I don’t know how many times I have heard people ask, “Remember when people weren’t always on the internet– remember when people read books? Remember when people used to talk to each other?”
And aside from the fact that the Bible says, “Don’t always be asking, ‘Where are the good old days?’ Wise folks don’t ask questions like that.”— the truth is that people used to ask that same question about the internet but about books.
In this Adam Ruins Everything video, he shares Why the Internet is Good for Society, the ending thought being that “Humans are the same as always, except now we have instant access to all knowledge and communication”.
[Video via YouTube]
The internet and its instant access to all knowledge and communication is a gift but I will add that as Christians we can and should use the internet, well, as Jesus would– because, like Adam even said, “Humans are the same as always.”
Bryan Chalker says
“Humans are the same as always, except now we have instant access to all knowledge and communication”…yes. Somewhat.
That assumes “all knowledge” is truth. It’s not. This leads to the trolling and venom spit out on Youtube comments, forums, Twitter, etc. It also doesn’t address the fact that so much learning in history came from the actual conversation(s) people have had over time. Discussions online are not the “immediate, two-way, watching body language, interpreting sarcasm, etc.”- type we have with live interaction.
To further muddy things is the push my some, to ban opposition views all over the web. This reduces – drastically – the conversational and learning aspect of the interactions.
Just wanted to give a slight counter to his perspective.
Allison Dye says
Hey Bryan! Thanks for opening up this discussion!
Not all knowledge is the truth, you are indeed correct, but knowledge has more than one meaning, and here I feel it was used in a general sense. It is up to each and every individual to decide what knowledge is truth and what is not.
I would not say that this post or video was by any means a complete representation of Social Media, nor does it explain in detail my own opinions on the subject. I find that a lot of times Social Media and the internet are often displayed in a negative light, and I found this positive perspective to be a good reminder of what the internet can be and what we can even make it be. While Social Media is indeed, an amazing means of communication, I would call it an additional means of communication because it should not and does not in any way replace face-to-face human interaction.
Anne@CMM World says
Thanks Allyson for sharing. We’ve been into mission and Internet is really helpful indeed. We can easily access and communicate people who wants to donate and also people who are in need .