Will Facebook Bring About Armageddon?
Monday, March 16. 2009
I commented on a post on a buddy's blog recently that I'll never sign up for Facebook because it could lead to the end of civilization. I base this position on an exchange that appears in Bring Me to Life.
Evan said, "How do you people manage without the Internet?"
"The what?" Kirin asked distractedly.
"The Internet. Huge network of all the computers in the world. Sum of all human knowledge. Well, all knowledge on Earth, anyway."
"Oh," Kirin said. "You mean the social network."
"Well, that's part of it, yeah," Evan allowed. "But it's not the most important part."
"Whether you consider it important or not," Kirin said, "it's the most critical component of the sort of super-network you're describing."
"Okay, whatever. How do you access it?"
"You don't," Kirin said. "We don't have such a construct. Our civilization has successfully dodged that particular catastrophic bullet."
"I don't understand."
"I believe," Kirin went on, "it's what caused the disappearance of the Slow Ones. Though it can't be proven, of course."
"Social networking?"
Kirin shrugged. Evan was tired of lines of questioning that led him down paths he couldn't get back out of, so he elected to change the subject.
That's a bit tongue-in-cheek, of course. I like to insert little "edge of the idea" scenes like the above into my SF novels, because I think they make the setting richer, keep the reader's interest, and might sometimes succeed in getting people to think. The books I've most loved reading have been the ones I find myself turning over in my mind the next day.
But seriously, all the time people are spending now "connecting" with other people has to take time away from some other activity. Are people sleeping less? Is the Gross Domestic Product dropping? Are people having fewer babies? Something has to give; as I've lamented in the past, time can't be created, it can only be rearranged. So perhaps it's not too farfetched to imagine that a society that becomes addicted to social networking is on the path to oblivion...
I commented on a post on a buddy's blog recently that I'll never sign up for Facebook because it could lead to the end of civilization. I base this position on an exchange that appears in Bring Me to Life.
That's a bit tongue-in-cheek, of course. I like to insert little "edge of the idea" scenes like the above into my SF novels, because I think they make the setting richer, keep the reader's interest, and might sometimes succeed in getting people to think. The books I've most loved reading have been the ones I find myself turning over in my mind the next day.
But seriously, all the time people are spending now "connecting" with other people has to take time away from some other activity. Are people sleeping less? Is the Gross Domestic Product dropping? Are people having fewer babies? Something has to give; as I've lamented in the past, time can't be created, it can only be rearranged. So perhaps it's not too farfetched to imagine that a society that becomes addicted to social networking is on the path to oblivion...
Evan said, "How do you people manage without the Internet?" "The what?" Kirin asked distractedly. "The Internet. Huge network of all the computers in the world. Sum of all human knowledge. Well, all knowledge on Earth, anyway." "Oh," Kirin said. "You mean the social network." "Well, that's part of it, yeah," Evan allowed. "But it's not the most important part." "Whether you consider it important or not," Kirin said, "it's the most critical component of the sort of super-network you're describing." "Okay, whatever. How do you access it?" "You don't," Kirin said. "We don't have such a construct. Our civilization has successfully dodged that particular catastrophic bullet." "I don't understand." "I believe," Kirin went on, "it's what caused the disappearance of the Slow Ones. Though it can't be proven, of course." "Social networking?" Kirin shrugged. Evan was tired of lines of questioning that led him down paths he couldn't get back out of, so he elected to change the subject. |
That's a bit tongue-in-cheek, of course. I like to insert little "edge of the idea" scenes like the above into my SF novels, because I think they make the setting richer, keep the reader's interest, and might sometimes succeed in getting people to think. The books I've most loved reading have been the ones I find myself turning over in my mind the next day.
But seriously, all the time people are spending now "connecting" with other people has to take time away from some other activity. Are people sleeping less? Is the Gross Domestic Product dropping? Are people having fewer babies? Something has to give; as I've lamented in the past, time can't be created, it can only be rearranged. So perhaps it's not too farfetched to imagine that a society that becomes addicted to social networking is on the path to oblivion...
Geannie Bastian on :
BUt Twitter, also a SN, I love, because I get pointed to things like this.
CJ on :
Brent on :
CJ on :
Er ... I was going by the UK spelling. Facebooke. Yeah ... that's it ...