What Do You Do With Them? What Do You Do Without Them?

When it comes to Internet and social etiquette, we will reap bushels of moot points. Since your inquiry, as emphasized in your subsequent post, is predominantly on the conduct of an internet user, I will lay out my thoughts around that.

Growing up, I was an avid watcher of two Doordarshan programmes: Surabhi and Turning Point. At the end of every episode, in the fan-mail segment, the host reads out viewers' feedback. Back then, I desired to write back , “I love your series.” But I never wrote back. You had to buy a post card, go to the post office, drop it, in the mean time my enthusiasm used to wan over such labour. I assumed that people who wrote back were more passionate and stirred than I was to relate to those thoughtful and creative programmes, and also buy a post card and mail it.

Yesterday and today, we have lived in the same world where “accessibility” takes precedence over “thoughtfulness.” People always want to comment or strike something in return, but this digital era facilitates it as well. When facilities and tools are available at a click's distance everyone shouts their opinions with or without the scholarship and proprietary. But why rudeness? Most of the rudeness we see on the Internet is “flamebait” mischief, notwithstanding instances of conversational illiteracy. In a conversation, participants assume that the louder they are, the more valid they will sound. Again, why rude, can't one be loud and polite? As pointed out earlier, there's a lot of mischief on the net if you can spot. Earlier, it was uneconomical to offend anyone (ref: buy a post card) but Internet has democratised and cheapened that thrill. People deliberately "slap" rudeness to deflect or sensationalize a topic. It is fun to watch as an observer how a topic can be veered out of shape by an incendiary remark. These are deliberate insertions to kick up fun and mischief and also expose the irascibility of the participants. One stray brick and the house collapses! I attribute most of the rudeness on the Internet to such pranks rather than malice.

Forget about the intensity of dissent, in an ideal and rational conversation, there is no pacifying and disabling “agree to disagree” also. According to the mathematical definition of common knowledge and Aumann's theory, we can't agree to disagree if we are all perfectly rational. We would converge on exact conclusion!

As for the rest of the post, I am very pro-technology. But I have to remind myself of the below Thoreau's quote in Walden.

“We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; For my part, I could easily do without the post-office as Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate. We are eager to tunnel under the Atlantic and bring the old world some weeks nearer to the new; but perchance the first news that will leak through into the broad flapping American ear will be that Princess Adelaide has the whooping cough.”

Internet shrinks our existence onto a global village in terms of connectivity, however, we should align ourselves to what truly matters rather than be drowned in the clamour of sound bites, flashing news, fleeting virtual getaways and dime a dozen op-eds. One could be overloaded, jaded and fatigued easily with Princess Adelaide's rhythmic cough and wonder what is the value provided by this super-highway built of intel and expanse.

 

Dear Satchi,
Moderation is the key word. Use internet in the right way....it is a boon. Getting addicted, especially children had many negatives as others said.
Yes, no privacy. I fully agree.It seems as if somebody is right our back and reading every word that we type! How so many spam mails in the mail box?Casual messages are o.k but credit card numbers and other information in some forms are scary to enter!
Of all said and done can we live without internet now? I don't think so.
Syamala