Ben-Ze'ev, Love Online
At one point, Ben-Ze-'ev points out that the Internet might be most beneficial for those who alerady have an active sociallife, people inclined to be sociable. He also consdiers that for shy people there may be some advantages, but I suspect that, on the whole, those who are already sociable and happy in the offline world will benefit most.
If that is true, then this will be another example of a familiar fact. Technological innovations do not benefit everyone equally. One might make the argument that, in fact, they will always benefit individuals differentially--so long as we have grotesque inequality in power and money, and education.
And that would mean that most (or perhaps all) "progress', so called, is neither good nor bad.
Consider medical innovations. We live longer than people two hundred years ago, or people in pre-industrial societies today. But, who, exactly is "we"? Even today, most people don't enjoy the access to modern medicine which I have just assumed you, gentle reader, possess.
And, what good is it to live a long time if one is socially isolated? If one is in pain---whether it be physical pain, or mere nausea, or psychological pain in the form of social isolation?
I suspect that many of the elderly do not live lives rich in social contacts and rich in stimulation. So, living longer just isn't good, in and of itself. And if that's the biggest achievement of our societies, then the situation is pretty bad. You've got a "good" that's only neutral (neither good nor bad, but good if certain conditions are fulfilled--but mostly they are not)--and even that good (access to modern medicine) is not universally shared.
All in all, I am inclined to agree with Ted Honderich, who once said (optimistically, I would stress) that he looked forward to a future when people would look back upon our age as one of utter barbarism.
additional note about the Internet:
The Internet just intensifies features of the mass media which were already present when Eric Fromm wrote "Escape from Freedom". People are bombarded with certain pictures and even facts, but the organizing structures needed to make sense of that "information" (more accurately called "mere stimulation") is lacking. Consequently the stimulation brings no advantage to the one stimulated....
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