This is the final post for this blog. I hope it has been enjoyed by some. My purpose in starting it last year was to keep a record of my conversion to the Catholic faith. It has served it’s purpose. I find myself increasingly frustrated with online communication. People say anything and everything, my brain is assaulted with unwanted information on a huge scale. It is just too much to take without going insane. I highly recommend reading Marshal McLuhan or Neil Postman to understand how I feel about the communication technology that we are blindly moving forward with as a culture. Postman’s book Amusing ourselves to death is a must read. In it he proves that McLuhan was right when he coined the phrase "the medium IS the message". Like television, there is no commonly understood teleology (purpose) of the internet, and certainly no teleology for the “social” venues on the internet. Which is dangerous. It is Orwellian, and I don’t want a part of it anymore. I just quit Facebook, and I am downloading and deleting this blog. Anyone who wishes to remain in contact with me can use email. At dub[DOT]lord[DOT]of[DOT]the[DOT]sith[AT]gmail[DOT]com.
This article expresses how I feel in general. To it I would add that as a Christian, I feel that the internet is... well, imodest and dehumanizing. I think that is the best way to describe it. And I don't think that situation can be gotten around easily. If it can be gotten around, it is rare, and not usually done in a deliberate way. We don't know why we have the internet or what it is for, yet we use it constantly. That is dangerous. We need a teleology to continue. And with the state of cultural decay we are in in the west, no teleology is even close to being agreed on. The internet is for everything and anything anytime and for anyone. I cant explain well why that is not good, but I am growing very suspicious of the whole thing. It just feels wrong.
The Orwell in me wants to turn away from the screen in my living room like Winston Smith did in 1984. Am I crazy? Yeah, probably. But in 40 years perhaps I won't be. The internet is de-humanizing. Perhaps it does not have to be that way, but it is. Untill that changes I am severely limiting my involvement in it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_McLuhan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Postman
I will be trying to do the liturgy of the hours and developing a prayer life instead of staring at a screen so much. Pray that I have success.
Best wishes to all of you! And God bless you and yours!
David M.
