Discuss the rise of the
Internet with reference to cultural contexts and technological Developments
Sir
Timothy John Berners-Lee is the father of the Internet, and was named in ‘Time
Magazines’ Most Important People of the 20th Century. In Stephen
Frys’ opinion this man should be thanked on a daily basis and showered with
gifts. The Internet is non-profitable, but of course money can be made through
using it as an incredibly far reaching and powerful resource. Sir Tim receives
no direct profit from his incredible invention, considering how hard it is to
imagine life without it. The Internet belongs to the people, every single
person controls the direction of its future as it shapes and changes our
thoughts, social interaction and culture. Internet giants such as Facebook and
Wikipedia completely revolutionise the way we share and obtain information, but
are we, as humans, equipped to handle all this change presented to us, which
continues to grow more and more vast in reach and complexity?
The
Internet has moved the human race into a Digital age, an age of endless free
information and resources. The main ‘resources’ used by the human race however
are social websites such as Facebook, and you don’t have to be the luckiest
person in the world to stumble upon a porn site or some form of explicit
content these days. From this alone we can conclude that we use the Internet to
fulfil our needs, such as basic needs of interaction, sexual satisfaction etc.
and use content to form our opinions and morals. According to Abraham Maslow
and his psychological theory ‘Maslow’s hierarchy of needs’, our physiological
need (the most fundamental, ‘needs’ category) is ‘sex’, and all that comes into
the reproduction category. (Google Images ‘Maslows hierarchy of needs’)
According
to the Hyper-reality theory we, on some level, cannot distinguish between
physical interaction and digital interaction such as text messaging (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-hyperreality.htm).
We are after all just advanced animals, however we cannot ever escape our
animal instincts and needs, so we gain satisfaction through virtual stimuli. It
is because of Hyper-reality that films cause us to engage emotionally. On some
level we believe what we are experiencing through sight is actually happening
because our brains are not made to deal with such things such as 2D picture
sceens. Let’s not forget that when we were a young species we lived in caves
and hunted for our food in small groups. This does raise the question of what
the future will hold if the world continues to be more and more virtual. We may
completely forget how to deal with the physical world of life because it
becomes no longer necessary. Will society simply fall apart for the easier,
more entertaining virtual world?
This
in some cases has already begun, when people prefer a artificial world to their
own lives. ‘Second Life’ (http://secondlife.com/) is a virtual social world in
which avatars can socialise and basically simulate life in a digital game-world
without the usual linear goals of a game. Here someone can live out their
fantasy life (at a cost) to satisfy his or her needs like a compulsion. ‘Net
Compulsions’ is a term used to describe the gained satisfaction and escape
achieved though the net by doing things that, if done in the real world, may be
considered ‘wrong’ such as gambling. Carrying out whatever it is without
leaving your home gains a quite personal satisfaction and can be an
overwhelming addictive sensation. Because for example you could type in ‘naked
woman’ and see a picture of a naked woman easily with little-to no effort on
your part, whereas it would probably take a lot more effort to achieve the same
satisfaction in a real world scenario without something as simple as an
internet search. People who invest in ‘Second Life’ can experience an emotion
they perceive to be love through meeting and forming virtual relationships with
avatars. It is even possible to make avatars have sexual intercourse. This
personal, non-physical manifestation of their personality can be customised to
become who the player wants to be, and so may become immersed in ‘Second Life’
because they may feel cheated that their real life isn’t perfect or how they
want it to be. I watched a documentary about this a while ago, but found it
very uncomfortable to watch, and it is hard to describe why exactly. The woman
being interviewed seemed as if her mind was in the game, and was uninterested
in the real world, and she talked fondly of her relationship she had made
through ‘Second Life’, although I find this wrong in the sense it is all a fake
world and someone is gaining profit from almost brainwashing unhappy people, I
suppose it brought her happiness, but it in no way improves her progress in
real life.
A
new technology threatens to make our lives infinitely more interactive and
merge the virtual world with the physical world. 6th sense
technology makes it possible to scan real world objects such as books and match
them with digital counterparts, it can then beam though a projection, which can
include reviews of that object, information about it and more. Also you can
beam a numeric dial pad onto your hand and make a phone call by pressing the
projected light buttons. In essence the technology takes a physical PC monitor
out of the equation, so the digital world is no longer limited to screens but
laid over the real world, truly interactive. If this technology is released,
the Internet will be inescapable. Some may see this as a good thing, some may
consider it a bad thing, but will we be able to adapt our lives to an even more
virtual world? Will we for example be able to soon create our own personal
virtual perfect worlds, and when you have your own perfect world why would you
choose to invest in the real one?
Bibliography
Most
of the information in this essay can be found on my blog -http://picturesandstuffjoeproject.blogspot.com/
Paragraph
Topics
Pg
1- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Berners-Lee
Pg
3-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperreality
Pg
4-http://secondlife.com/ - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Life
Pg
5-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM1AUUkXK_c&feature=player_embedded
No comments:
Post a Comment