There was a time when it was really hard to get information. The only information you could get was basically what you had at home, either from books or magazines that your parents or siblings would provide. Of course there was the library, in which you would have to hunt for books. As a kid growing up, while I hated school and schoolwork in general, I loved knowledge and general knowledge. I was fortunate enough to have parents who did invest in encyclopedias and books. I remember as a kid, one of my favourite books was the children’s encyclopedia. This children’s book was divided into “easy to read” volumes and I remember countries and cities as well as people were my favourites.
Today things have changed. I wrote awhile back about how the internet has levelled the playing field at the competition. And that is certainly true. The internet has changed how we consume data as a society. Instant access to information has led to to instant gratification. (which sometimes I have wondered whether the rigour of research and the quality of research has been compromised at the expense of instant information?)
And yet the internet is probably the most impactful invention ever made in the history of mankind. Forget writing, forget the wheel, forget even the space missions, in my mind I truly believe the “one thing” that has changed our world today is definitely the internet. The internet has not only made information accessible and available, it has made information rich and rewarding. While there have been many vices because of the internet, the internet has also opened up many new avenues and worlds to curious and eager-to-learn people like me. There was a time in the late 90s and early 2000s where to learn what happened in the other side of the world, one would have to wait to read about it until the next day. Only the very few privileged people who had cable television and CNN in their homes were able to get “instant information” but for the rest of us, it was a 1-2 days wait. I still remember how when 9/11 struck, being an American University Program student, I was eager to talk about it to my college mates the next day. However it was surprising that very few people at college knew what had happened the next day. It was only about 2 days later that people were talking about it.
Another story I recall fondly was how I was preparing to go to Canada to study and like any eager teenager, I was keen to know what to expect in a foreign country. The only source of information I could obtain was from my parent’s 1978 encyclopedia on Canada and some scarcely available brochures which university reps had provided to my college. I remember I was so desperate to know and learn about the canadian culture back then that I would go on MIRC chatgroups and Yahoo Chatgroups to meet up with strangers from the “distant-land” and learn a little bit about what was going on over there. I remember I would patiently wait for Discovery Channel to show documentaries on Canada, hoping, just hoping there would be a documentary on Niagara Falls, or the Canadian Prairies. I would stay up late nights as well to study maps of Canada, to learn the major cities and the provinces and imagine myself being there. I would stick my hand in the freezer of our refrigerator at home and imagine that this would be the same tempreture during the winter.
Today, with youtube, you can easily search for Windsor, Ontario (the place where I was at) and just soak in the video content and get a feel of the city by watching the videos. You can look up wikipedia on Windsor, Ontario to not only learn its history, but also the Assumption Parish church (where I attended mass) and the alumni from the University of Windsor (where I studied). Oh and if you wanna learn about a place, there’s always Google Earth.
By the time I graduated from university, youtube and wikipedia were just starting out. Google Earth would start a year later after I graduated.
And the internet remarkably has not stopped there. With the advent of smartphones in the late 2000s, the internet suddenly became even more accessible. We suddenly have the “world” in our pockets. Apps designed to complement our phones and provide us with even richer portable information has become a staple information consumption diet of ours. I myself personally use Google News for my information consumption.
And yet, despite all this technological marvel, I have found society to be more ignorant. Not just ignorant of current affairs and matters of the day, but ignorant to those around them. We choose to follow friends we like and thanks to Facebook, we can indulge more in ourselves. Hedonistic behaviours are in an all time high in today’s society.. We have substitute picking up the phone and calling a friend with thumbs up likes. I remember back in the early 2000s, I would get and I would send e-greeting cards to my friends for birthdays and christmas wishes. Today, its just replaced with a “happy birthday bro” line on my Facebook timeline. Sometimes there’s not even a “bro” at the end of the sentence.
Yes the internet has revolutionized the way we live. I will give you that. But for better or worse? That I am still not sure and the jury’s still out there for this one.
