The Internet: Are we being foolish with our lives?

Ah, the simple life. A happier time. A less  stressful time. Yet it is an almost mythical time to the youth of today, thanks in large part to the birth of the Digital Age.

The Internet is undoubtedly the backbone of modern society. It provides an outlet for modern society to feed on mammoth amounts of information. It provides a platform for society to communicate with each other on a global scale, through the wonders of the Internet and video conferencing. It takes the hassle out of everyday chores, such as grocery shopping by allowing the consumer to shop from the comfort of their own home.

However, in a recent Times article published in July 2008, journalist Bryan Appleyard grapples with the idea that these oceans of information we are currently navigating is slowly killing our concentration.

Entitled “Stoooopid… why the Google generation isn’t as smart as it thinks”, this article examines the ‘harassment of man by self-inflicted technology.’ Appleyard explains that although it seems that marvels such as the Internet has benefited society in unfathomable ways, society is in fact forfeiting their ability to concentrate in the process.

Appleyard confers with several experts in this article, including David Meyer, professor of psychology at the University of Michigan. According to Meyer,

“there is evidence that people in chronically distracted jobs are, in early middle age, appearing with the same symptoms of burn-out as air traffic controllers. They might have stress-related diseases, even irreversible brain damage.”

Meyer also touches on the area of distraction whilst driving, particularly in the use of mobile phones even with the use of a hands free kit. He explains that you listen to language on the phone and lose the ability to take in the language of road signs, which can inevitable end in tragedy.

On a final note, Appleyard examines the effect that this situation will have on areas such as politics and communication between the species. If today’s youth become frivolous when it comes to human relationships, or simply skims through a political party’s policy, ‘to get the jist‘ what hope has the future of modern society.

It seems as if life will always be a quest that greener grass, but I will leave you with a quote from American author, Edward O. Wilson that encapsulates modern society “We are drowning in knowledge, yet starving or wisdom.”