Five decades ago, Edward R. Murrow stated "this medium can teach". The medium was television, and he felt that it held great, untapped promise. Those of us who remember the days prior to color televisions being commonplace may remember nights when the family would gather around their new electronic campfire, to listen (and watch) stories being told from afar. Alas, those days were seemingly short-lived; thanks to solid-state technolgy, the costs of televisions declined, making it possible for multiple televions to be had per household. Junior and Sissy no longer had to watch the same boring stuff Mom and Pop did, they could go off into their rooms and watch whatever they wanted. Still, the potential that television had remained largely untapped, though the shows got better (or worse, depending on your view). Its ability to teach came out in other ways. While educational television shows bravely fought against the tide of commercial programming, we were learning. Society began to change, and this "medium" began to have a profound effect on society. Mores changed and shifted. Murrow was indeed correct, this medium could teach. And those who wielded its power could effect everything we do, for it is a fact that the world does not operate on reality, but upon our perception of reality. Those who can shape our perceptions can, in effect, shape our reality.
Fast forward to the early 21st century. Everyone has a color television... we aren't neandrathals, after all. The new medium is the Internet (with a capital "I"). That this medium can teach is a given. It holds its inception to education, to a degree; it was initially a network connecting research centers, universities and colleges, together, via a government funded program. During the nascent period of the Net (with a capital "N"), I was witnessed to its power through my local university. I was bedazzled, as were my classmates. That was in 1981, the beginning of the age of the home computer. Many of us endeavored to own a computer, and to perhaps one day join this vast network and share ideas and... connect. That was what we were hoping for at the outset. We sought connection, globally. By the end of the 1980's, that was happening, and when the World Wide Web (three capital "W's") burst onto the scene in the 1990's, we knew a vast societal change was at hand.
Change, yes. There was change, but for some of us, it wasn't necessarily for the better. That's not to say it was for the worse, either. It just never lived up to its full potential, and sadly, because of the commercial stresses upon it, it has a long way to go; indeed, that potential is a moving target that keeps moving further and further away.
The one thing that the Internet has as its greatest gift, the ability to connect people worldwide, is also wrought with problems. It seems to be actually making strangers of people within their own cities, nay, their own families. I know of instances where the only conversation that is held between some families is online. One has to wonder; do they miss the sounds of their voices? Some people become obsessed with the Internet (I have to admit that I find myself frequently, during bored times, looking to see just how far it is to the last webpage). Many view it as their only social interaction. Who among us hasn't heard the stories, lonely, desparate people creating personas far removed from their realities just so they can interact and feel human? Horribly sad, though with a kernal of truth.
I still believe in the potential the Internet possesses. It is not my world, however. I still live and operate in a flesh and blood, brick and mortar world. I like to talk to people, face to face if possible. I want to intermingle. You can intermingle on the Net, yes, but it can be cold, impersonal (though those who have talked to me on the Net know that I am just as brutally honest on there as I am in the flesh). Will I chat with people? Oh, yes, I always do, I always will. It is not a substitute for reality, however, just a means to enhance it. The Web (big "W") does not exist when the power is off.
This medium can teach. It can connect. It is not reality.
