The internet provides a lot of information and an almost infinite number of connections. The problem is it allows us to create an echo chamber with others who share our views or a place to seek conflict as a distraction from real life. For people without curiosity and open-mindedness, the internet serves to solidify their views and could even make them more extreme, whether it’s trying to debate the ethics of eating animals, or of giving the government more control over your life.
But the internet can also give you the opportunity to share ideas, and see how you are wrong, and create an expert network that is smarter than any one single authority. Will it alienate people defensively into the safety of numbers in their echo chamber or will it evolve society?
Regardless, the internet won’t make us smarter unless we want to be smarter. The danger is, will it make us stupider if we don’t care?
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