Most of you who clicked on this article already have an opinion on whether or not spending time on the Internet is a worthwhile activity. For some of you it’s like watching TV; a mindless way to spend a few hours. For others it’s a necessary evil; your friends and family members have email addresses or Facebook accounts, and they insisted that you stay in touch with them. And for some, it’s a way of life, and something they couldn’t imagine having to give up.
I fall into the latter camp, and I’m guessing a few of you do as well. For those of you who don’t, here’s an explanation by one of those “techie” people as to why we spend so much time on our computers. It’s written in plain English, so I’m hoping that it’ll be easy to follow along with. But if you still have any questions when you’re done reading it, scroll down to the part where it lets you leave a comment, and I will post a reply to whatever you ask.
Doing some light reading
I got started thinking about this yesterday when I was at the library, checking out books on small homes and cottages. My dream home is a small house out in the hills, where I can take care of animals and grow my own vegetables and take long walks in the forest. I used to go camping a lot when I was little, and I’ve spent a lot of my life outdoors. And while my current living situation doesn’t allow me to do so that much, it’s something I’d like to go back to.
I was browsing this book about cottages, each house with its own personality. It wasn’t just a floor plan book; the authors had sought out the best cottages, the best-designed and the most well-kept, and interviewed the people who lived there. Full-color photos of warm and inviting spaces filled half the book, and I remember thinking how much I would love to live in a place like that.
Then I found this one interview with person who was saying how proud she was of how her cottage had helped facilitate meetings, and heart-to-heart conversations, between people. And it wouldn’t have bothered me, except for the way that she and the author said it. They said something about the people who mistake “Internet cut-and-pasting” and “the products of online video games” for creative thought, and snidely proclaimed that the only ideas worth thinking about had come from a face-to-face meeting.
What the heck?
I read it again, in disbelief, and put the book back on the shelf. Why did people still think like that? I wondered.
Maybe they’d had a lot of good experiences talking to others face-to-face, and a lot of bad experiences using computers. Maybe they knew family members who lived their whole lives on those boxes with screens, and never came up for air or joined the “real world.” And maybe they’d look at me typing this up on my notebook PC, and think “He’s on that dumb computer again” and wonder if I was going to waste my whole life on this thing.
The irony is that these are usually the people who glorify books and reading. Who practically worship well-known print authors, and who think that curling up with a good book is one of the best feelings in the world. But listening to them vilify the Internet, and the ideas and feelings expressed on it, one gets the impression that they don’t really care about human emotion expressed in writing. They only care about paper and ink, and the sharp sting of pages that slice through their fingers as they try to turn them. The feelings expressed through words are irrelevant to them; it’s all about what their hands feel as they read. And if they don’t have those feelings with their hands as they read, then they deaden their hearts and lament the age that we live in.
No? Then try this thought experiment: If I were sitting here writing with pen and paper, would they still feel the same way about how I was spending my time? If you were reading this essay on paper instead of a monitor, would your relatives be quite so critical? And if I were writing long letters by hand to my girlfriend, instead of IMing her online, would they think it was petty or romantic?
Bigotry and intolerance
You probably realize that I take this personally. It’s not just about me, though, and it’s not just about the Internet, either. It’s about everyone in the world who has ever said “I do not care about that, and therefore it doesn’t matter to anyone.” Who don’t see the point to something that others care deeply about, and therefore assume that it’s pointless, others’ feelings be hanged.
I don’t mind if my friends and family members don’t want to spend their time on the Internet. We have a lot of common ground. I don’t mind watching their TV shows sometimes, and I love finding books at the library. Sometimes I disapprove of something they like, but it’s only because I think that it’s inconsiderate — like the shows on TV that try to arouse adult feelings in viewers, whether or not they want to feel that way and whether or not they are in a committed relationship. Or the cars that people drive past here, revving the engines, making noise to let others know they feel important.
I feel sorry for the people who like those sitcoms, about seducing people and using them, who don’t know what real love is like. I feel sorry for the people who drive those loud cars, who think that they need them to be important. And I feel sorry for the people who make fun of the Internet. Who’ve never connected with another human being through it, and don’t know how important those connections are for the people who’ve experienced them.
The Upshot
Maybe the ‘net’s not important to you. I totally “get” and respect that. Just as long as you “get” that it’s important to the girl that your friends picked on in high school, who found love and acceptance from people online who were a heck of a lot nicer than they were. That you “get” that it’s important to the people who are building laptops for kids in third-world countries, so that they can know what it’s like to share and explore each other’s ideas, and trade artwork and writing with each other. And that you “get” that it’s important to Amanda Baggs, the autistic writer of Ballastexistenz. Who lives in a wheelchair, and can’t talk, and types with the screen turned off because of her constant migraine.
Who in their right mind would’ve published her? How would her words have reached anyone if not online? And yet thanks to the Internet, she’s able to touch countless lives with her message of tolerance. Of accepting people who are different from you, and knowing that each life has meaning.
Last night I helped slay a dragon in an online game. But I also baked a loaf of bread and a pan of apple crisp, kneading the dough and peeling the apples by hand. While writing this I can hear birds singing outside, and see tree branches swaying through windows. I have “a life outside of the Internet … ” but it doesn’t make my life any more valuable than that of someone who doesn’t, for whatever reason. And you’re probably reading this on a screen, but it doesn’t make the words have any more meaning than if they were written on paper.
Remember that, the next time you see your friend or family member glued to her laptop. And if you are the one who is usually like that, remember it next time you see your friend reading, or playing sports or watching TV. If it’s important to someone and doesn’t hurt anyone, nothing’s a waste of time. No matter how anyone feels about it.
