A New World, An Old Truth, and a Web

     It is hard to imagine what it would be like to discover a new world. A new place with a completely different people and animals and way of interacting. There are not any Columbus's around to discover new Americas these days. Satellites have captured images of just about every part of the globe. Very few places have been left unexplored. Yet, a new world is appearing. A world with new people and new places. A world with new ways of interacting. A world with new animals and languages and histories. It is one that almost all Americans have visited and that most visit on a daily basis. The world I am speaking of is the Internet.

     Now, calling the Internet "a new world" may seem like a highly dramatized picture of the reality. Maybe it is. But many people today spend a large portion of their daily life online. Online games allow people to explore new lands and interact with other people in a digital environment. Social networking sites provide a meeting place for people to make light conversation. Businesses and stores have set up online storefronts and markets. A new language has developed to refer to the things throughout the Internet. This really is a new world. The question is: what kind of world is it?

     The movie, the Matrix presents an interesting picture of an Internet-like world. In the movie, all of humanity is connected to a huge machine where the people's energy is extracted from them to feed a robotic race. The machine, or Matrix, keeps them unaware of their imprisonment by creating a virtual world around them that looks and feels like the real world. People in the Matrix live their lives and die in the machine. They build cities, eat food, marry, feel pain and happiness, and create governments and laws to govern themselves. The truth is hidden from them. All of them, that is, but a few. Those few who discover their true situation, escape from the machine, and wage war against the robot captors, breaking into the machine in order to free more people from its grasp. Could it be that the Internet is a world like this?
     A direct comparison is, of course, impossible. The inside of the Matrix is too much like reality and the outside too much like fiction. In the movie, cities, cars, stores, dogs, umbrellas, and crying babies are all inside the Matrix. Robots, extremely advanced computers, high tech weapons, and Star Wars-like vehicles are outside the Matrix. The Internet is just the opposite from the Matrix in this area. While there are pieces of the Internet that might mirror reality or reveal parts of it, the achievement of the Internet is that it allows for the unreal to exist. Man can create his own world, his own creatures, his own moral code. He is no longer constrained by the world around him. He can live in a world of his own creation.

     Another problem with comparing the Internet to the Matrix is that the people in the Matrix are placed in the machine against their will. Aside from the few who find a way out of the Matrix, all of them are trapped without any means of escape. The Internet, unlike the Matrix, does not enslave people against their will. Everyone has a choice to enter the world of the Internet. Leaving, however, is becoming harder and harder as the Internet is becoming more and more entrenched in society. The majority of entertainment, social life, news, scholarly articles, writings, and schooling can now be accessed online. Not only can they be accessed, but people are being asked to access them using the Internet on a daily basis. Teachers require students to go to the Internet to read and work on assignments. Businesses expect employees to communicate with e-mail and to use the Internet to find and learn information that will help them with their jobs. Stores create storefronts online, making the most convenient place to shop the Internet. Cell phones, chat rooms, social networks, e-mail, and other means of interacting with people are all on the Internet. The list goes on. 

     The Internet is not only becoming more necessary for daily life, it is also becoming easier to access in a physical way. A person can access the Internet almost everywhere. Computers, cell phones, tablets, or iPods can be found in every home or on just about every person. Libraries, public schools, colleges and some coffee shops often provide public computers. Wifi hotspots, wireless networks, and other services allow easy access to the Internet with the press of a button. So, even though there are no robots to enslave humanity, people are still being pulled away from the real world. Instead of being forcefully plugged into a machine, people are walking gaily to computer and connecting themselves.

     So, is the Internet really like the Matrix? Is it a prison? Or is it something completely different. Could it be that the reason people use the Internet so much is because they see the Internet as a key? A key that unlocks chains rather than creating them? After all, it is opening up opportunities for people that never would have come about without it. It is allowing people access to tools for learning and communication that would not even be imaginable without the introduction of the Internet. Is the Internet really a prison? 

     The answer to this question is probably best summed up in the saying: "It is what you make it to be." In other words, the Internet is not in itself good or bad. It is not a jail cell or a key to freedom. Rather, it is a tool that amplifies whatever is put into it. A person can use the Internet to help complete a task quickly or he can use it to distract himself from the task at hand. He can use it as a means to learn about the real world or he can use it to spend time in a fictional one. He can use it to organize meetings with friends or he can use it to keep from ever having a face-to-face conversation. Ultimately, it is up to the individual to decide what kind of world the Internet is and what it will be. 

     The problem lies not in the Internet, but in the people using and creating it. Man tends towards laziness and apathy when he is not held accountable in some way. Unless he trains himself in the habit of being motivated in his work and develops a desire for knowledge and learning, he will tend toward taking the easy path. In this case, that path can lead to hours of wasted time. So, even if the Internet can be an amazing tool to help a person’s productivity, it is more likely to become a trap. Especially for people who are not expecting a trap. 

     This is happening to many people already. In the month of August 2011, the average American spent 30 hours of time on the Internet (Nielson). That translates to nearly an hour a day. Of that hour, 14 minutes of that time was spent on Facebook (Nielson). That means that the average person spent one quarter of the time that they were on the Internet browsing Facebook. 

     Facebook is not the only place where people throw their time away. Over 10 million people are subscribed to the game World of Warcraft, of whom 2.5 million are Americans (BBC, Digg.com). Games like World of Warcraft take up large portions of people’s time, consuming an average of 21 to 22 hours a week (HowStuffWorks.com). People are willing to spend hours trying to level their characters and customize their equipment. They will give up time with friends and family and sacrifice their grades in school, or even their jobs, in order to succeed in the game. Many people who play say that it is not unusual to play 10 or 12 hours at one time. One 16 year old spent an average of 16 hours a day playing World of Warcraft, giving up school, friends, and almost everything else just to play the game (YouTube). One of the psychologists that was interviewed during the news clip said that this boy may not be as unusual as people may first imagine.  It is cases like his that are leading several psychologists and other medical professionals to entertain the idea of Internet addiction, comparing it to gambling addiction in the way that people are effected (NetAddiction.com).

     Ultimately, though, Facebook and World of Warcraft are just two examples of a multitude of sink holes that people have access to on the Internet. The speed at which the Internet is able to send data these days is allowing new forms of media, such as television and movies, to become widely available as well. It is becoming easier and easier to access places created purely for entertainment. Given people’s tendency to take the easy path, a place with easy access to things like this could become a snare for people who are not expecting it. After all, who would begrudge taking a little time away from work or school when a friend, movie, television show, or fantasy world is just a click away? 

     The problem with taking a little time and putting it into a site like Facebook or a game like World of Warcraft is that a little time can turn into a lot of time very quickly. Both are designed to catch and hold people for as long as possible. The business schemes behind them depend on it. Facebook’s profits are based on advertising, which only generates revenue as long as other businesses think that people will see their advertisements (Johnson). The more people who visit and spend time browsing Facebook, the more likely businesses are to pay for advertising on their site. World of Warcraft makes its money from monthly subscriptions to the game, which means that it has to keep people in the game as long as possible to generate more revenue. Since its release in September of 2004, Blizzard (the company that created World of Warcraft) has released several expansions to the game, each one adding new content to the previous one. With this model, the game could potentially go on forever. That is, until Blizzard decides it should end.

     Ultimately, every major site is trying to attract people to, “come and stay,” and then to, “come back again,” when they leave. The way the website goes about this depends on the reason the site exists. Some websites offer tools that will be of real use to people, others offer ways to easily access large stores of information, others simply offer entertainment for people’s leisure time. No matter what the case, the person who enters the Internet is subtly pulled toward many different places and asked to stay there for as long as possible. Calling the Internet “The Web” is a very apt name. It is as though every company were spinning its own piece of a vast web and unexpectant people can find themselves stuck.

     So, if all of this is true--if this is a new world; if it can be either a key or a prison depending on how a person uses it; if people tend towards imprisoning themselves when they are not trained in how to keep themselves free; and if the Internet is composed of many webs whose purpose is to ensnare people--then what should be done? The most important thing to be done is to realize exactly what the Internet is and what it is not and then to realize the dangers that lie in wait behind its exotic foliage. The Internet is not a good or an evil in itself. Rather, it is an amplifier of whatever is put into it. It will produce whatever one asks. Ultimately, it is the person using it who determines its worth. In the right hands, it can be an amazing tool for good and in the wrong hands it can be an amazing tool for evil. It is a tool that many people can get ensnared in while using. This is because every website is working to lure people to their site and then to hold them there for as long as it takes to accomplish the company’s aim. The Internet may not be a Matrix-like world made by robots to enslave humanity, but it is possible that it is a machine that people are using to enslave themselves.

Works Cited

BBC News. 10 Nov 2011. Web. 17 Dec 2011. 

     http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15672416

Digg.com. 22 Jan 2008. Web. 17 Dec 2011. 

     http://digg.com/news/story/World_of_Warcraft_Hits_10_Million_Subscribers_2

Johnson, Bobbie. The Guardian. 16 Sep 2009. 

     http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2009/sep/16/facebook-money

Nielson. 30 Sep 2011. Web. 17 Dec 2011.

     http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/august-2011-top-us-web-brands

The PEW Research Center. Summer 2011. Web. 16 Dec 2011.

     http://www.pewinternet.org/Trend-Data/Online-Activities-Daily.aspx

The World Bank. 2010. Web. 16 Dec 2011. 

     http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET/USER.P2/countries/US?display=graph

YouTube. 3 Oct 2006. Web. 18 Dec 2011.

     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8hfK3RQs2g&eurl=

NetAddiction.com. Web. 17 Dec 2011.

      http://www.netaddiction.com/

Praying for the Nation...

Almost everywhere I go in the State University that I attend, I see things happening that make me uneasy. Every time I walk into the cafeteria on campus, I look around and see people laughing and joking and I want to join them, but then I hear what they're laughing at and my smile disappears. Where is the joy? The hope? The fellowship? Where is God's Church? Where are the hundreds of Christians on campus who attend all of the weekly worship meetings and Bible studies and prayer groups? Where are the disciples who have given up everything--including friends and family--to follow Jesus? Where are the people who are aching to "go" and to become God's hands and feet to the nations? Where are the people who are taking time out of their busy schedules to love people outside their own group of friends? Where is Christ on campus? 

I ask all these questions, then I look at myself. Am I following Christ's example and reaching forth my hands in love? Am I doing all I can to know and serve Him? Do I really believe that He is enough? Looking at my desires, thoughts, hopes, fears, and actions.... the answer is simply, "No." Do I want to? Yes.

And that is what I have been praying for over the past few weeks. I want to see a change in our country, in the Church, and in myself. Our God is powerful--mighty to save and heal. And we need to be healed. I see so many places where the Church is content to slap on band-aids when her gash is too large and too deep to be covered. She needs to be healed. I can see why the world laughs at us! We look just like everyone else, only we have all these colorful band-aids stuck on top of our gore. Music: "Hey, it's the 'clean version'." Movies: "There aren't really any bad scenes in it." Language: "What the ‘F’!?!" Dating: "No sex before marriage..."

Where is the man who can truly say with Paul, "I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things" (Philippians 3:8-9)? Where is the man who really wants to know the Lord, the Creator of the Universe? Where is the man who wants to be known by Him?

I do not know anyone on campus who is so gripped with a love for the Lord that he will give up everything to follow Him. Jesus asks us to give up everything to follow Him. Everything. Sins, lusts, fears, hates, hopes, desires, loves, and comforts. He says, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple… any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26-27, 33). “Hate” seems a strong word, and I have often wondered if that word was translated properly, but the point is clear. We cannot place anything in front of following Jesus. We have to drop everything that we love most and all the things we rely on to keep us safe, and follow Him. 

This is my biggest fear: that one day I will come before the Lord and hear my Creator say, "I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoer" (Matthew 7:23), or to know that I will be saved, "but only as one escaping through the flames" (1 Corinthians 3:15). And that is what I fear for the Church. Our desires are too small. We are too content with our own collection of pearls--we cannot see the value in Christ. 

O’ Lord, heal us! Let us know your salvation! Teach us your love!

So, will you pray with me for our Nation and for the Church in America?

Of Life...

I took a walk on the Byrd's land the other day. It was quiet. The sun's warmth spoke of spring, but the cool breeze said that winter may still linger a while. I passed over the King's Hill and made my way down the far side. My thoughts were wandering and I lost track of where my feet were taking me. I kept to the paths mostly, gazing abstractedly into woods around me. Then my eyes caught a glimpse of something silvery grey passing through the trees. It seemed too large to be a bird and too high off the ground to be a dog or coyote. It seemed to stand erect, like a living statue of granite or a small tree that had wakened from its sleep. I really do not know what it was, but it awoke something in my heart that had been asleep for a long time--my imagination.

For the first time in what seems like an age, I started to see the world around me as a story. I began to notice the shadows swaying against the trees and the moss clinging to the rocks. Everything contrasted. The light was lighter and the dark darker. I began to wonder if the creatures in George MacDonald's tales might not actually exist. Perhaps C. S. Lewis's was not so far off the mark. After all, these authors were not the first to talk of strange creatures. The centaur was not their invention, nor the dragon, dryad, unicorn, or goblin. Where did they come from? Could it be that they used to exist, or still do?

My eyes raced to the place where I had last seen the silver-grey specter and my legs began to pull me quietly towards the spot. At first I went slowly, hoping not to scare whatever it was, then I ran. When I reached the last tree I had seen it pass, I stopped and looked in all directions. Nothing. I listened. Still nothing. But, wait...

The trees around me still had an air of mystery, the blue sky still seemed a darker shade of blue, the branches still swayed with a new rhythm, and I still felt the thrill of life running through my bones. I dropped down quickly to my knees and prayed a short prayer. The cool breeze brought me with a rush to my feet and I let out a battle cry! This story is just beginning!