Imagine All the People
The internet and a revolution of feelings
(original image with Bing Image Creator)
(All information here comes from my own knowledge as a longtime collegiate History teacher.)
We are too busy to stop and have a proper lunch, or to speak to the neighbor, and so forth, so taking time to consider a historical perspective is too much to ask. Even so, that is what I am about to do, hoping to let in a little light into what can seem a dark, distracted world.
Have you ever heard someone say these days we live in are unlike any in recorded time? It is true.
Sure, every period is unique to some extent. This era, whatever it might be called some day, is remarkable most of all because of the incomparable internet.
Enough time has passed, because in History we like to have many, many years of hindsight to begin to analyze something without any reservations. I was part of the last generation to grow up without the online world, and I am among the millions who were the first to have the internet fully integrated in our daily consciousness.
But, this story is not about the internet. Not really.
It appears to me that the ages-old problems between human beings, based on selfishness, disagreements, politics, intolerance, ignorance, and so much else, has not significantly improved with the times.
The online environment has been called toxic too often to take notice.
In fact, I hear over and over, from people I meet and those I know due to their typed words, that hard feelings and disagreeableness are more prominent now than before. That is very debatable, but that is not the point.
In the internet age, human beings have not changed at all and maybe are worse than during any previous time. This is what I must conclude, anyway.
All of this combined together suggests a (at least one) question: why have we not gotten better at, you know, not hating each other? In these extraordinary days, why are people behaving as badly as ever?
Going back to the beginning of the twentieth century, really smart people were predicting that greater technology would mean more prosperity — and this would lower crime and usher in a more peaceful age.
That has been proven wrong, but Western Civilization has tended to be hopeful about the future. Yet, I find less hope when I listen to the voices of the present.
We must stop and think about History. Moreover, much like parents tell children, and teachers tell students, let us admonish ourselves to think about (and appreciate)the advantages and possibilities of living in the now. It is time to be thankful.
Yes, there is that guy who was once president, who now wants to be president again, and is facing some legal troubles. I heard something about that. Put that aside and forget about political parties altogether.
Parties are not organic. We are not defined by any grouping beyond the human one. Nothing other people do limits us unless we allow it.
I want you and me to think differently and narrow our focus to the thing that marks us as distinctive — the internet — and ponder why it has not led to a great revolution of feelings. Why are people not more soulful in the very best of ways, and why aren’t folks more understanding and tolerant?
Do not answer that, because it is not a question. That leads to more of the same old squabbling.
You should think and realize there has been no greater agent of change (measured by potential) like the internet, in the history of the world. Let that sink in and marinate for a while.
It is useful to imagine wars and all sorts of past events as if these things took place with the internet in full effect. How would History have changed? I propose this supposition in order to highlight the possible impact of the internet for us now.
The number one reason for wars and other mass tragedies in History, in my opinion, is misunderstanding and blaming “the Other.” As you may know, the Other symbolizes the opposite values and culture of any place, race, region, and etc.
We define ourselves by who we are not, and those folks are considered less-than by members of the nation, kingdom, or whomever, who are doing the Othering.
Religious wars come to mind such as Catholics vs. Protestants, Christians vs. Muslims, and all the rest. The late-medieval and early-modern wars mostly happened due to religious intrigue. A profound cause of hate, and an undeniable reason for war, has been ignorance about another group of people supposedly inferior and probably evil.
What if the leaders and participants of conflicts could have Googled the other side’s beliefs and practices? What if people from different religions could have talked to one another online, back then? What if various peoples found out the scary Other was simply another set of human beings who shared most things in common?
I am risking that someone might call all that silly. Well, that is fine. My point is not silly, at all.
And that point is that we have this unbelievable apparatus we take for granted, and it provides every opportunity for sharing and civility that all older generations lacked.
Wait, because I want you to stop again. Hold back that thought from entering the door of your mind. Yes, that one.
Now is not the time to compare the plusses and minuses of the internet’s role in society. We shall not judge in that way, as that is not part of the message here.
The internet is a revolution that was not revolutionary in the ways that count more than anything. Still, we are greatly blessed to be alive now, and we live each day with the promise of worldwide changes.
People tend to speak of the internet these days with an emphasis on how divisive it is, the ridiculous conspiracy theories, and various stupid things that happen on social media.
All that I’m saying is stop and smell the flowers, stall the negativity for a bit, and consider the unlimited good works that could exist, due to this wonderous thing called the internet.
There is some great value in merely concentrating on that bridge to each other rather than whatever else about the online experience.
I now hope to leave you with contemplations of a revolution of feelings gently in your thoughts, without any other unnecessary ones. Sure, I am a certified, life-long dreamer, but I’m not the only one…
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Loved this!!