Sign in

If such a thing as technological DNA exists then I believe we have handed ours to the world wide web for keeps.

The internet is constantly looking for ways to gather information about all of us. Social network sites, trading websites - be it financial or personal information very little evades the all singing, all dancing spider web that links so many of us to people all over the world.

"Oh bloody hell! He's off on one of his conspiracy rants again.." You think. There's nothing necessarily insidious about the web though. The stockpiling of data is a result, not necessarily the deliberate intention.

The Web is a bit like the Roman Empire. As Monty Python's 'The Life of Brian' facetiously asks: "What have the Romans done for us?" Of course the list is long, but the death and devastation left by their many conquests is likewise considerable.

Obviously the Internet hasn't been directly responsible for lives lost. It is comparable though in that both have facilitated considerable advancement of the human civilization while eroding valuable freedoms (privacy, speech).

"So its ok then? Well what's the point of this shit?" You say. The very same point of the world wide web - advancement. Your advancement. Try and imagine a life less dictated to by the internet.

No, don't cut yourself off from civilization and live in a cage - not unless you have body odour problems. There is so much of the world that has pre-dated our modern age though and will carry on till the world stops spinning. Nature, physical evidence of our history, face-to-face communication for example. Rediscover it, and yourself - step out of the matrix.