A different sort of zombie apocalypse with all the classic symptoms of the real thing.
It's easy to feel like we know more because we have access to more information than ever before but being able to Google something doesn’t make us smarter, it just makes us better typists and just because we feel smarter doesn't mean it has to manifest as being a smartass. It doesn't help that there is more mis-information than information out there and that is only going to get worse too. I guess I’m torn, I love technology but it’s a little daunting. What will the cost be in the long run? New tech is coming out so fast it’s like a whirlwind we only imagine we are keeping up with.