Tag Archives: guardians of culture

I wrote this three years ago and I think it is worth revisiting in view of efforts being made by totalitarian regimes to control internet access. I think it will backfire and will actually accelerate the meltdown of any regime that seeks to do this.

The
Children of the Internet will introduce change into our society in ways
we cannot easily predict because they are bypassing traditional sources
of information.

A culture controls change if it can restrict the flow of
information. As long as a child only learns skills, attitudes, and
fears from its extended family, that child is protected from the
corrupting (and civilizing) effect of "outside ideas".

The child of such a culture can be raised to regard all outside the
group as inferior or as enemies to be slain or subjugated. By the time
the child is old enough to see that these "inferiors" have superior
technology and lifestyles, it can be so warped that its only recourse
is to destroy that which it cannot emulate.

The internet, with its overwhelming abundance of information,
incredible beauty, and skillfully delivered lies, presents a challenge
to any culture, even an advanced and open-minded one. The internet,
even in its present limited form, presents the ultimate threat to
closed cultures. The open flow of information exposes many lies that
these cultures use to keep their citizens under control.

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