SIMON I I\ I K \M
Internet couW lead to isolation
The Internet is transforming the
world of personal communications
in the same way television revolu
tionized entertainment in the 1950s
— by pulling people away from the
movie theater and keeping them in
their homes, isolated from the rest
of the world.
With Internet, personal contact
is shunned in favor of a tendency to
segregate oneself from an unfiltered
society. The protection of the
computer screen allows people to
free themselves from shyness and
insecurity by concealing their
appearance, tone of voice and
mannerisms.
i ms gives tne leeling ol having
conquered one’s fears, but it’s only
a delusion.
Freed of all his or her com
plexes, the Internet user can be as
charming as the screen allows him
or her to be. However, we should
ask ourselves what’s left in human
communication if we reduce it to a
mere exchange of electronic
sentences. It’s all right if Internet is
used as a tool to cross continents
and expand one’s horizons, but it is
sad if it becomes the sole means of
socializing.
There are people who use the
computer to communicate with
people in the same building,
sometimes on the same floor. This
is not only sad but unhealthy. We
are witnessing the birth of a vast
group of people who prefer virtual
contact to real contact.
People who are, or feel, unable
to interact with other human beings
on a personal level hide themselves
behind powerful hard drives, which
are seen as computer-age symbols
of masculinity. Inside the room, the
Internet gigolo can feel confident
and become another person. It’s a
sort of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
transformation, in which a “mouse”
becomes a lion.
The Internet is used widely ^ -
We'll be trying on shoes miles away
from the store through a virtual
foot and maybe even be having sex
with a full bodysuit and the virtual
partner of our choice.
among college students to get dates
— or at least to flirt with users of
the opposite sex. Usually it’s men
who lurk the net, looking for
opportunities to show off the tons of
megabytes in their hard drives,
considering the Internet users’
testosterone-heavy demographics.
The problem, however, is that
using the net for extended periods
of time cripples the ability to
communicate in person. In the
computer world, all that matters is
what is said; in the real world, how
it’s said is more important.
The most brilliant computer
converser might end up being the
dullest date ever — and vice versa.
To have a relationship through the
computer, a person doesn’t need to
care about appearance. A dirty T
shirt, old underwear and slippers
are a perfectly good outfit for the
Internet stud.
The net, however, also is about
serious issues — and serious users.
The free flow of information makes
it a treasure trove for people who
know how to use its vast resources.
Any subject can be discussed in the
countless news groups — from
astrophysics to tasteless jokes. This
freedom presents a wide array of
ethical and legal issues.
But the interesting aspect is that
the Internet represents the closest
thing we have to the communica
tion superhighway. That is, when
we’ll be able to conduct our lives
without moving from the couch.
We’ll be trying on shoes miles
away from the store through a
virtual foot and maybe even be
having sex with a hill bodysuit and
the virtual partner of our choice.
Virtual reality is today’s turn-on
phrase for most computer freaks.
But if we really think about it, it’s a
scam. Virtually, all humanity could
be eating steak every day; virtually,
Tampa Bay could win the Super
Bowl. This is not “virtual reality”
but “actual illusion.”
Why would we need to deceive
our senses? Have we lost the ability
to go out and do things ourselves?
The ideal of a society in which each
home will be an independent self
sustaining unit is dictated tty the
fear that exists in our society. This
fear tells us that the fewer people
we meet, the safer we feel.
A thousand years ago, a human
being would come across only a few
hundred people in his or her
lifetime, but those people would
know everything about one another.
Today, wc are able to contact
thousands of people daily, but
nobody knows anything about
anyone.
If this is progress, maybe we’ll
come to a time so developed that we
won’t know ourselves.
Liverani is a junior advertising major
and a Daily Nebraskan columnist.
Yorsi i Ham hr
Faith separates men, animals
The difference between animals
and humans is contributed mainly
to intellect or reason. Nature has
endowed us with sensory organs,
which are the greatest source of
acquiring certain and specific
knowledge.
We cannot be sure of anything
except that which is perceived
through our sensorial reactions. We
have, indeed, discovered this world
through them. Through our sensory
organs, we have gathered a vast
treasure of observations, expetv
ences and perceptions.
A number of philosophers regard
the senses as weak, doubtful and
unreliable mediums for acquiring
knowledge. The knowledge of man
is extremely imperfect, and his
senses are uncertain and erring.
We can never be sure that what
the senses impart to us is true. They
merely show us the world as
external objects. Even the condition
of the sense organs appears to us in
sensuous perception. In order to
possess them, an instrument is
needed that can control them, and
then a means of controlling this
instrument, and so on.
Where did we come from, and
where have we to go? In other
words, what is the beginning and
end of the cosmic order? Can our
eyes, ears, hands and tongue guide
us to find an answer to this ques
uonr
We can find out where we
presently are only through our
sensory impressions. These facul
ties lead us only up to a certain
limit; they stop before an impreg- k
nable wall.
We cannot see or hear beyond a
certain distance, while other
sensory organs suffer from even
greater limitations. Whether there
is a life after death can neither be
affirmed nor denied by sensorial
observations. In fact, our sensory
organs are to subserve life, and they
We can find out where we pres
ently are only through our sensory
impressions. These faculties lead us
only up to a certain limit; they stop
before an impregnable wall.
confine themselves to the limita
tions inherent in life itself.
They cannot provide an answer
to or affirm or deny anything
outside the field of their powers. At
the most, they can deny having
perceived something but cannot
deny its existence. But, is percep
tion and existence one and the
same? Is anything not discernible
through the agency of sensory
organs nonexistent?
Do we act on this premise in our
daily life and refuse to accept
everything not actually perceived by
our senses?
No. We do not, for such an
attitude would totally demolish the
distinctions between a man and an
animal, and all the treasures of
knowledge and culture would be
rendered meaningless.
Since we cannot perceive life by
means of our sensory organs, how
can we obtain further details of it
through them?
Sensory perceptions are likewise
ill-suited to furnish a reply to the
question about thf reality of
cosmos. Sensorial observations can
only comprehend different objects.
The senses perceive parts of the
world or conceive the reality in
fragments.
They have undoubtedly per
ceived and discovered a large
number of fragments of the world,
but we can grasp the inner harmony
between them that integrates these
various pieces into a composite
entity — into a world in its totality.
Do they lead to the underlying
cause of essential unity in diversity,
the spirit of unity running through
apparently conflicting phenomena?
The essence and power behind
the well-balanced cosmic order is
even harder to understand through
the methodical equipment of human
senses.
We can comprehend a part of
physical laws governing this
universe, because we perceive and
experience their effects. Some of
these are quite obvious. For
example, we know that the fire
burns, water quenches thirst, and
poison kills.
But the experience about moral
behavior is of an entirely different
nature. We can find out the heat
and its effect by the tactile sense,
but we cannot through our senses
discover the harm inflicted tty
cruelty, falsehood or misappropria
tion.
We need an ethical intuition,
religious faith and a deep feeling of
spiritual security for realizing the
effects of moral behavior. These are
quite distinct and different from the
feeling experienced^ touching
fire.
Bashir is a senior food science major and
a DaQy Nebraskan columnist
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