Why The Internet Divided Us And Why It Will Save Us
Vast volumes have been, and will be written, about all the divisions of society caused by the one technology so many thought would unite humanity. The internet. It gets all the blame for enabling social media, dopamine addiction, terrible advertising (that’s true) and well, so much more. But should we be blaming the technology?
The internet didn’t divide humanity. Social media didn’t create dopamine addictions and the desperate desire for a digital detox. Nor did it create trolls, cyberbullies and those most annoying digital creatures of all, influencers.
Humans did. Enabled by culture, which has been around for well, a few hundred thousand years in various forms and degrees. All technologies, ever since the stone tools our human predecessors created and we inherited and evolved, have been imagined by humans.
First I will look at culture and the role it plays. This to understand how we got to where we are. Then I will look at how these technologies will also save us. It may seem dark right now, but we’ve been here before in our history. The future is brighter.
The Role of Culture and Technology
We can bring the divisiveness we’re experiencing via the internet down to one word; culture.
