The internet has been truly liberating. By any standard it has put the world at our fingertips. I find the internet useful for a large number of tasks, information, entertainment and even conducting work. But here is a flip side – has the internet changed the way our brains are responding to the incoming overload of information. From being minds that look deeply into the nature of things, issues, universal principles (scientific, spiritual, geographic etc.) and conducting in-depth analysis; have we become “information grasshoppers” skimming a little bit of everything? With such a multitude of information, with the ease of hyperlinked data and threads, does the brain lose its ability to focus? The ability to narrow in on a topic – like say in a good 300 page book – is that quality of the mind disappearing? Because the brain keeps adapting to how information comes in – in the early days it was oral, then the written word with paper and books and now TV and the internet.
While I have found hundreds of long-lost friends on Facebook, getting minute by minute updates from all….is it meaningful or is it really a distraction from some of the deeper on-hand tasks I may have in the non-digital world? One solution to ensure the brain is not overloaded with distractions is to approach the internet and the many related technologies with greater focus for its end use, as opposed to mindlessly surfing and jumping from link to link (because these links have probably been set-up by some digital marketer, who actually wants to subtly goad you into the direction of the links or there maybe a CPM [cost per impression i.e. someone else is making money while you surf] attached to the link).
Focus can be achieved, by being very clear why you are using a particular technology or communication medium. If you need to use the internet to find more details on say a medical condition, by all means do that (of course, be alert to the source especially when it come to medical information), if you are looking for technical information, go in clearly for that and go deep, so that you gain some intellectual depth – but if you are just passing time mindlessly jumping from link to link with no real direction – then you have numbed your brain into a series of distractions, leading to nothing meaningful. That time could be better spent for your own higher good.
Dennis Taraporewala 
Thanks Fareed and thanks Ananda.
Ananda you bring up a very interesting point about the future of the internet and its regulation. “The kind and focus of such regulatory engagement would need to be examined and evolved”… this could in itself be a topic of discussion on the blog.
LikeLike
The internet is a technology that allows data to be transferred with greater rapidity. It is the manner in which we sometimes use the internet that tends to be disruptive to our lifeflows.
However, I think this is because the enormity of the internet and the opportunities it throws up is still evolving. Its similar to a small child who gets an amazing new toy and gets absorbed in discovering its nuances. As the human-internet interface stabilises, a greater degree of balance will set in.
On the subject, one other aspect which I expect will begin to find its way into the internet is some kind of regulation. While that seems like anathema today, as the internet becomes a more central part of human social life, the basic civic regulations that we have in society would need to find a place therein. The kind and focus of such regulatory engagement would need to be examined and evolved.
LikeLike
Hi Dennis.
Trust all is well Pal..
I totally agree with you on this one pal. Coulden’t be more true. With all the advantages and ease of the internet on the positive side,the flip side,YEs it has made humans parasites for the same. Today if Internet, cell phones, wire transfers,and a million more stull like this stops – Man will transcend way back to the days even before the dianasores. – But bottom line I do feel that with all theses new tecnologies man’s reach has extended to no linits. – Tc Dennis – Good noe pal. Cheers- Fuddz
LikeLike