Internet 'progress' promises stagnant civilization

This is not to say that there is nothing valuable about computers. This summer I worked in a large firm converting its information from a dusty room that was filled with yellowing sheets of paper to an efficient electronic database. I saw firsthand how computers save us time and energy. Traveling abroad that same summer, I appreciated how e-mail could speed up voluminous daily communications that would have been unthinkable a decade ago. But there is more to life and work than fast communication and data retrieval, no matter how much easier they make things. People conduct enterprise to do things like build houses, grow and distribute food, provide a physical infrastructure to facilitate travel, and create vehicles to travel on that infrastructure. These are basic things. Beyond the basics, we seek to explore and to enjoy. To travel to the Caribbean or Alaska. To see world-class art, architecture, and history in New York, London, or Cairo. To meet new people. Or to stay at home and listen to music, read, and play sports. Computers make these activities more efficient; but they don't fundamentally alter their nature.

There have been achievements in the past, however, that have. Steam and internal combustion engines allowed people to travel far from home easily for the first time. The invention of refrigeration allowed food to be reliably stored. The birth-control pill gave women control over their reproductive cycles, which helped them serve in fields formerly considered fit only for men. These accomplishments changed the way that people live their lives.

Many other innovations, especially since the advent of the computer, have not been so successful. It is telling that half a century has passed since the invention of the supersonic engine, yet there is no large-scale use of such engines in civilian transportation. In the century since the creation of the automobile, the internal combustion engine remains basically unchanged, with no prospects for a viable competitor in the near future. In the 30 years since India's Green Revolution allowed that nation to produce a surplus of food and climb out of cyclical starvation, food is still not efficiently produced in or distributed in much of the world. Though it has been 30 years since man first stepped on the moon, we have not been back in 20, and any presence in space is no more than a toehold. There is no undersea presence outside of the military, though 40 years ago school children were taught that the ocean floor would be colonized and produce unimaginable food and mineral resources.

Computers are useful tools, and they help accomplish important things. It is important for people in Peoria to be able to check stock quotes as the market moves over DLJ Direct. It is important that an elderly couple in Florida can receive an instantaneous snap-shot of their grandchildren through America Online. But computers are only tools; their importance lies in their ability to let us accomplish other truly important tasks more efficiently. A computer by itself has no value—it does not provide shelter, food, or transportation. Computers should be celebrated for the tasks they help us perform, but we should not deify the tool at the expense of the work it was meant to help do.

Peter Gulliver is a junior in Saybrook.

Back to Opinion...