The Many Paradoxes of the Internet
Things have never been easier; things have never been harder. Life online is riddled with paradoxes, but we don’t always notice them, or consider them as such.
The Global Arms Race
Glory, fame, recognition and success are always just a click away, regardless of your passion or occupation… except that in a sort of global arms race of skills, the same is true for the rest of humanity.
Do you want to be a famous writer? You can! It has never been easier. You only have to beat the competition — all the other inhabitants of planet Earth who have the same dream.
The world is smaller now: You can follow the world’s top performers in your field on Twitter. Their wisdom is in the palm of your hand. They’re happy to pass on the secrets to their success. Yet, the world is bigger now: You see firsthand the very best humanity has to offer, and you are no match. Perhaps there was more to their rise than pure grit?
The Illusion of Success
The globalization of news has shrunk the possible into the probable. Whatever could happen, did happen. All the possible variations of the Cinderella story — whether in sports, art, math, music, or anywhere else — are now a reality. We rarely see the backstory, though. The same chance encounter or timing that allowed other people to succeed might not apply to us. But we don’t know that. We see them rise from the same rung of the ladder that we’re on, while we’re staying put. Breakthroughs happen to everyone else, just not us.
In our culture, which prides youth and beauty above many worthier accolades, young girls used to look up to models and movie stars. Today’s version of stardom is being Instagram-famous. The difference is not in the stars’ quality — these are the same narcissists they always were — it’s in their quantity.
The paths to success have been democratized. We feel that we have as good a chance as any to make it. But this is an illusion. We have the same chance as we ever did; it’s just our sense of probability that’s skewed by seeing so many success stories.
Mismatched Expectations
Having the stars live in their ivory tower was actually to our advantage. Their downfall to earth trivializes them, making us think we could reach their lowered heights. And maybe a few of us can. But most won’t. And human beings find much (most?) of their happiness in matching expectations. Thinking you can make it and then not making it hurts much worse than knowing you can’t.
Some call Generation Y “The Lost Generation”, due to a mismatch of expectations. Standards of living, social mobility and other markers of a successful society were expected to rise — like they did for our parents — but they didn’t. It’s not that we’re worse off — we are better off in many respects — but we expected to be way ahead, and we aren’t. Our competition was the previous generation. For the next generation, Gen Z, the competition is the whole world.
The Company We Keep
The “real world” has both been heightened and dulled at the same time. The feelings of loneliness and isolation have been magnified to levels so frightening that the youngest generations in particular (but all of us to some degree) can no longer bear being by ourselves. At the same time, the vibrant colors, landscapes and images online make even the most engaging of settings feel boring by comparison. Even the greatest of companies is never enough anymore; the smartphone to the rescue! So goes yet another paradox.
Talking to Ourselves
Considering the amount of content available online, echo chambers are a paradox indeed. Having access to this wealth of information, we still crave the confirmation of our biases in the outlets that think most like ourselves. This was not a foregone conclusion; the Internet could have evolved to foster a diversity of opinions in its readers. But it didn’t.
The seeming accessibility of our idols gave us a sense of equality with them. After all, if I can “at” someone on Twitter, we’re having a conversation, right? The flat nature of the social networks conveys equivalence. But it too is an illusion. Your idol is not talking to you. They’re talking at you.
A Story of Paradoxes
It has never been easier to connect; we’re in a middle of a loneliness epidemic. It has never been easier to be entertained; depression is on the rise, especially among those most adept at using the new entertainment technologies. It has never been easier to learn a new skill; we are binge-watching another series on Netflix as we speak. It has never been easier to follow our passions; what we’re going to do, though, is follow the path of least resistance.
There’s much more nuance to even the seemingly “positive” developments of the Internet, and we should be thinking about their long term implications. Looking at the successes of the few, does not tell the story of the many. A story of paradoxes.
