Internet provides ample and variable supply. It can have both positive and negative consequences depending on how and for what purpose we use it. I'd say that per se it is neutral, in other words, it could be considered inert until was access it.
Data are neutral until used, IMO.

"Beer is proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy"

both premises are correct, of course. the Internet has had and will continue to have profound consequences on our societies, but of course of itself is entirely neutral, it's just a medium. Compare it to the development of printing at the end of the Middle Ages, which allowed mass distribution of the written word for the first time. Were books "good" or "bad?" Neither of course, it was the use to which they were put, and the threat that dissemination of learning posed to the powers that be.

I was asked a similar question almost 20yrs ago when there was no World Wide Web, only some very basic BBS on 300k modems, and even then I predicted that global electronic communications would bring us closer together (how the frick else would we all talk to each other? )

yes there are consequences good and bad ,primarily good
as to the neutrality i believe there is less and less of that as time passes and big companies/organisations gain more control (dont want to name names)

Edited by - [STEEL on 30-12-2003 15:29:14

i suppose it would depend on how people use it, either with each other or against each other

It is better to aim for the stars and hit the tops of the trees than to aim for nothing and hit it dead on.

Methinks the internet will ivolve into cyberspace, and eventually, we'll have an entirely new reality existing within that cyberspace. So if you were in the mood, you could strap in and go into this alternate reality, Matrix style (except without the tyrannical robots). So will it be good or bad? I think mostly good- like the ultimate in video game technology. For example, instead of watching you're freelancer ship on the screen, you could actually be in the Freelancer ship, and experience the joys of blowing bounty hunters from the sky- er, from space- first hand. But of course there will always be someone out there trying to figure out a way to use it for "bad" things, so I guess it could go either way.

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Mastwage if it was that real couldn't we die while blowing up Bounty Hunters. If Freealncer was ral life would you play it the way you do now or would you be a peaceful trader

Internet:

Until such time as someone devises a way to and decides to control access so that cross border communications are subject to tolls, it brings all those who HAVE closer together. It further distances the HAVE NOTS from the HAVES.

ALSO, however, even with the very fact of TLR, for the most part, the Internet reinforces liquistic differences and does not promote a greater sense of world community except for those who already are multilingual.

Should a cross border toll system come into effect, it will promote a greater degree of insular thinking among those within a set of the borders much more quickly than ever before.

Cyberspace:

So far, provides a new avenue of escapism to a far greater bandwidth of people. Especially Sim worlds. Its power to do so, however, is more overwhelmingly effective than earlier mediums, because of the interactivity that has been made feasible.

There will be a period of time in which societies will have maladjustment problems with this newest escapist mechanism. Many psychological drivel texts will be written, many more divorces will be triggered, etc., etc.

I am waiting for the first CyberChurch to catch hold of the mass public..... PLACE YOUR HANDS ON YOUR SCREENS AND REPEAT AFTER ME. I BELIEVE! I BELIEVE!

the only exception I'll take with that is regarding linguistic differentiations; in reality the Internet reinforces English as the primary lingua franca (no pun intended) for the online world. Personally I don't think that's altogether a good thing but that's the way it is.

Alright, alright. So you got me, there, Greekus...well, you wouldn't die because, although it is basically an alternate reality, you have to realise that your body back in, um, this world will still be unharmed. So then you wouldn't be able to die in the cyberspace world...only suffer massive brain trauma... Did I mention that you got me, there?

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I see it as this
Is a sword evil?
is a sword good?
no! it is a tool that can be used for good or evil or nothing.
same thing for cyberspace it is a tool nothing more. So I guess neutral for me in the fact it is how people use this tool to do good or evil. Not that the internet/cyberspace is inherently good/evil. I could however surmise that the internet COULD be a catalyst for chaos but perhaps for another time?

I Am Sharp like Bowling Ball


Edited by - ssjgarretjax on 30-12-2003 20:46:04

Im pretty well much in agreement with what Taw said. I personally believe that the Internet will be a major influence in the degredation of cultural languages, in time most countries will use english as their primary language.

Northern Asia and Middle Eastern countries will take much longer, their Internet community is much more segregated than the American, Oceanic, European and Southern Asian communities, which are pretty well much melded into one.

Either way the Internet has already had a massive influence on most cultures around the world. It has brought us all face to face with each other, hell I talk to my Internet mates from around the globe far more than I do to my neighbours because all I have to do is switch on a PC and thier they are.

The craziest thing is that the Internet is still very much in it's infancy, imagine where it'll be in twenty years. I know when Im an old fogie stuck in a nursing home Im going to be strapped into the Net 24-7.

Language.

Well, English currently prevails because most posters and internet users are English speakers to begin with, either as a first or second language.

But we are ignoring all of the Spanish speaking world as well as, obviously, Chinese speakers. Either group outnumbers English speakers, the Chinese group especially. Currently, both groups tend to fit into the HAVE NOT category but every day, the technologies involved to enable basic internet access become cheaper. I think we will be approaching a new tipping point in the next decade.

And in another sense our current outlook is somewhat analogous to a play by Brecht in which a man is seen circling on his hands and knees about the stage within a brightly lit spot.... the rest of the stage in darkness. A police man walks up to him
out of the darkness to ask the man what he is doing. The man says he is looking for his keys. The police man asks where he lost them and the man points off into the dark distance. The officer scoffs and asks then why he is looking where they are instead. The man says......because this is where the light is.

English is where the light is right now. Who knows where the light will be in future?