Khelsoril Wanbe
We are in a way fortunate to be living in this generation of internet driven world when Google, Wikipedia, Youtube, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram etc have become household, or rather universal phenomena. We can have access to virtually all kinds of visual or written information, good or evil, that exist under the sun by typing few words on one of these internet apps. Anything that’s happening in a corner of the world can go viral everywhere instantly. The internet is being made use of by almost anybody, good or bad, principled or unscrupulous, truthful or deceptive, young or old and so on. Indeed, internet can do both tremendous good or evil to humankind depending on how one chooses to make use of it. All kinds of materials, ranging from the most rubbish to extremely valuable ones, are simultaneously available on the worldwide web. Enormous information on Education, Science, Technology, Society, Politics, Culture, Entertainment, Religion, Literature, Arts, Sports so on and so forth are freely accessible on this amazing global Web.
If one wants to know something about a difficult or complicated religious question, all it takes is to type the question on Google or Youtube. Not one but many answers can be come by, that may even be contradictory but highly informative and through careful comparison, the authentic and convincing answer on the topic in question can be discovered. For instance, if a question arises on a given verse of the Bible, Quran, Gita or any other religious book, one can have access to, sometimes, varied answers, and all that that person needs to do is some thoughtful comparative study to come to a plausible or fair conclusion about the matter. My point is that, today internet has become a tool for disseminating as well as accessing highly valuable information. However, one needs to take proper caution not to fall into a misleading pit, as there always is the danger of stumbling upon faulty or flawed information.
Undeniably and incontrovertibly, the internet is over flooded with both wholesome and harmful materials and it’s very difficult to weigh the balance between the boons and banes that it affords. While on the one hand, very helpful and highly valuable information, pictures and videos are freely available on it, it’s very alarming that internet has also become an easy and ready source of all kinds of depravity and vulgarity that can do irreparable harms to the vulnerable minds, especially the millions of young and immature children of the world. The vulnerable minds, because the impact of obscene and violent pictures and videos of depraved activities are more likely to impact on the minds of the young and ignorant who are still unable to make proper judgement of what is right or wrong. Consequently, there is the danger of imitating and committing all kinds of immoral and anti-social activities leading to a downward spiral of moral degeneration. Most parents and guardians are unable to keep vigil on what their kids are seeing on the smart-phones that have inundated our homes. Even many of the song and dance videos are full of vulgarity that the young minds are defiled early on that will lead to rapid degeneration of moral values. It is hard to imagine how the world culture will be like a few years from now.
Another danger of the internet is the spread of sinister and insinuating videos and statements intended to whip up violence and hate among people belonging to different races and communities. The internet is so powerful that it can spread almost any information good or bad within a very short period like wild fire. These days even the government is so much intimidated by it that they are sometimes compelled to shut it down to avert untoward happenings. The danger of it being used as a weapon to achieve some objectives, sometimes negative and destructive, is rising day by day. And as to what can be done about it is a million dollar question that cannot be easily answered. Today, internet is getting cheaper than ever and almost everybody has easy access to it. One thing is true that internet has completely revolutionised the information world. There seems to be the need for proper education and awareness on its proper use. It being a somewhat new technological phenomenon, the world seems still unable to handle it properly.
One thing is true that internet has become a source of entertainment, information and knowledge and it is here to stay. Its domination will only extend farther and wider. Its very nature of being educative, informative and fast makes it even harder to condemn it as an absolute evil. Today it’s increasingly hard to imagine life without internet as one depends so much on it for latest information as well as for deriving entertainment in the forms of music, games, communication with distant friends and loved ones etc. With the development of cell phones into fully computerised smart phones, internet has indeed come to stay. The only thing that we can do is to find ways to make it an instrument of positive causes and objectives, instead of allowing it to become a destructive mini-monster in our hands.
