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Chat Rooms: Are We Missing the Point?
In my short life,
after years of talking too much, I’ve come to realize
that if one is always speaking, one never listens. If
you never listen to others, well, you’re limiting your
access to a lot of knowledge and information. Recently,
after much deliberation I thought I’d check out what the
world of Chat Rooms is like. People talk to each other
by text, voice, and web cam. This is a really big
phenomenon; I wanted to see what all the fuss is about.
I expect there are many chat rooms where people with
similar interests get to know each other, and share
their perspectives on various aspects of life. These are
great, much cheaper than telephones, and multiple,
random people can chat to one another simultaneously.
But I speak the truth, and my preconceived ideas about
mindless gossip from jaded humans were sadly affirmed as
I arbitrarily checked chat rooms that supposedly
discussed important subjects. It seems some people are
just very bored, and want to be cool and swear on-line,
insulting others, and giving this area of information
technology a bad name. I think a lot of people are using
the rooms solely for personal conversation that
contextually no one else can understand.
I went to a chat room about religion, and then to one
about tattoos and it seemed like the same people were
talking. Most of the conversation didn’t even touch the
supposed subject matter. It was definitely a
disenchanting experience but hopefully with more
research I hope to come across some serious rooms where
the true intent of the creators has come to fruition.
I guess it’s good that bored people in our technological
society have others to talk to. It means depressed
adolescents may feel more connected to others and not so
alone in the world, maybe even having a positive effect
on a possibly suicidal youth. But, I do feel this
nonsensical chitchat is a sign of our next generation’s
apathetic view of present reality in our postmodern
culture. When reading the text from a supposedly
religious discussion, and hearing graphic use of
derogatory terminology, I really have to wonder about
the present spiritual beliefs of my culture.
I’m a true believer of the concept that technology is
here to further the consciousness of humanity. Computers
and the Internet can help bring all of us in the world
together, thus evolving our society to the next level.
After looking at chat rooms, I feel there is a need to
integrate more wisdom and compassion into our ‘new
world’ generation. Having the technology is great, but
it is only one half of the equation. To make the
Internet work properly, I think we need to instill the
same faith we have in science, into a faith that
encompasses the actual creators of the information and
communication tools-humanity itself. We seem to realize
that we can invent many great things, but it looks like
we’re missing out on the great truth: that we ourselves
are part of, and made of something great in itself:
Life.
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