Too fast and too easy?

   The new computer we ordered arrived a little sooner we thought it would. We had not expected to get it this soon as we were having it custom built. I played around with it once we had set it up and noticed two things about it. It is much easier to use  and much faster than the old one. New technology is like that that. Faster and mostly easier.
   Is it possible for things to be too fast or too easy? It is something I've been wondering about. Last week after Toastmasters, I had an interesting discussion with a few friends. I had mentioned that people will text or email the most hurtful things to another person. Things they would never say to the person's face or on the telephone. My theory is that text and email allows us to react before we have a chance to think things through. The first thought that goes through your mind is the one that gets sent out. Since you are doing this all electronically, you can also block out the consequences of what you have said. You don't have to deal with it. In other words, too fast and too easy.
   I know this is not a new thought. There are many others out there who see that Internet as a useful tool and as something that can be quite harmful. It's a bit like the Coke bottle in the movie, "The Gods Must be Crazy". One of the story lines in the movie is about a Coke bottle that is carelessly thrown in the African desert. It is discovered by a tribe of people who believe that God only puts good and useful things on the earth. The bottle turns out to be a good an useful thing, but there is only one bottle and people have to share it. This creates dissension in the tribe. You'll have to watch the movie to find out what happens. My point still remains though. Although the Coke bottle was a good thing, it also brought with it some bad side effects. (Sorry, It's the day job)
   The Internet allows easier spread of information. This can be good if you are keeping track of family and friends far away, but bad because rumours, gossip and lies can spread much easier as well.
  When the primary sources of information were radio, newspaper and television there was a reasonable expectation that what was being reported was true. There were certain standards in journalism that were followed. The emphasis was on getting the story right and getting it out as soon as possible.
  Thanks to the Internet, it is now more important to get it out now. The emphasis is on speed. People need to know right now, if the facts are a little off who cares, we'll get to that later. It's too easy. Anyone can say anything they want and if enough people read it, post it and forward it the facts don't really matter. It's on the Internet, therefore it must be true.
   Technology today makes it easier to do lots of things. (OK, that is stating the obvious.) It used to be harder to splice video, to piece together audio clips or to alter an image. With what we have today my 12 year old granddaughter can do all of these things with ease. It means you have to be very careful when video or audio clips are used to support a story. Did this really happen or did someone take some assorted things and paste them together? It's impossible to tell. Someone could manufacture something and post it on You Tube. If enough people watch it and pass it around, the facts no longer matter. I don't know about you, but this scares me.
   It scares me even more to know that can be used to sow seeds of hatred,prejudice,fear and fragmentation. This is made worse because we can now pick and choose who we associate with. We don't have to listen to those who don't agree with us and we can drown out their comments with words of our own. We don't go out and mix with others. It's much easier to hide behind a laptop, listen to your Ipod and tune every one else out.
   We used to be able to get together and get things done. There used to be cooperation. There used to be community. Why can't we get some of this back? If it is faster and easier to spread bad news and gossip, then it should be faster and easier to spread messages of hope and support. Why don't we take all that we have and use it to build us up instead of tearing us down.