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The hopeful thing about the Internet...

...is that it eventually goes away.

(This is a reply to a post made on the Midnight Pub, see below.)

"The hopeful thing about the Internet..." by ~tffb

I feel similarly. My thoughts on this topic are very messy and I've been writing this piece for about 45 minutes now, but here goes:

I am a proponent of the computer and the internet (as it is in the very slim portion I use often - academic papers and software packages; even little forums like this one) being useful tools, but I agree that pretty much everything that extends outside of that little sliver is harmful.

In fact, I have no doubt that it is the root of much evil; the effects we're finally able to measure and they're showing very clear signs of destruction. I've reached the top of the hill and realized that what lies there is dangerous. Now I feel it's my job to warn others that the glorified hilltop is not safe.

I've trained for a while now to become a software engineer and, as the metaphor above describes, I've realized that the path I was taking is the wrong one. I think the modern internet is a large part of why this is the case; we all know it's bad for us and I don't want to help make it any worse.

I foresee the same thing you do, a cyberpunk-ish future where we don't do anything to stop it from accelerating and in a massive explosion (or a whimper) the digital age comes crashing to an end, writing our civilization off as just another chapter of earth's history. I try to stay as positive as I am negative, but as we sail further into the misty future, the harder it gets.

Until then, I'll be watching the digital stars in the sky.

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