The computer revolution has been the fastest growing
technology in human history and is clearly here to stay.
A major tipping point was reached in the winter of 2016 when
calculations revealed that we spend more time in cyberspace—the space in which computer transactions occur— than in terrestrial space. That’s a troubling development,
because, while we’ve never been
more connected to people and
information, the computer isn’t a substitute for human interaction and general
fact-finding.
In cyberspace, we shop, date, make friends, study, teach,
communicate, get the news, sell our services and ideas.Information that had been available to a few is now widely accessible. I like to call it the democratization
of information.
I personally have benefitted from blogging. The immediacy of
research and free publishing and reaching you, an audience, who responds, has
been gratifying. The process of writing in itself is a learning experience. (One
of my writing teachers, William Zinsser, wrote an entire book titled Writing to
Learn.)
But cyberspace is also a free-for-all: “We’re all connected but no one’s in
charge,” Thomas L. Friedman writes in The New York Times. “There are no
stoplights... no police officers ...no courts, no judges, no God.”
Computers and the Internet have necessitated reorganizing the
way we think. Instead of struggling to obtain information, we now have to sort
through a superabundance of data and to question its accuracy, to ask
continuously what is real, what is fake. The potential for hacking undermines
our basic trust in computers and political systems.
Opinions can be communicated in an instant and travel around
the world. We can’t easily determine the results and continue to learn about
the impact of a tweeting president. In addition,
contrary to an assumption, the younger generation is
not better at sorting truth from fiction, or deciphering facts from ads.
Communication in cyberspace may give the illusion of genuine
relatedness. In reality some of my patients participate in cyberspace, but
continue to complain of isolation and alienation.
Recognizing our over-reliance on our gadgets, some cafes,
inundated with computers and people quibbling over inadequate internet service,
have banned computer use for periods of time during the day to allow time and
space for “real” conversations.
Conclusion: As
we benefit from the internet, we need to stand up against its abuse and to recognize
that it doesn’t replace human relationships.
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