This is Your Memory on the Internet

            Everyday it seems that technology is shifting the world. Some say for the better, some say for the worse, but it is impossible to ignore the fact that as a society we have changed. Computers, cell phones, and the Internet are all a part of the daily routine. But yet, when I think about the most memorable experiences of my life, not one has happened over one of these platforms. True memories do not happen over the screen because it only seeks to connect on one level. A real experience is made when all of our senses are working together: touch, taste, smell, sounds and sight. It happens when we are surrounded by nature, by people, and most importantly, by life.

            From my whole summer, the most unforgettable experience happened while I was snorkeling in a coral reef.  In my memory, I float in the calm ocean, only feeling my breathing, in and out of the snorkel mask. Honestly, it was slightly uncomfortable, I could feel the hot Caribbean sun beating on my back, and breathing only through the tube was awkward; I had to consciously think to perform a function that is involuntary. Through my mask I could taste the bitter salt in the water, but in spite of this, around me the world danced at my fingertips. Fish and coral blossomed from all around me.  Whole schools of them engulfed me, for times all I could see was their shimmering scales as they moved. I felt what it was like to be in a place where I didn’t belong; I feared what I didn’t know, but I loved what I saw. The coral looked extraterrestrial, their shape eerie, the fans and leaves almost seeming to reach out and touch me. This moment was only an hour of my life, but I will always remember how it felt to be there, encompassed by life.

            Ironically enough, if I were to see this as a page on the Internet I would click right past it.  Distorted on to a flat screen, the world I was in is not really interesting. A photo of it completely betrays what it is like to be within the scene.  In comparison to the hour snorkeling, I spend an enormous amount of time behind a screen. Even if I am being conservative, if I spend an two hours on the internet each day, that means I have spent 730 hours of my year online. But yet, not one of these hours has produced anything that I would consider life changing, or even particularly positive. If a majority of my time is spent behind a computer, then why hasn’t it contributed anything to my life? Online, there are so many articles and things to look at, that no one thing can truly capture my attention. From behind a cold glass screen, I lie on my bed, my laptop on its side, humming a constant mechanical rhythm, and can observe the world. Observing it though, I am completely removed from it.

            According to Wired magazine, the World Wide Web holds over a trillion webpages. Each individual website offers compelling stories, interesting facts and allows you to see people from across the world. But to me, this is superficial.  Seeing through a computer puts a screen between human connections. The Internet operates without all the senses; it only functions through conveying sights and sounds. The feeling of actually being immersed in a moment is absent. This loss is what makes all those hours unremarkable and forgettable.

            In fact, researchers in China at the Jiao Tong University found that teenagers who regularly used the Internet saw an atrophy of the grey matter in their brains. They even went so far as to link this to the increasingly prevalent Internet Addiction Disorder. The pull of the web is so strong that withdrawal from it is often compared to heroin addiction.

            If I look back on my memories, I can find gaps. These cavities are the hours I have spent online, removed from what is really happening. But yet, the Internet is so addictive because it means nothing; there are no feelings or emotions behind it. “Real Life” is real because it is all encompassing. It is easy to want to escape, but in the end it is so much more gratifying to be able to make memories of these true experiences. These moments occur because all of my senses are working together. We often think of sight as the only way to observe life, but it is occurring all around us. The web is only coming from one dimension, which makes it, to me, ultimately un-gratifying. No matter how many new products and technologies come out, the most important and memorable experiences of my years will always occur when I am immersed in life, not removed from it.