@ttack

Perhaps more than any other invention in the last 100 years, the Internet has radically changed the ways that people live and interact. Oftentimes we view this as a positive phenomenon that has vastly improved the lives of millions — if not billions ­— of people. Sounds like a good thing, right?

Maybe not.

I can think of just a few things off the top of my head that should concern you about the Internet.

First of all, it’s big. Really big. If my childhood memories of playing football as a smallish nerdy kid taught me anything, it’s that you should be afraid of big things. They are often capable of and, especially on the football field, intent on causing you pain.

Maybe it’s unfair to say that the Internet wants to hurt me just because it’s big, but it is definitely capable of doing so. It has become such an ubiquitous part of our society that if it should crash or run out of space, as a CNN article online I kind of read has told me it might, it could very well bring down the fabric of our society with it.

How would I order my Papa John’s? How would I know when my Domino’s Pizza is being cooked? Where does porn exist outside the Internet?

There are, of course, other more minor concerns, like the fact that a stupid amount of our monetary interactions occur online.

I’m talking, of course, about stock trades, money wires, paying bills or even paying the extra fine on a speeding ticket so it doesn’t show up on your record (speaking of which, does that feel like bribery to anyone else?).

Our economy is now so intricately intertwined with the Internet that any interruption in the flow of cash, information and smut could be potentially devastating to every major world market. Even third-world startups have a website now.

So outside of the fact that the Internet now exists as an inoperable tumor on human society, why else should it scare me?, I can hear you asking me via Skype. It’s already changing the way we interact with one another. Things like talking in person, even by phone, are becoming obsolete.

If I can just IM or Facebook someone why would I ever need to actually talk to them? If we suddenly had to go back to the point where none of our interaction with people could occur virtually, could we do it? I’m pretty sure we all know people who couldn’t.

Thirty years ago, our parents’ primary concern for the end of times was a nuclear holocaust started by the evil Russians (or perhaps by a senile, feisty Ronald Reagan). The threat to our society is not nearly so obvious, which might actually make it more dangerous. 

So as you sit here reading my article on the Internet, keep in mind that it might be destined to cause the downfall of human society.

I’m watching you, Internet.

­— jontodd@indiana.edu