I am not sure how you felt when you first got acquainted to a computer, a laptop, a cellphone or opened your first Facebook Account and discovered the 24/7/365 open world of connectivity and news. It was exciting, it felt that a new dimension was added to life and a window of opportunities, better understanding and freedom was knocking on the door.
I don’t know how much has changed for you, but meanwhile the flood of information, the stress of the constant music making gadgets, wearing headphones or earpieces and talking loud ahead while eating, walking, working and running around adds rather to stress than to the delight of being. Permanently being available – always knowing what happens across the globe can develop in a burden rather than a blessing. Because like in the newspapers: bad news travel fast, radical opinions making headlines and very often all the drama of the world popping up in front of the eyes masking the greatness and joy of real life.
Politics has changed dramatically and with more or less unrestrained possibilities to lie and cheat and fake news a new breed of politicians is turning the possibility of broad communication into a weapon of disinformation and manipulation.
And not only this: looking at the USA: being exposed by social media of often racist and macho white attitude, a new cult emerges bending laws and human decency to defend indefensible actions and by doing so destroying values most people thought we had secured for the future. Lots to digest for the normal human being, either forced instinctively to run with the crowd or withdraw into a little private world to avoid despair. Fencing the own little word creates its own discriminations and dehumanizations.
Another way out of those shadows of the digital age is absolute control like China tries to enforce it for their citizens. But giving the power to decide what I am allowed to now and then finally to live for is surely not compatible with the civil freedoms and the human dignity, many fought for through the ages.
There are lots of shadows of the digital age – the world transforms in a massive way and challenges the ways we humans perceive reality.
Interesting times, challenging times, times not for the faint-hearted, but we will be only able to create a future for all if we realize and confront the shadows now and don’t allow a group of people to not only match, but outperform Georg Orwell’s 1984.
Filed under: Politics and Society, Reflection, Society and living environment, Uncategorized, 1984, china, digital age, facebook, fake news, usa
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