Before, if I had a thought that was strange and unique and controversial, and you had the same thought that was strange and unique and controversial, it would be pretty difficult for us to find each other. One of us would need to write a book, or an article in a newspaper, or we’d have to randomly meet in a bar or through mutual friends. If I lived in Oklahoma and you lived in Oregon, the chances of us crossing paths would be extremely small. And if we did meet, one of us would have to share this strange, unique, controversial thought with the other—which we would be heavily disincentivized from doing, since 99% of the time that we would share that thought, it would lead to social awkwardness and potentially worse. You and I would probably remain alone, isolated, and discouraged with our strange, unique, controversial thought.
But now—with the Internet—it’s suddenly much easier. I can post a blog or start a social media group. I can even do it anonymously if I’m worried about backlash for my views. If you agree with my thought, you might find the blog or group—and now we’re connected, regardless of where we live, as long as we can speak the same language. (Even language barriers are becoming less of an issue these days.)
How much this probably accelerates the rate of social change!
How many ideas, beliefs, and ways of being can now find a place to be shared, discovered, and engaged with!
Would the modern LGBTQ movement have happened without the Internet? Would it have happened so quickly?
Would the modern movement to end factory farming—indeed, to end all forms of animal exploitation—be growing so fast without the ability to share horrifying videos of animal cruelty to millions of people? To connect with others who want to end this suffering?
Would these ideas be discovered?
Would movements form?
Or would each person have remained isolated?
How rapidly, it seems to me, our ideas about the world are changing, now that we can all talk and think together. It used to take years for good ideas and information to spread. Now, it can take weeks, days, or minutes.
And in many ways—not all, of course—how wonderful of a thing this is.
This post is a chapter from my book, Thoughts, Volume 1, where I share reflections and ideas chapter by chapter. In the book, it’s titled “On The Internet”.
