Is that a pessimistic title? I’m not sure Neil Postmann or Marshall McLuhan would phrase it this way. Instead, they’d ask, “Where will we take this thing — this medium that is changing our lives in unforeseen ways?”
I’m talking, of course, of…
TED. YouTube. Skype. Twitter. Flickr. G-Chat.
In some, the Internet.
All are terms that invite humans from across the globe to share in communicative events. We live in an ever-changing world with ever-changing technologies. How will we respond? I’m excited (but not in a hurry) to find out.
I play this game with my friends where I’ll take a mental snapshot of the moment and try to think, “How would I explain this to an alien? What the hell would they think of us!?” All alien attributes/mental capacities aside, we try to explain what it is we’re doing, how we got this way, and what it says about us as human beings. I think it’s a great exercise to evaluate our current values based upon how we’ve been historically.
I’m thinking about this right now as I watch this Internet video titled ‘Eric Whitacre: A virtual choir 2,000 voices strong’. This composer found inspiration in a young girl’s single note posted on YouTube. He hosted tryouts online and assembled a number of video compilations of the two thousand singers who best fit his vision. The music sounds magnificent and the visual aspect of the video captures the idea of what it means to work together in this universal achievement. It’s an incredible look at how we can spread information and share in events from across the globe (if you have Internet access).
I mentioned earlier that I’m excited yet not in a rush to find out about how the Internet phenomenon will affect us. I previously wrote an article about how multi-tasking is having detrimental effects on our brain’s ability to concentrate on processes like reading, writing, socially interacting, and deep thinking overall. From watching this video, though, I am interested in what it says about humans that humans are able to connect in many parts of the world.
The thing is, though, that not everyone is able to participate. It’s a costly affair, this Internet setup business. Not every society has the capability to create strong broadband areas whether it’s due to insufficient capital, geologic impediments, or some other reason. Individuals often can not manage Internet use for the same reasons, which creates micro-imbalances in how members of societies function. For example, think about how different your experience would be if you did not have Internet access as a student at the University of Illinois. We use the Internet for classes, making plans with friends, playing games, and reading the news (like right now!)
Not only that, but look at those societies who have not allowed the Internet to become engrained into their lives. I’m not even talking about Communist states who regulate everything that’s said over any medium. I’m referring instead to more environmentally-dependent cultures such as African plains tribes, jungle societies, mountain-dwellers, and anyone else who may rely upon more traditional hunter-gatherer survival strategies. What a difference there is between wired people (like you and me) and wild people (like many of the cultures in the Human Planet series). We’re of the same species, so of course it’s very different from the alien-game example of anthropology, but imagine what it would be like for a previously uncontacted African tribe to be thrown into your lifestyle. Wild, right?
A.M.Roth 