Comments on the Nature of: The Internet, Teaching, and Social Consciousness
by Jim Walker, Internetter.com Interactive, April 1997I've been asked on many occasions, "Why?" "Why does a person strive to help others gain knowledge in using the Internet when the level of frustration of the new technology can be so great?" "What is the value of it all?"
Well, for some the answer is simple. For some of us who have devoted our lives to this new "philosophy," the Internet allows us unlimited altruism from the confines of a keyboard. This alone can be an almost spiritual experience to those who have always wished to singularly improve the World but have found the limits of physical space the greatest limiting factor.
So the Internet has changed all that. We can take an otherwise dissatisfied person overcome by the seemingly overwhelming complexity of this new medium and with a few keystrokes or a few words change that individuals outlook on life or situation. Never before in history has an individual been provided such unlimited potential. Information and potential is no longer held back by the limits of our tutors. Social conscience is no longer bound by local influence. An individual can incorporate or transfer entirely new belief systems globally within an arms reach in distance. The need of individuals to expand and incorporate new ideas is literally changing the social consciousness of our society. The quiet evolution unfolds.
In past decades, our predecessors have striven to enhance their personal well-being through the accumulation of personal wealth without concern for the society as a whole. Today, the Internet is changing the way we interact socially and economically. On the Internet, we intrinsically understand that individuals expect to be given information before they will provide "feedback." This completely reverses the belief systems of our predecessors who believed that their "ability" to provide information would lead others to accept their power and compensate them accordingly.
The future World business model requires the provider of information to first give some of their information without cost before they can expect a return (in the real world this means giving more for less to maintain and increase the customer base). This giving of information, albeit slight from the providers standpoint, generates an exponential willingness on the part of the society as a whole to modify their belief system accordingly since it becomes less profitable not to do so. Profit goes to those that know best how to balance what information they give freely with information that generates a profit. Give to much you lose. Those that create a fractional balance of 1 part giving and 2 parts profit generation win. In total, the society improves, information is plentiful and helpful; and individuals can enhance their personal wealth both physically, and as a positive side effect-- spiritually.
The value is that some of us see the movements of the new social consciousness and revel in the understanding that we are a a part of it. The simple joy at seeing someone begin to grasp the simplicity and social impact of the keyboard in front of them is beyond words. While some will be hard pressed to understand the impact on their lives of this global communication tool, others will continue to quietly change the world one person at a time with the understanding of greater things to come.
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"Giving and sharing will no longer be a function of what we know or own, it will soon be a necessity of being."
"The Internet allows us unlimited altruism from the confines of a keyboard."
"Profit goes to those that know best how to balance what information they give freely with that information that generates a profit."
"Information and potential is no longer held back by the limits of our tutors and social conscience is no longer bound by local influence. An individual can incorporate or transfer entirely new belief systems globally within an arms reach in distance."