1.TheInternetprovidesanamazingforumforthefreeexchangeofideas.Giventherelativelyfewrestrictionsgoverningaccessandusage，itisthecommunicationsmodalequivalentofinternationalwaters.1Itismypersonalbeliefthatthehumanpotentialcanonlyberealizedbytheglobalizationofideas.Idevelopedthisposition2yearsbeforetheInternetcameintowidespreaduse.AndIamexcitedatthepotentialfortheInternettodramaticallyalterourglobalsocietyforthebetter.HoweverIamalsotroubledbythepossibleunintendednegativeconsequences.
2.Therehasbeenmuchtalkaboutthe“newinformationage.”ButmuchlesswidelyreportedhasbeenthenotionthattheInternetmayberesponsibleforfurtheringthefragmentationofsocietybyalienatingitsindividualusers.3Atfirstthismightsoundlike
anapparentcontradiction：howcansomething，thatisontheonehandresponsibleforglobalunificationbyenablingthefreeexchangeofideas，alienatetheparticipants？
3.Ihadarecentdiscussionwithafriendofminewhohaswhathedescribedas
a“problem”withtheInternet.WhenIquestionedhimfurtherhesaidthathe
was“addicted，”4andhas“forced”himselftogooff-line.Hesaidthathefeltlikeanalcoholic，inthatmoderateuseoftheInternetwasjustnotpossibleforhim.5Ihavenotknownthisfellowtobegiventoexaggeration，thereforewhenhedescribedhisinternetbinges，6whenhewouldspendovertwenty-fourhoursonlinenon-stop，itgavemepausetothink.Hesaid，“theInternetisn‘treal，butIwasspendingallmytimeonline，soIjusthadtostop.”Hewentontosaythatallofthetimethathespentonlinemighthave
skewed7hissenseofreality，andthatitmadehimfeellonelyanddepressed.
4.Thefragmentationofsocietyhasbeenlamentedforsometimenow.ItseemstomethatitprobablybeganinearnestafterWorldWarIIwhenagenerationreturnedfrom
doinggreatdeedsoverseas.Theywonthewar，andbyGodtheyweregoingtowinthepeace.
Automobile
ownership
became
commonplace
and
suburbs
were
created.“Progress”wastheirmantra.8SoevenpriortotheInternet‘swidespreadpopularity，folkswerealreadybecomingdistancedfromtheirextendedfamiliesandneighbors.Andwhenwefast-forwardtotodayweseeanalmostcruelironyinthatpeoplecanandoftendodevelopon-linerelationshipswithfolksontheothersideoftheglobe，
otherwise
havewouldthattimethetheexpenseofathomes.Buttheirleavingwithout
beenavailableforinvolvementinotheractivitieswhichmightfosterasenseof
communityintheirvillages，townsandcities.
5.LastweekendmywifeandIinvitedourextendedfamilytoourhometocelebrateourdaughter‘sbirthday.Duringthecelebrationmyyoungnephewspenttheentiretime
onmycomputerplayingasimulatedwargame.Mybrother-in-lawandIwerechattingnearbyanditstruckusthatingenerationspast，hisson，mynephew，wouldhavebeenoutsideplayingwithhisfriends.Butnowthelittlefellowgoesonlinetoplayhisgamesagainsthisfriendsincyberspace.
6.ItseemstomethattheInternetisapowerfultoolthatpresentsanopportunityfortheadvancementoftheacquisitionandapplicationofknowledge.However，basedonmypersonalexperienceIcanunderstandhow，astheysurfthewebsomefolksmightbeconfrontedwithcognitiveoverload.9AndIcanalsounderstandhowonemighthavehis
orhersenseofrealitydistortedintheprocess.IstheInternetarealplace？Depending
uponhowa“realplace”isdefineditmightverywellbe.Attheveryleast，IbelievethatwhenweusetheInternet，weareforcedtoaskfundamentalquestionsabouthowweperceivetheworldaboutus—perhapsanotherunintendedconsequence.Somewould
arguethatthevirtualexistencescreatedbysomeuserswhodebate，shop，travelandhaveromanceonlineareinfactnotreal.Whileotherswouldarguethat，sinceinpracticalterms，folksaredebating，shopping，travellingandhavingromance，theconverseistrue.
7.Allofthisbeingsaid，IbelievethatthekeytorealizingthepotentialoftheInternetisinachievingbalanceinourlives.Thiswouldallowustomaximizeitspotentialwithoutlosingoursenseofplace.10Howeverlikemostthingsthatiseasiersaidthandone.It
seemstomethatweareasocietythatvaluesimmediategratificationaboveallelse，andwhatbetterplacetoachieveitthanincyberspace，wherethecyber-worldisyour
cyber-oyster.11Thewidespreaduseoftheautomobileforeverchangedoursocietyandculture，andperhapsasimilarsortofthingisoccurringnow.Iamnotatallcertainwhere
the“informationsuperhighway”willleadus：somesaytoUtopia，12whileothersfeelit‘stheroadtohell.ButIdoknowthatweallhavetheabilitytomaintainoursenseofplace
intheworld.Whetherwechoosetotakeadvantageofthisabilityisanothermatter.
因特网与人际之疏远
威尔·贝克
展带来的巨大变化振奋不已。然而，我也为预料之外的负面后果感到困扰。
2关于“新的信息时代”人们谈论得很多。但是，互联网使网民之间彼此疏远，从而导致社会的进一步土崩瓦解，对这方面的报道却少得多。乍听起来这似乎相互矛盾：一种东西怎么会既