07-23-2004, 11:13 PM
It really becomes a question of what you expect information to look like.
Here, first off, how many people do you think you've educated Pete? Online, or offline? One way or another, interaction is one of the primary educating factors in a person's life, and through the internet, you're able to interact with many more people than you would otherwise. Though it's not a hard rule to go by, intelligent people are the ones who are usually learnt from. Ignorance spreads, of course. But do you know more by the interactions you've had on the internet? Probably yes. And a lot of it, through the filter of common sense and checking other sources, is probably pretty close to true.
Secondly, the primary crutch of the Internet and the Information superhighway is the fact that it's run by people. People are a lot of things, but the real defining point is that they're all different. Some websites are well organised and educating, some are crass, commercial outlets. Some are bizarre, poorly designed, blobs of information presented in the same way you'd eat if the buffet restaurant exploded. The problem here is that the Internet looks exactly like it would if every person out there in every city built their own business from the ground up, their own roads, gave their own directions and presented their own ideas. Imagine a city where every 15 year old built his own house, showed you pictures of his life and presented you with ideas about all the bizzare thoughts in his head.
Those two factors go together to form the internet : Information through interaction and infinite ability to express and create interaction. With that in mind, I'm not really all too surprised that as the internet is pushed and changed by the rapidly expanding user base into something that reflects them. Of course, that doesn't mean it's a hellish wasteland. It's like everything else within humanity, though.
I'd still say I've learnt a great deal from the internet. I'm well suited to using it, mind you, but regardless I think I get just as much out of it as I did almost ten years ago. It's changing into more of a human place, but that was always going to be the end result.
On a side note, I like to think of myself as a realist.
Here, first off, how many people do you think you've educated Pete? Online, or offline? One way or another, interaction is one of the primary educating factors in a person's life, and through the internet, you're able to interact with many more people than you would otherwise. Though it's not a hard rule to go by, intelligent people are the ones who are usually learnt from. Ignorance spreads, of course. But do you know more by the interactions you've had on the internet? Probably yes. And a lot of it, through the filter of common sense and checking other sources, is probably pretty close to true.
Secondly, the primary crutch of the Internet and the Information superhighway is the fact that it's run by people. People are a lot of things, but the real defining point is that they're all different. Some websites are well organised and educating, some are crass, commercial outlets. Some are bizarre, poorly designed, blobs of information presented in the same way you'd eat if the buffet restaurant exploded. The problem here is that the Internet looks exactly like it would if every person out there in every city built their own business from the ground up, their own roads, gave their own directions and presented their own ideas. Imagine a city where every 15 year old built his own house, showed you pictures of his life and presented you with ideas about all the bizzare thoughts in his head.
Those two factors go together to form the internet : Information through interaction and infinite ability to express and create interaction. With that in mind, I'm not really all too surprised that as the internet is pushed and changed by the rapidly expanding user base into something that reflects them. Of course, that doesn't mean it's a hellish wasteland. It's like everything else within humanity, though.
I'd still say I've learnt a great deal from the internet. I'm well suited to using it, mind you, but regardless I think I get just as much out of it as I did almost ten years ago. It's changing into more of a human place, but that was always going to be the end result.
On a side note, I like to think of myself as a realist.
My other mount is a Spiderdrake