In this blog post, we will look at how the Internet and network society have affected human thought and autonomy, and consider what true intelligence is in the midst of a flood of information.
The world has undergone tremendous changes over the past 20 years. A new world, the metaverse (a new world that is physically beyond the real world but contains information about the real world), has been created. It is the Internet, also known as the World Wide Web. People began to upload unrefined information from the real world to the metaverse of the Internet in their own ways, and anyone could access the space at any time and participate in the many things that happened there and download information. The digital metaverse, called the Internet, has come to play a role in connecting people in the real world. All that is needed for connection is a login and a search, and no social skills (such as showing respect for others or making an appointment to meet and ask questions) are required. This so-called “network” has greatly reduced the cost and accessibility of acquiring information. Then, are the changes brought about by the network only beneficial to people? Many of the changes in our lives have been caused by our interest in information in the network and the active reflection of that information in our lives. Is that really leading us in a more rational and convenient direction? Also, is the rationality and convenience brought about by the Internet really better? In the future, I would like to take a critical look at and discuss some of these questions.
When we access the vast world of the Internet through computers, smartphones, and tablets, we are faced with a huge choice of information. However, the more we surf the web, the more our thinking loses its options and degrees of freedom. We are connected to the network, and we enjoy finding new things, but we also enjoy sharing something in common with many people. This makes it harder for us to choose from a wide range of content and to appreciate and think about it in new ways. We neglect to think seriously about the problems we are given and imagine how they are happening in the real world from multiple perspectives, and are tempted to easily solve problems by finding metadata about the real world and opinions that others have organized. Then, we sometimes get used to the easy way out by rationalizing that we shouldn’t waste our time on things that have already been solved by others.
Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, recently claimed in an interview that the answer to the future lies in the Internet and made the following comments about Psy, a globally successful K-pop star. He talked about his experience meeting Psy and analyzed that Psy’s success was due to his “unique strengths and uniqueness.” Another factor in his success was “Internet culture.” He said, “The Internet continues to discover new geniuses,” and predicted that “there are many creative talents around the world, so there will continue to be people who will achieve greater success than Psy.”
It is true that people like Psy, who have their own unique personality and talent, have become known and recognized through the most efficient information distribution technology in history, the Internet. But, did the Internet really create such people and inspire them? There are many talented people in the world, and this has been the case even before the Internet. Of course, it is true that more people have been given the opportunity, but it cannot be said that the Internet itself has increased the quality of their inspiration and creative achievements. In addition, in cases where a cultural syndrome has been created through the network, such as Psy’s, the blind spots of the Internet are clearly revealed. People enjoy sharing the same thoughts and emotions while enjoying the same content together. The horse dance trend led by Psy’s “Gangnam Style” is a prime example. However, the viewers of the content are more interested in exciting and fun stimulating experiences and trite and clichéd feelings of sadness, rather than in popular art that induces diverse and in-depth appreciation and thoughts, which are considered to be the most popular and appealing to the public. This is the so-called ‘content product’ optimized for attracting attention. We become accustomed to it and become less able to actively appreciate through deep thought and critical acceptance, or to produce new creative inspiration from it. It is very useful in terms of accessibility because it easily distributes information, but it is also the power of the Internet to make everyone indulge in the same feelings and thoughts. The phenomenon of viewers being “synchronized” to such content and being led by the emotions and thoughts intended by the creator has the effect of eliminating the individualistic self-consciousness of each of us. The phenomenon of spending time on such passive entertainment and amusement is an undeniable influence of the Internet.
Secondly, we need to pay attention to the new communities that are being created on the Internet. It has become a world where people who live on the other side of the world can easily meet online to exchange opinions and information if they have common interests and goals, and there are a huge number of communities in numerous fields. As a result, it is true that it has become easier for individuals to develop their own skills and knowledge in their areas of interest, and similar opinions on specific topics have come together to form a strong voice and lead to noticeable social changes and developments. In this way, the Internet has done a great job of bringing together people and opinions that want to come together. However, there is also an aspect of deepening conflicts between people with different opinions. As a large number of similar people can easily gather and exchange opinions, it is easy for them to unite, but there are frequent cases of the side effect of exclusion of people outside the community. Recently, the problem of the Internet community where irrational speech is naturally done, such as the “Ilbeon Best,” has come to the fore. The phenomenon of extreme, biased and violent reactions to political and social issues is seen as something that is casually and contagiously spread among many internet users. Such communities are a prime example of internet communities that have lost their self-cleansing function. Another example is the unthinking condemnation of Christianity that is pouring out online. If you look at the comments on portal sites such as Naver and Daum, you can see a lot of people who are often referred to as “Christianity haters” and who are swept up in groupthink without understanding the religion, and who use Christianity as a scapegoat for bashing on the wrong issues. As such, the Internet has the power to easily gather an unspecified number of people and share a single idea, but it also promotes division and conflict rather than producing normal and healthy criticism and discussion on social issues such as politics, religion, and gender, which leads to the convergence of the entire social community.
As we have seen, the Internet, a metaverse and network, has penetrated deeply into our lives and has the potential to have various negative effects. We may lose our independent consciousness and become addicted to passive content consumption, or we may lose our ability to think critically because we are immersed in the flow of a particular community due to the narrowing of our perspective within the Internet. If so, we can ask a more serious question at this point. Are our thoughts our own or the assembled result of information in the network? Is the boundary between who is the subject of thought becoming blurred? We need to think about whether our minds are being spread on the Internet. One thing is clear: efficiency is not an end, but a means. You should always reflect on yourself and ask yourself whether you are living as a fish that can use the waves to swim according to your own will and purpose, rather than as a grain of sand that is carried away by the waves of the network.
