So Tuesday I’m watching this documentary about stupidity and they’re explaining why television is so full of stupid. The people in charge of television, you see, want to reach as many people as possible. They don’t want people to change the channel or get bored, so they do the things guaranteed to keep the MOST people watching for as long as possible. These are often stupid things, common denominator things, sex, violence, explosions… Not as much with the intellectual inquiries, asking hard questions, challenging assumptions.
We can’t do much about this, because we have little control over the television industry. Television is something only certain people have influence over, and most of us aren’t that person.
Horribly, something similar could yet happen to the internet. Parts of it aren’t so hot. Parts of it are downright dangerous. Parts of it inspire fear and uncertainty in people who aren’t used to that sort of thing.
I think this is okay.
The world isn’t really a safe place, either. There will always be bad parts of town (whatever that means where you live).
But it doesn’t really work to outlaw the bad parts of town. Sure, you can regulate certain spots. But notice what happens to highly controlled parts of town, and you’ll see a trend. Everything is pretty and pleasant, but everything looks the same. Nothing is all that challenging; a kid growing up in the classy gated development with a curfew doesn’t pick up the street smarts of a kid growing up in the thick of a poor neighborhood in a bustling city. And so you may actually prefer to live in the classy gated development, but you should think twice about wanting to inhabit a highly controlled, “nice residents only” internet.
The beginning of somebody’s control over the internet means policing it, which takes us closer to content regulation. Going further down that road means that content valued by some but not all starts to be at risk.
The intense, intelligent, experiential exploration of human sexuality native to certain corners of the web gets labeled “porn”. What if someone is offended? What if someone’s kid finds it, and then we have to be responsible for the twisted, sexually corrupt adult that child (oh, inevitably) becomes?
The bits-brilliant hackers, hats of all colors, who learn their trade in the trenches and broaden the creative spectrum of what can be done in a space like the internet start to be more and more restricted, because, well, what if something bad happens? What if they’re one of the “bad guys”? We take rights away from all people in order to superficially protect ourselves.
To say nothing of what happens when you question a prevailing system like the government, or challenge big business to maintain a little bit of human decency.
It’s a long and winding road. Yes, the internet is still a dangerous place. So is New York City, and London, and Berlin, and hundreds of thousands of other places. Their complexity, good parts and not-so-good parts, makes them beautiful — makes them challenging and organic and interesting, makes them places where we can learn amazing things. People still go to the jungle; they havent outlawed that yet. People still go to India and South America and Mexico. They ar not all deterred by the paranoia, by the assumption that if something bad might happen, something bad wikl happen. Each of these places has great value and soul for exploring. We may seek to make people safer if we can. We may try to solve problems whenever possible. But we don’t bar entry or blow these places up based on their subjective flaws. (Well, most of the time.)
We have something now in the internet that gives each of us the power to explore the world, understand more about what’s going on around us (and inside our heads). More than that, it’s the power to connect with our fellow man and make the world a better place, without endless corporate restriction and fear of business model death (BMD, right?). Are we really going to give up that power in order to have neat rows of Cape Cod houses with identical flowerbeds and white picket fences?
Are we going to give up our right to experience and self-education? Let the folks “in charge” dictate our lives like our parents did when we were six? Give up our prized, long-developed survival instincts in order to I’ve someplace sterile and safe?
Well you can, I guess. But I’m sure as hell not.
Megan Elizabeth Morris (aka MEM, Megan the M.) is a bonafide professional catalyst and adventurer. She's the Ideaschema instigator, orchestrator and autodidact, and you can find out more about her by clicking here.Got an idea? Something we haven't thought of? Whatever you're thinking, we want to hear it. Please feel free to leave comments or email us by clicking here.
