The Internet Makes People Stupid

This is bollocks. The internet doesn’t make people stupid. Lazy perhaps. Opinionated in their ignorance, but not stupid. Stupid people are stupid regardless of the internet. The Internet merely makes them more noticable.

I’ve recently been talking to this girl/woman/thing called Melanie (not her real name) who is also called Holly (probably not her real name either). She seems to mean well but knows very little about anything, and doens’t know how to spell it. She mis-spells simple words, uses much of them out of context and puts weird pauses in the middle of sentences. This is the only hint at punctuation in her language. Melanie is not stupid because of the internet. Infact i’d hazard a guess that becuase of the internet Melanie is slightly more intelliegent, or should i say slightly less ignorant, than she would be otherwise. People will occasionally point out her mistakes. Sometimes not very politely.

People like Melanie give the more arrogant, curmudgeonly or even elitist of us the impression that the internet is making idiots of the populace. However these ‘idiots’ are people that would normally not be seen or heard by the majority of ‘intellectuals. Possiblyity is that they would prefer not ot see or hear them. But they exist. Assuming that without the internet they wouldn’t is arrogant and naive, and not very intelligent. Some might say it’s a methaphorcal or philisophical debate. If a tree falls in the forest and there is no-one around, does it make a sound? Of course it does. How arrogant would it be to assume that because there are no human being around they’d put the sound effects on hold.

So also the fools and idiots exist regardless of the internet. Banning he internet and returning to a world of ‘civilized’ discussion over brandy in the local gentlemans club isn’t happening anytime soon. Indeed the whole concept of the idiot and scholar is just another set of pigeon-holes created by those that feel insecure of their place in society.

We are all a bit idiot, all a bit scholar. It’s all down to the balance again. That almighty quest of mine to bring balance to those who believe that everything must be black or white, up or down, one of the other, yet always finding that such states are unrealistic, unsustainable and incomplete.

We still have so many of those who strive to ‘improve’ themselves by making others fail. Those that chastise the idiot but infact welcome their presence as they create the contrast that makes themselves look better. The same that throw up their hands in shock or act in bitter cynicism when those with insight attempt to enlighten those without. The truth being that they fear that a rise in the overall intelligence of the populace will deprive them of the exclusive position of the intelligentsia, and they seek to prevent this without drawing attention to their own insecurity. so they can bemoan the fact that people are stupid while being thankful at the same time.

Regardless of the waste and the missed opportunity I still belive the internet to be one of the greatest mediums created by man. And I hope that we do what we can to recognise this and appreciate it while we still have the choice.

Something to say?