We as people are constantly striving for change, yet deathly terrified of abandoning tradition. You see this over and over again, right? We get a "new thing" as a society, let's call it ARPANET, and then as soon as the wonder of the product wears off, we figure out how it will precisely poison our minds and wreck society as we know it. ARPAnet was originally created as a military, and in rare cases an educational, tool for communication easy communication. It would let messages be sent quicker that someone could make a phone call, get transferred, wait on hold, and eventually talk to the U.S. General of Defense (or whoever they needed to get into contact with). Once that use became commercial, people flocked to it, and eventually computer-internet use became a prevalent part of modern day technology and communication. Until we started worrying it was melting our brains.
"Many teenage girls hang over this pestiferous reading, from morning to night, to the neglect of their schoolwork and their mental health." --written in the 1700's
Below is a photo capturing the essence of the Musical Defense League, a group who thought that "canned music" (or pre-recorded music) would be the downfall of modern symphony. People would lose their understanding and appreciation for live music if this drivel was readily at their fingertips. Does this sound familiar?
Here is a list of all the technologies we saw as hurting our children, and subsequently, their development:
- Recorded Music
- Television
- Radio Loud Speakers
- Newspapers
- Telephones (landlines)
- Reading Novels
- Bicycles (specifically women)
- Writing (!!!)
- Ballpoint pens
- Erasers
- Pocket Calculators
- Chess
Last time I checked, chess and novel-reading was standard intellectual exercise. Our response of fear to the internet is standard. It's natural. It's what we almost always do when someone gives us a tool that will make creation easier. This response is knee-jerk, but I promise that the internet is
