Internet and the Issues It Gave Birth to Assignment

Internet and the Issues It Gave Birth to - Assignment Example The present paper has identified that  the internet has a profound impact on culture, both good and bad. A culture can be defined in the simplest possible terms as the sum total of the ideologies, customs, rituals, language, and lifestyle of a people that sets them apart from other people. In fact, the world is filled with diverse cultures which have their roots reaching even the Stone Age. The first impact the internet has in this field is the assimilation of these cultures resulting in the creation of a world uniform culture. To elaborate, the coming of the internet hugely helped the spread of western culture throughout the world. As most Asian and African countries look westward for technology and development, they inadvertently take up the lifestyle of western civilization that is highly liberal in nature. Yet another terrible blow is the disappearance of regional languages and the dominance of English. As English is the language that is mostly used in higher researches and as it is the main language in use on the net, it becomes necessary for other people to adopt English as a means of communication, thus leading to the erosion and gradual demise of their regional languages. As stated in Forbes and Mahan, (Eds.) (135), since the primary language of the internet is English, it would transmit the elements of Western values including an emphasis on material goods, entertainment, sex, and romance. The way the dressing sense of the modern youth has changed is the most effective example of this influence. If one can see young people wearing jeans and t-shirts in all countries and cultures and if they are seen eating pizza and hotdogs forgetting their traditional food items, as everybody knows, it is the internet to be blamed. However, the other side of the argument, though quite feeble, is that the internet does not necessarily eliminate the values of indigenous cultures. As Nakamura (88-89) states, the internet has the potential for challenging western influe nce; and moreover, it can turn to be an effective device for non-western users. The author points out the example of New Media Center Sarai New Delhi which has developed software for indigenous non-literates. According to Lessig (10), people around the world have the opportunity to build and cultivate a culture; perhaps a cyber-culture that would reach beyond the local boundaries. Unfortunately, the internet offers people the opportunity to destruct their cultures too. Ethical issues associated with the use of internet Though the accurate meaning of ethics vary from culture to culture and people to people, there are certain universally accepted norms of ethics that distinguish humans from other animate and inanimate beings. One can undoubtedly say that the security and freedom provided by internet lure many people into forgetting their ethics and morality to enjoy the unlimited chances of enjoyment available on the net. The first one in this row is the adoption of pseudo-identity on the internet to cheat people. As everybody knows, it is possible to hide one's real identity and this provides people immeasurable chances of carnal pleasure, monetary frauds, and other innumerable ways of cheating. To be precise, the availability of porn sites which often impart biased views on sex is responsible for the increasing sexual atrocities or crimes against females throughout the world.