Hostages of the Information Age

I am infinitely intrigued by and interested in how the Internet has turned our entire world on its head. Internet dynamics have posed us with situations we never had to deal with before. The impact its had on our generation is unequalled and we've had to adapt like gorillas dropped from an airplane in the middle of Chicago. Whether its text messages, emails, cell phone calls, social networking sites, etc. I don't think we fully appreciate how all these new tools, that have become so common and second nature to our worlds, have really changed so much when it comes to the continuing evolution of modern human interaction/reaction and human emotion. We are students, if not hostages, of the constantly evolving Information Age. To put it scientifically: it's really, REALLY fucking wild.

So when I stumbled upon this article on Gawker about 'Eleven Ways The Internet Can Kill You' I knew it was written tongue firmly planted in cheek however there is truth in jest. Andy W. was right on about the whole "15 Minutes" thing and people are dying in hot pursuit now that the flash-in-the-pan celebrityarenas have become so popular with new avenues popping up everyday. In search of love and fame people are throwing caution to the wind and with fearless innocence they're running into a forest they've never known.

If I were a bit smarter I suppose I could delve a bit deeper into the psychology of it all. People born yesterday will never understand what a life changing experience the Internet has had on our society because they will not know life without it. The impact of the Internet is far greater than any other tool in the history of mass communications; it has had an uncanny impact on society due to its versatility and chameleon ability to be incorporated into so many aspects of our everyday lives. Not since electricity has something gone from little more than an idea on a page to an absolute and omnipresent necessity for our indispensable everyday.

Is this a case of "be careful what you wish for"? I don't really know. It may be more akin to giving The Beti-Pahuin an atom bomb —sans instruction manual— hoping they'll acclimate themselves and figure out how to dismantle it before someone gets hurt.