The internet is going to be a whipping boy -not because it is inherently evil, but because it provides such an anonymous place, stripped not just of those physical accoutrements mentioned by Delbert but of responsibility (at least temporarily)for one's words and actions. There is a great deal of freedom here that one doesn't find in everyday discourse. Of course, nice people will probably remain nice, but what a playground for the aberrant personality who is held weakly in check by the veneer of social mores. Haven't you met people who seem to be attached only loosely to reality anyway? Most of us have the ability to differentiate-(after that party at your house, I certainly hope so)but even "normal" people can get confused at times.
What the internet provides (and is this the scary part?)is a readily available place for people with matching needs to find each other. This ranges from the inocuous sharing of stock information to the exchange of ideas to the alleviation of loneliness to the need to kill and be killed. It is only another medium for people to meet their needs-didn't we several months ago talk about needs?
People will blame the net because they can't stand to admit their own weakness or culpability. This "passing the buck" is prevalent in today's world (look at the ridiculous defenses put up in courtrooms) although it's nothing new-we have always placed responsibility anywhere but at our own feet. We blame the moon (thus the word-lunacy), we blame the gods, -we blame it on TV violence, we blame it on sugar in the Twinkies. However, as Caesar put it,
"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in the stars, but in ourselves!"
Darn, I meant to write about the net being just a different form of letter writing and compare it to friendships made or cemented in times past by correspondence-like Jefferson and Adams- but I got sidetracked. Personal responsibility is one of my pet themes. Hey, JFreddy, I'll bet that shows up somewhere in all that Socratic stuff you have me plowing through!
Have a wonderful All-Saints' Day, everyone!
penni |
