Alexander Parris

12/5/16

The Machines Will

When you look at our modern society; the impact the internet has upon it becomes clearly
woven. Everything from our politics, to our small every day interactions, has been shifted by the
internet. Instead of being exposed to more viewpoints or ideas, the internet has enabled us to
become enclosed within our own safe space where we only hear what we want to. The
implications of which have radically degraded our society and torn bonds between people. The
technology we have developed to enable us to grow and broaden our experiences; we use to
isolate ourselves. Effectively placing us within an echo chamber. How is it though that a
technology with such potential may end up being our downfall.
To find out we need to get some context from history. Dating all the way to the earliest
languages, weve wanted to not only be able to communicate our experiences but to also store
and spread them to others. This drive put into motion the basis of written language. Now not
only could you store your experiences, but someone else could now experience them. An
explosion of knowledge and culture came from this; which eventually led to our next set of
dilemmas. While cave paintings and stone tablets were effective in communicating, they were
tied to or hard to travel across long distances depending on the amount of information. So in its
place we developed books writing in ink. Once again our knowledge grew exponentially,

however this time it wasnt tied to a small region. Hand written manuscripts were the standard
for centuries, but as our knowledge grew our demand did as well. We needed a means, by which
the laborious days of work required to finish one manuscript, could be used to complete a series
of them. The printing press, was invented to create mass publication. Forward to our decade, and
it becomes clear that the needs these technologies fulfilled, have been implemented into the core
of what makes the internet. A place from which data can be stored in capacities that are limitless.
At speeds which grow exponentially. Focusing on the last century, the internet also provides
something that the average joe has been in search of for millennia. The ability to have access to
and create information, no matter who you are. Going back to the printing press, despite enabling
mass publication, the majority of the population didn't have access to most books, much less
could write their own. Now everyone could write or read about what they wanted to.
Leading to what we now see as the phenonium known as an echo chamber. Where the
individual becomes drawn to content they have interest or agree with; ignoring or beginning to
deny other viewpoints. In Brooke Gladstone's "the Influencing Machine," She points out how the
internet has practically become a mirror. The reflection of yourself that you choose to see.
Despite providing us with a gateway through another's eyes, We tend to flock together as a group
with those who reflect our opinions. This tendency to group ourselves together with those we
agree with online has led to an inflated presence of division amongst people offline. When before
it was much more likely for you to be able to stand in the middle of a debate; society now
demands that we all choose sides. Even if you realize this problem; there isn't much as an
individual anyone can do. We as a civilization have been dependent on technology for our
survival since stone tools. Trying to solve the problem by removing it's source unlike with other
conflicts we've faced in the past, will not solve this. In our rapid pace society the idea that we

could simply remove the personal computer from our every day lives is hysterical. Everything
from our education system to our commerce has been integrated within the internet, at this point
there is no going back. But just because we've all gone out and placed Pandora's box on our
desks doesn't mean that it's too late to control it. As Talbot puts it in Lisa Guernsey piece "An
Editor Explores Unintended, and Negative, Side of Technology", "The computer is our hope if
we can accept it as our enemy. As our friend, it will destroy us. " ( Guernsey, Unintended ).
If we, as a society, can come together to recognize that the internet shows us only what
we ask it to, what we trained it to, not an eclipsing picture; we may be able to teach ourselves
how to use it. How to see to it's intended design; to connect people together. No matter how far
or close. So that we can get a true view from all sides of an argument; not just the side we're
rooting for.

Works Cited
Guernsey, Lisa. Editor Explores Unintended, and Negative, Side of
Technology. New York Times, 25 Nov. 1999. Web.
Gladstone, Brooke. "The Influencing Machines." Back to the Lake: A Reader and Guide. By
Thomas Cooley. New York: W.W. Norton, 2014. 728. Print.