The internet was supposed to make us smarter. Google thinks that’s one of Alphabets main jobs, or they advertise themselves as Information Providers anyway. It’s not working. We are either getting righteously naive or socially inept, or both.
Way back in the early 2000’s, at the peak of my world wide connected optimism about this new democratic, humanitarian, freedom of information age, I taught my toddler how to ‘surf’ and ‘use a mouse’-now that terminology even dates him. On a positive note, he actually did turn out to be really smart. That may be because the chicken came before Google or if you asked the nurses at the hippie hospital he was born in, they would say it was the breastfeeding-but I have proof that’s not it. And that is just it-yes, I said it’s not it, but it is. The amount of misinformation that lingers and spreads, the lies that are let live-it’s not any better with the internet-or smart phones. Proof? Ok, my daughter. As though needed more to be said, still, I will expound slightly. She is a straight A student, a92nd nothing short of a witty confident budding genius. And yes, I know this. She was not breast fed either. She’s trying to learn guitar right now, but You Tube isn’t helping and she wants lessons-with a human.
I used to think smartphones would save relationships, prevent a ton of arguments and in general be little portable pocket purveyors of truth. Again, I was wrong.
Simply the ability to “look it up” anywhere anytime and see who is ‘right’-and GPS-fah-getta-bout-it!I thought there would be no more arguing over asking for directions like my grandparents used to do. Wrong. My grandparents were also married for 60+ years unlike most marriages today which makes you wonder...
If course people still argue today. I would assert even more so. There is simply more in your face that has a chance of being offensive to someone in some way. They used to say in radio-if you don’t like it change the channel-but people log into social media every day looking for a good old fight. They may not say they are, and do not accuse them (of anything)-dems fightin’ words, but what fun is a world where everyone agrees? Even on issues like cats versus dogs. Utopia? I think not. Serious folks, social media is a schizophrenics salon, a peeping tom’s paradise and apparently turning into an arguing arena behind anonymous avatars especially. There is just a lack of accountability. And an overwhelming wealth of opinion decorated with links as fact and much too much misinformation. It reminds me of how much I miss Umberto Eco-or how we need a new version of him to collect and poke through and archive safetly all the digital erroneous information we have amassed in the ‘clouds’. Just the other day a relative shared that Betty White had passed away. I’d seen that one before-she’s not dead, but my dear gullible kin nearly died of embarrassment. Jumping on guns (or first to share), or erratic ‘Enter’ -ing can be dangerous. That same day, another person I know shared a meme with some ‘fact’ about methane and seaweed farms- asserting that the world could be saved via this simple non-invasive marine methodological ‘science’-hmmpph! Hogwash. People should do their research or not claim to ‘know’ or share poor information. Sure, with the advent of Photoshop we have all slowly turned into skeptics, not to mention how many space trolls are fans of CGI, its underwhelming for intelligence on this planet! We get tricked all the time. We also react too quickly.
Today marks the 15th year since my grandfather, a veteran passed away. We were very close, he was my first death, I lost part of me that I’ve been re-growing ever since. He and I did not agree on a lot of things. As I grew older we had many debates and long discussions to which I still think about-especially today. Despite how passionate we were about our opinions, we respected each other first and a difference of opinion second and third, and equally important, we saw these conversations as progress, a chance to see the other side. This respect was once found even on the street everywhere in nearly every age-and not just between loving family members. The ability to have a respectful discourse is a thing of the past. Everyone’s opinion is supported by science-news-research-advertising-wait-where’s truth? Perhaps that’s seeping through the hole in the ozone. Honestly, citizen scientists and professed ‘ecologists’ are opinionologists and moralologists who look in only one direction, the one that supports what they wish to find or show. Following science, taking in validated information, enjoying the liberal wealth of good writing, photography, art, and celebrating humanity are wonderful benefits of the most innovative internet tool mankind has put together yet. My grandfather would be in awe but likewise used to say, “A tool is only as good as the hands that use it”.
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