The internet emerged in 1969 during the Cold War for military purposes and developed until the 1990s, when the "www" appeared and its popularity increased.However, the digital landscape has shifted.
From then on, it became commonplace for the average citizen, with the aim of enabling instant global communication, i.e., contacting distant loved ones, exchanging ideas between different cultures, opportunity to learn about new societies, their cultures, religions, and their customs, in addition to its use as a platform to promote new experiences in tourism, music, literature, cinema, and the arts in general.
It has increased knowledge and its global transmission, with the advantage that all people, whoever they are and wherever they are, have access, making it more democratic by breaking down barriers, walls, stereotypes, taboos, and phobias. With this established media revolution, an evolution in mentalities is underway!
This tool, which could grant us a form of cultural omniscience, is instead being used to reinforce tribalism and passive-aggressive intolerance.Platforms like TikTok or X (formerly Twitter) often host a plethora of content where quality is inversely proportional to intellectual depth. We see personal opinions being presented as universal axioms, influencing the naive and the young who lack a critical filter.This tool, which could grant us a form of cultural omniscience, is instead being used to reinforce tribalism and passive-aggressive intolerance.
By judging other cultures without knowledge, many users fall into a trap of moral superiority born from sheer ignorance. We have the world at our fingertips, yet we often choose to behave like 'beasts' rather than 'bestials', repeating errors ad nauseam. The tragedy isn't the technology itself, but our failure to use its global reach to foster genuine understanding and ethical common sense.
The internet started as a dream to connect the world, and it did. We can see every culture and learn anything for free. But here’s the problem: instead of getting smarter, we’re using this power to shout opinions as if they were absolute laws. We judge what we don’t know and attack anyone who thinks differently. It’s a paradox: we have the ultimate tool for wisdom, but we’re often using it to be louder and more intolerant. If we don’t start using our common sense, we’re just turning a global miracle into a digital shouting match. We can do better than this!
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