Twisted Web

The Internet might possibly be the most important development of modern technology. I spend so much time using it each day. Even on day when I want to “unplug.” Currently, I am doing that to write. Still, the World Wide Web supplies me with the music that inspires my pen to keep moving across the page. It is an interesting paradox of The Net. It connects us to one another. Like loved ones when we can’t see one another because of a global pandemic. What a joy to still be able to attend people’s weddings or birthday parties, simply by logging into Zoom. On the flip side, the Apps remind you of your chronic singleness on Valentine’s Day or Christmas, when every post is rose petals this, matching pajamas that. A real oxymoron.

We have the chance to learn almost anything we want. See documentaries. Study history. The real history, not the slanted, whitewashed version that we’ve been taught in schools. We could learn a brand new skill and get real-time feedback on our development. We could make friends with someone three continents away through the Interwebs. And still, we all visit the same 5 to 10 websites of our choosing every day. Sure the content varies some, but the URL remains the same. The Internet is opening our world to new ideas and shutting it by weaponizing ignorance on the same vehicle. How do we account for the echo chambers we all live in? How do we get new information? And how often does that alternative perspective change our minds?

The Net is the giant mechanism that catches everything and then by the powers that be shuffles those ideas to their respective avenues. When you think about it, in some ways, we really live in the dark, dystopian future that all those George Orwell and Ayn Rand books warned us about. We are should be free to pick our own digital landscape, nevertheless, we tend to go more left or right given our views. It is so peculiar. And Big Brother is always watching. Real life sci-fi shit that lives in our pockets, powers our favorite television shows, and shows us who’s at our front door without getting off the couch. Devices constantly saving our passwords and monitoring our usage patterns to sell us something we don’t need. And something is always listening, always suggesting, always learning. But what do we learn? Are we better for using these “smart devices”? Or is it really the progression of the Matrix, as we see less and less separation from a curated online world and the tangible world around us?

We already bring the Internet to our brunches, vacations, birthday parties, and for the less sensitive, our loved ones’ funerals. However, what does it cost us to participate in this exchange online? Are we more compassionate because we recognize everyone goes through hardship? Or are we less empathetic because we have grown desensitized by it all? Instead of seeing the humanity in others we see distant figures we observe in our digital zoo. We are not bothered by people’s pain because global famine is too commonplace. We see swollen bellies and the ravages of war in these virtual spaces so often that we do not think them real anymore. We are so far removed from the tsunamis and hurricanes that devastate certain countries and regions every year. We have become so complacent we don’t even click the crowdfunding link anymore. It’s all a big scam anyway, right? That one activist guy doesn’t even give the money to the families he says he does, so why waste my time. We are not moved by others’ low points anymore, because that doesn’t align with our desire for endorphins. Besides, they are just doing that for attention. Depression and suicide rates up by 500% but no real correlation to our daily scroll. What does it cost us to do this dance endlessly? Is there a better way?