For a society to keep together, its citizen need a minimum common Vision on some key subjects.
Minimum common History version, similar set of Litterature references, same kind of Myths/ Legends, etc… will do the job.
Otherwise, the country becomes a collection/ aggregate of foreign/ alien people. Each group having its own version of History, with elements which have been emphasised, erased, invented,…
I do not pretend that there is only one « historical truth », but people within a Nation should agree more or less with the basic points. Otherwise, they do not live in the same country/ world.
So, IF the internet becomes a key supplier of informations, truths, historical & social references, THEN we do not have a people, a Nation. Instead, we have a gathering of individuals & groups having little in common. Each of them interested only in themselves .
Within a country where everyone is allowed to possess & use a large variety of guns & arms, there is a significant risk of severe problems to occur. That is disaggregation/ implosion.
When we get to a large fraction of the population which rely on internet everyday, then Freedom may be seriously at Risk. These everyday things are mainly Education, Social Networks, and the daily News stories.
The Social Networks are in the hands of very few Groups.
The General Public News too are provided by few Groups.
If it happened that News & Networks are owned by people having similar vision on the world and converging interests >> they could (unintentionally?) help to « homogenize » the opinions of large sections of the country >>> directly and/or indirectly affecting parliamentaries.
The Education could follow the same homogenization track.
It is what already happens in several places in the world… therefore, it is not utopic !
But there are other « soft » problems.
Once someone has learned to use a tool, he/she will « think through the tool ». The tools we use are not neutral (and the internet tool is far less neutral than other tools) :
First, because tools format our overall brain approach. By using a tool, we need to adjust our brain to the logics of the tool, the methodology which comes with it, its specific sources of informations, and the formal paths to follow. We also accept the implicit unknown security loopholes, or output quality.
What I personnaly dislike most is that these internet packages which compels me to follow a step by step path which has been invented & implemented by somebody else. I am less the architect of what I am doing, and more the technical performer. But it is easy to feel good, as everything has been thought by someone else. And I get quick results… the ones I have been driven to find by the system.
Second, because tools also redesign some of our neuronal connexions. That is particularly true with internet tools. The most explicit example is given by the GPS System. It made us conventrate our efforts on turning right or left, filling stations, next snack bar, etc… we just need to follow the instructions ! We lose all the knowlege linked with the journey : build a mental synthetic map of the journey, including North/South orientation, make coincide what we see of the countryside to the map, evaluate alternative itineraries, etc
The System downgrades me from organizer to performer.
Jean P. Ciron
