Could the greater portion of the internet be operating like
a fast food restaurant? Offering quick, tasty bites of data and entertainment
that really ends up providing nothing beneficial to the brain?...no insight, no
thought provocation, no improvement in mental acuity?
Could the presence of the internet be rewiring the circuitry
of human brains to want to jump around from one piece of information to the
next? The internet may be making it more difficult for the average brain to
focus on any particular topic for a protracted interval of time. No one can say
whether the human brain has evolved to deal with this constant, instantaneous
access to information and entertainment. Are more and more individuals
disengaging from reading lengthy books to instead jump from site to site on the
internet?
I think that some brains may be more equipped to handle the
presence of the internet than others. People who naturally have the ability to
be disciplined and delay gratification, individuals who tend to not procrastinate
in their projects and pursuits and don’t jump down rabbit trails of inanity
(web surfing) will be more able to use the internet in a beneficial manner
(that is, use it in ways that help them achieve their goals).
The internet may be acting as a giant selecting mechanism
that hinders many individuals (that already have an innate tendency to be more impulsive or have a decreased attention span) from completing their life’s goals. How could it
do this? Perhaps it is sucking copious quantities of time from such a
person—time that could have been spent exploring more innovative and creative
pursuits, inventing something or exercising.
On the contrary, the internet offers many individuals an
enhanced means to be creative and explore opportunities that would have been
inaccessible to them otherwise. The
internet allows many to make a passive income which aids their survival.
Perhaps, without the internet to diminish the sense of boredom, some
individuals would be off pillaging, raping, watching reality television shows, or going to church.
The internet is still a very new phenomenon in human
history. It will help many and hurt many. Like the technology of genetically
modified organisms, the internet is a technology—a tool—that can be used for
good and bad purposes.
