Who Turned Out the Lights?!

Prince says the internet's over.  I tend to agree, but think he's about ten years ahead of his time (as usual).  At the end of the brief article he mentions the uselessness of the quick information and numbers our techo toys fill our heads with.  He's got a significant point there - the constant jumping around the virtual world is depleting our attention spans.

Follow the train down the track a little: as attention spans decrease, the ability to explore anything in depth decreases, and boredom sets in.  So we have all these toys and flashing lights and we're bored because we're really not studying anything.  And what do bored people want? Entertainment!  And what did Julius Caesar say about that? I'll paraphrase, but he said if you can keep the masses entertained you can put pretty much anything over on them.

(Hey, where'd the Gulf of Mexico disappear to?  And what the hell happened to the economy?  What do you mean affordable higher education in California is falling into the sea?  What Texas sized plastic garbage patch in the Pacific ocean? I don't see it on Google Earth...)

I love the internet, it's fun and useful, I'm just calling for balance, and if Prince says it's over let me weigh in to suggest it's just not the be all and end all we've made it out to be.

I saw a promo for a TV show where people were actually racing to pull kleenexes out of boxes.  How long can ya watch something like that before you need something new?  Now: how about humanity spending its free time learning about each other, maybe even considering ways to address the needs of societies and nature?  How about solving problems instead of turning away to lucious little fixes?

Oh the notion is complex, it might induce meaningful conversations leading to increased compassion and passion for life!  Why, we might go outside at night, away from the glowing screens, ponder the stars again and consider our place in the universe.  Somebody could fall truly in love!  The moon would glow a little brighter!  Interactions beyond the 134-character limits might just take hold and soulfulness would ensue! 

I might laugh!  I might write a poem or paint a picture beautiful enough to make me cry! 

And here I am all out of kleenex.