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Web-Damaged? “Worries about the damage the Internet may be doing to young people has produced a mountain of books—a suitably old technology in which to express concerns about the new. Robert Bly claims that, thanks to the Internet, the ‘neo-cortex is finally eating itself.’ Today’s youth may be web-savvy, but they also stand accused of being unread, bad at communicating, socially inept, shameless, dishonest, work-shy, narcissistic and indifferent to the needs of others.”
—The Economist, 2008 (Thanks to alert WORDster Adam Ward)
Today in History
2007: NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak arrived for bizarre plot to kidnap rival in love triangle; 2003: Colin Powell urges United Nations to move against Iraq’s WMD; 1994: White supremacist Byron de la Beckwith convicted of murdering Medgar Evers in 1961; 1989: Last Soviet troops leave Kabul; 1988: Manuel Noriega indicted on U.S. drug charges; 1952: First Walk/Don’t Walk sign; 1878: Birth of Citroen; 1783: Earthquake flattens southern Italy
(See History.com.)
Methinks Bly doth protest too much. (Remember that Plato thought writing would lead to a decrease in memory.) There are probably both good and bad results from using the internet. As for "indifferent to the needs of others," I've found that I keep up with needs much better using email than using letters or telephone. (Admittedly, I'm not a young person....still.....)
ReplyDeleteSally
Sally:
ReplyDeleteI agree. Bly always did/does protesteth too much... While, too, attend much more to others with the Internet than I would otherwise (this email as an example), as a university professor I can attest that *some* students over the years have, indeed, become appreciably less polite and socially ept. I have also witnesses a decline in literacy (of various kinds) and, ironically, no obvious increase in general knowledge or, certainly, wisdom and insight.
Ted
I dont know if we do attend to the needs of others more with the internet...
ReplyDeleteI think we have access to each other more, but that access is short, sharp, truncated...it takes time and effort and face-to-face presence to really attend to the needs of others... I think its easier to do the cat's 'lick and promise' and call that maintaining relationship...
I cant tell you how many times I have seen couples and groups of people gathered somewhere or walking the street - I was going to say together but changed my mind - and they're really not present to the person(s)they are with... each person in the duo or trio or larger group was on a phone, either talking or texting or emailing to others...
Not many people living in the here and now anymore...
And the decline in general knowledge, literacy, numeracy, social skills and attention spans, the the low boredom thresholds ... dont get me started! And I really think that its because of the staccato lives we now lead - jumping from one thought/activity to another with no time to focus, go deep either within ourselves or with our fellow humans/other life...
I think that Bly is right about how young people can't communicate and such, but I do not think it is from the internet alone. I believe it is also from texting, emailing, and other new technologies that makes it convenient to not talk to other people.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking as one of the young people, I definitely think that texting is a HUGE problem that is helping us lose communicative techniques...
I agree with this guy (in the article) except on one point: Today's young people do appear to be "unread" in the traditional sense of the word. Even though each semester I find myself shortening the number of pages of outside reading I assign, they don't read them. Their parents probably didn't either, but their parents didn't complain near as much about how the readings are all too long and boring (when the longest one I assign has 19 mass-market paperback pages). It's great that this generation is forward-looking, and I agree they are a service-oriented and tolerant bunch. But if they can't force themselves to become exposed to the useful ideas of the past (say 10 years ago or more) because of the medium in which those ideas are expressed, I think they'll ultimately suffer.
ReplyDeleteMark
Amen, Mark. Like you (and other hand-wringing respondents to this observation), I have watched what I can only call literacy--in multiple forms--decline steadily over the years. Back when I started teaching in Minnesota (in 1979!!!), I had to require my newswriting students to buy newspapers, but I didn't have to threaten them with bodily harm to get them to read them. "Read"?!? not if it's not text on their Blackberries. Thus the popularity of Facebook and Twitter. Make a literary, historical, (pre-2000) cultural, social reference, and you get that dullface thing that means, "I have no idea what he's talking about." Suggest that it was in this week's reading, and the dullface become resentful and defensive.
ReplyDeleteHere's a direct quote from student evals from my beginning newswriting class--all journalism major wannabes--under complaints/changes to the course: "WOAH! It's not a current events class--I think news quizzes should effect grades less."
Where's Dr. Kervorkian these days? (Dr. who???)
I agree entirely; my own experience as a college professor matches yours. It's just that I don't blame it all on the internet. Television certainly bears a large share of credit/blame, as do video games--and a culture crammed with I'm-Number-One instead of an emphasis on community.
ReplyDeleteDo you suppose this current economic crisis could impel us to self-examination as a culture? (I'm the eternal optimist.)
Sally
That describes perfectly the guy who bagged my groceries this morning
ReplyDelete