The Fall of the Internet

Remember the Internet? Right now, you might be saying to yourself, "Of course I do. I'm on it looking at these words." But I don't mean this thing we call the Internet. I mean the Internet of a bygone era, the Internet Al Gore created, the one used for communication and knowledge.

The Internet has become a shell of itself. Knowledge gathering is reduced to the highly convenient, but incredibly unreliable, Wikipedia. Communication has devolved into the high school politics of Myspace. Ask the majority of people who use the Internet what they use it for. Most will say downloading music or movies, email and porn.

So the Internet turned from a useful tool to a glorified TV. I will admit that it is convenient to have so much entertainment at my fingertips. I like to download music instead of going to a store and it is nice to stream videos of people being stupid on YouTube while I'm at work. But I feel that we've devalued the Internet and taken its possibilities for granted.

I think the thing that has devolved most of all are the wondrous communication tools: chat rooms, email, blogs, social networking sites and the like. Chat rooms quickly moved from the next evolution of the telephone to a device for sex and pedophiles. Email is now so pervasive that it is available on cell phones and has basically quit evolving. Blogs still have value in that they allow instant eyewitness updates of news, but most are used for what I am doing now — a daily bitch session. The social networking sites are convenient because it is one big cluster fuck of friends that can be stayed in contact with despite time and distance. It also allows for some sort of individuality. But it can also be exclusive and used for bullying. Plus, the sheer number of "friends" that use it for completely juvenile purposes as propaganda, sloganeering and motives for promoting themselves and their personal relationships (see users whose names are "I love ___") is idiotic.

Every once in a while, I'll see what the Internet could be. I can find a well put together site, get some research worthy sources for topics I'm interested in, download PDFs of recent medical and sociological studies or get breaking news from around the world seconds after it happens. It just makes me sad that I have to pilfer through a virtual swamp of refuse to get to it.

Sure, what I am typing now is only serving to further gum up the internal workings of this mystery that is cyberspace. But at least I am aware of it and that makes me feel better.

Rant on Suicide

I was in a Barnes and Noble with Jacob a couple weeks ago, perusing magazines and books when I saw a collections of essays about the philosophical implications of suicide. This intrigued me. Not enough to buy it, but it got my mind working.

I had to write a short paper about this topic in my college Philosophy class. Sadly, I don't have a copy because it was a written test. But I'm sure I can remember most of my points. I don't have much evidence to back up my point because I'm not a walking encyclopedia of philosophers, but I can validly argue my point.

Descartes reasoned that "I think, therefore I am." This seems to relate that intelligence and its pursuit makes existence worthwhile. This statement has provided the thesis behind all of philosophy. If possible, I would like to take another stance and say it has a different meaning.

It can be interpreted that Socrates meant the pure act of thought justified existence. However, it could be meant that without thought, existence is nullified (death). While an obvious statement, this famous observation and its most basic interpretation is important because it establishes a major question of philosophy: death.

Now, it is not a huge leap to begin questioning whether life is worth living (Nietzsche made a career of it). The act of taking one's own life is at the heart of this question. Thus, the question begs: does suicide defy all philosophical reason?

— The act of suicide is a force unlike any other, because it is total control, the ultimate escape plan. In a life where everything is dependent on something outside of the individual's control, including birth, death lies in the hands of the individual. This might be the only sense of control the individual has in their entire lifespan.

But at what cost is the control? Isn't it better to have a sense of control in life than to exert it? It can be argued that the point of being able to end life one's life ends the only level of existence. It destroys everything to gain nothing.

— If death lies in the hands of the individual, that extends to other individuals. However, self-contained death, such as suicide, can be argued as inert or finite. Taking one's own life is incredibly different than taking another person's life. There are less philosophical implications and ethical questions between suicide and murder (for the sake of the argument, I will not delve into murder or self-assisted suicide).

Whereas murder causes others to grieve, suicide can still cause grief among those closely associated with the individual. It is still removing a life, something that can be viewed as narcissistic, selfish and cowardly.

— The act of suicide ends all pain and suffering, both physical and emotional. Life is enjoyable if it can be lived to the fullest of an individual's potential and to the point that it gratifies the individual. If life can not do that because of reduced physical capacity (illness, injury, malformations) or psychological trauma (emotional problems, mental illness), then suicide is a way to end that suffering and give the individual peace.

This is the only way I can somewhat see a value in suicide. If life can not be enjoyed to the point that pain of some sort is felt daily and to which there is no escape, then suicide is reasonable. The only problem is that while severe physical and psychological trauma do make life difficult, many people have chosen to live with them because they see the value of living. While pain, in all its forms, can ruin a life, some see elements that make life worth living. There are elements of life that make it worth experiencing while fighting through pain. This means that suicide to end pain is merely subjective and not a just act.

This last sentence pretty much sums all that can be said for suicide and its place in philosophy. Suicide is an act and a subjective one at that. Only the individual can know what truly ails him, what his true desires are and if living is worth the continued struggle with outside forces.