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Blogfest 2005 - Jul 31, 2010 - Printable Version
- The Devolution of Man
by Robin Buckallew
“What a piece of work is man” – Alexander Pope “From so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful have been, and are being, evolved.” With these immortal words, Charles Darwin began the closing paragraph of his masterpiece, The Origin of Species, a work that turned the world upside down and shook it until our egos trembled. This work barely mentioned man, but a single deliciously pregnant reference “much light will be shed on the origins of man and his history” gave a hint of what was to come. Darwin followed this work with the highly controversial The Descent of Man, in which he further elucidated his ideas on evolution, expanding them to include humans, placing us in our position in the animal kingdom, at least as far as it could be discerned at that time. Over the past century and a half since that incredible year, we have discovered more and more about the evolution of life, and many of Darwin’s predictions about man’s evolutionary heritage have been verified (some, however, have not stood the test of time). Of course, it wasn’t difficult for a talented naturalist to place us in close proximity to our nearest relatives; one only has to observe the great apes for a short period of time to spot the many similarities. Even a small child on their first visit to the zoo is able to spot our affinity with the “hairy men” in the gorilla cage. It’s almost eerie. Of course, man has moved far beyond his humble beginnings, and has long since transcended the limits of our shared ancestor…or have we?
We are living at a unique, special moment in time. We are privileged(?!?) to be witness to the next step in human evolution…or should I say, devolution? It is written clearly, for those who choose to look at it, but for most people, it is such an ordinary part of their everyday life that they hardly notice the events going on right in front of their eyes. We can, if we open our eyes and look, catch a glimpse of what the future holds, and while we’re at it, get a deeper look inside the human psyche than Freud could have ever hoped for. It’s difficult at times to look, but if you watch long enough, it begins to hold a perverse fascination that keeps you riveted, watching in astonishment, bemusement, and, yes, horror. In case you haven’t already guessed, I’m talking about the Internet.
The Internet has remade human relationships in a way that no other media ever could. First, there was the invention of language; then writing; then printing. Over time, we invented the telephone, the radio, and television. Each one of these moments was major milestones in human communication, for better or worse. Each in their turn permitted human societies to expand, explore, and conquer new worlds. None of them, however, has had the power of the Internet to recreate human interpersonal relationships. Business, family, friends, schools, churches….everything is on the Internet now, and I’m told if you’re not on Facebook, you’re face down in the mud (still standing, thank you very much…please, if you see me on Facebook, don’t stop by to speak to me, I’ve been taken over by a pod person, and you might find me eating your brain). We are connected, we’re wired, we’re communicating. Each of us has his or her 15 minutes of fame practically guaranteed, thanks to YouTube and blogs. We’re talking, we’re singing, we’re creating…the only thing you can’t find on the Internet is solitude, blissful, wonderful, quiet and peaceful solitude. For most people, that suits them fine. They don’t want to be alone, and they don’t want to be ignored.
So, where has all this led us? We’re having nearly constant stimulation. Sights, sounds, and colors move at cyberspeed, and we click frantically from one image to the next almost before we have time to digest the page we’re on. Studies have demonstrated that reading on the Internet is much different than a book or magazine. When you read on the Internet, you spend very little time per page. When you read a book or a magazine, you linger, savoring the pages, soaking up the experience. But on the Internet, you can be in touch…talk to this fellow in Germany at the exact same time you’re chatting with that gal in Australia. Meanwhile, you have another friend ringing in from Slovenia, two from Mexico, and yet another from the Netherlands Antilles. OK, so you’ve never met them, but they’re your best buddies. Besides, you know them…they posted their pictures on Facebook for you. OK, maybe that was actually a picture of Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie, but, well, it’s like…hey, we’re close, so lighten up, OK? You speak with them in a language that is exclusive to your little, personal society of a billion or so…lol, ttfn, roflmao, wtf. Hey, w8 4 me! This is the future…wired up, communicating (sort of, lol), and so technologically savvy that e-mail seems as ancient as the Pony Express.
This is the culture of today, and I decided to listen for a while. Eavesdropping is easy on the Internet. You don’t need a glass to hold to the door, you don’t need a special bug fastened surreptitiously on the lamp shade, all you need is your own mouse and a handful of urls. Go to your favorite blog, pull up a chair, and sit quietly in the corner. No one will notice you, unless you want them to, and you can find out what people really think, because here, in this artificial world, people can become more real. Because they aren’t real, because no one knows who they really are, they can feel free to let their guard down and be who they really are without consequences. This is the irony of the Internet – because you aren’t yourself, you can be much more free to be yourself. You can be a whatever or whomever you feel like. In this climate, as soon as the masks go on, the masks come off, and the true core of humanity is revealed. Unfortunately, it’s not a pretty sight.
For a long time, sociologists and psychologists, not to mention church leaders, teachers, and all sorts of others, have been telling us that humans are basically very decent, and that they stand ready to be supportive and nurturing. The Internet would tell a different story. On the Internet, where we can say what we please without suffering the consequences, because it isn’t really US saying it, all the nastiness that humans can possibly dream up is on display. Some of the stuff posted is absolutely breathtaking in its vileness, its ugliness, its meanness. Even on the best of blogs, if you follow the comment threads for very long, you will see that soon it will degenerate into nasty name-calling, back-biting, ad hominem attacks, bullying, and even threats. People lose all their inhibitions, and don’t feel the need to refrain from letting fly with whatever comes into their mind. Most topics of discussion quickly degenerate into a brawling free-for-all. Argument gets rejected in favor of expletive, and people will pile on top of one lone dissenter. On the Internet, it is even possible for one person to gang up on someone, simply by changing their persona, and posting another comment, making it look as though their view is in the majority. You become your own cheering section; you can even set up a comment board to discuss a topic, load it with your own comments, and then use that later as evidence that there are a lot of people that agree with you. Many of these people may have names like sextroll1071, mr_wanker, or im_with_stupid, but, hey, they’re people who agree with you.
I first discovered the dirty secret behind the Internet a decade ago, the first time I ever went to what I guess would be a blog. I was looking for some commentary on the debate between Dubya and Gore, and I typed in a keyword search on Google. The first site I visited had a nice political analysis and opinion of the writer. Then, still somewhat new to the world of the Internet, I noticed that there was a place where ordinary people could comment. Curious, I scrolled down to read some of the comments. I read for about 20 minutes, growing more and more horrified as I discovered that the site I was on was filled with vile name-calling, gibberish, obscenity, and disgusting ugliness. Very little rational argument was being used on either side; it just seemed that the winner would simply be whomever could get the last dirty, nasty name hurled at their unseen opponent. I quit reading comments less than 30 minutes after I began. I didn’t read another such thing for several years.
A few years later, I began to participate in an online forum that was devoted to political discussion. At least, that’s what I thought it was about. Within a very short time of forming, it had degenerated into a social network, where little of any depth was discussed. At first, I departed without saying anything, but I kept getting drawn back, with a sort of perverse attraction that made me have to see what was going on. I drifted in and out for a couple of years, during which time I grew increasingly disgusted and depressed at the state of communication in our world. Finally, I left and never went back. During that time, however, I had a chance to make a few key observations. One of those observations was how very much the culture of this website mimicked that of a troop of baboons. There was an alpha male, with other males jockeying to displace him and take his place. There was an alpha female, surrounded by other females who alternately groomed her and stroked her, or slashed and clawed to try to displace her. There was a lot of intertribal warfare, as folks from other sites would show up from time to time, and there were banishments and shunnings. In short, this was life at its most feral. I hung around a little while longer after I realized that, now with more amusement than horror, but after I while, I could no longer keep my sanity if I remained.
One thing that’s easy to discover if you wander around the Internet long enough – sexism is alive and well. Online, the gloves come off, and sexist comments fly around. Women are relegated back to their “proper” position as sex objects, and are treated very badly by the male population (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/apr/06/gender.blogging). Some women are even being stalked, both online and off, by men who dislike their outspokenness, and threaten them with rape, murder, or other nasty, usually brutally violent things. In many of the comment threads I’ve observed, the women, if you can tell they’re women, aren’t taken as seriously, are treated as trivial and superficial, and are dismissed or insulted. Women’s blogs are often invaded by hostile, trash-talking men sweating violence (manliness?) out of every pore like a badge of honor. Some women have found people posting their addresses on the Internet, urging others to “bring them down a peg” or “teach them a lesson”. Yes, women can avoid this problem, and do, by hiding behind a male-sounding user name, or, of course, simply staying off the Internet and leaving the men to play amongst themselves in testosterone territory. These are not acceptable options. Women should have the right to walk about in full daylight as women even on the Internet. Many women can’t take the heat, and simply check out; this is unfortunate, because the women’s voices are needed to speak up against the abuse, but I can tell you, as a woman, it can be very difficult. A woman has to develop a very thick skin or have a very high level of confidence in herself before she can possibly stomach some of the stench of the cesspool that is drowning the positive benefits of the worldwide web.
This, it appears, may be the next step in human (d)evolution. We may find ourselves leaving behind our tenuous hold on civilization and enlightenment, to sink back into a primeval ooze of our own making. Instead of gaining worldwide communication, we are losing the ability to communicate with those sitting beside us on the sofa. Instead of gaining worldwide understanding, we are degenerating into aggressive, violent behavior. We are creating new tribal divisions based on websites instead of nations, and staging juvenile food fights without any thought or consideration of consequences. This devolution isn’t inevitable. If we try, we can move past that, but it will take a coordinated, cooperative effort. Everyone will have to want it, because it won’t work for one person to do it; it must be the entire community. If we don’t, if we continue to allow ourselves to act like juvenile baboons, we can look forward to an ongoing decline in communication and human society.
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