do you know how many people worked to create th-
oh, sorry. excuse me.
ahem.
Do you know how many people worked together to create the internet?
About twenty-five people are named in Addison Longman's history of HTML. There are still more people alluded to, such as "...and others." or a notable meeting of 380 people.
You may or may not know that Tim Berners-Lee is the person that first came up with the idea, but he wouldn't have been able to make it flourish like it has without the help of dozens - or even hundreds - of others.
Primarily, it was academics seeking a way to communicate with each other, exchange large volumes of information, and link to different documents. The internet didn't always have everyone in mind - for plenty of reasons. Not many people had computers, in the first place. In fact, in the beginning, people didn't expect it to blow up into what it is today.
Things have changed in many ways - I would say the internet is nowhere near as academic as it initially was. It's been cannibalized, gutted, and strung up on display for profit. Every day, every year that passes, in small ways, it gets further from a platform for communication and more of one for entertainment. Entertainment - and engagement - derive from many things. Amusement - anger - sadness - fascination - the list goes on.
But, in a way, it's all based on your own perception of the world. I notice an ever-increasing decline (...?) of communication on the modern web. "Creators" don't so much put themselves out for communication; rarely is there clarity on intentions. Sometimes, deliberately so; other times, by others' misunderstanding or manipulation.
In this day and age, it seems even rarer that people care to try to identify the difference, or to resolve a problem in the first place. People talk past each other, over each other, instead of with each other.
I try to do my part to stop these kinds of interactions where they start. If someone puts words in my mouth, I will stop the conversation and point out that's not what I said. I will not participate in an interaction built on misunderstanding and twisted words.
Mr. Berners-Lee puts forth an excellent sentiment in his page for Kids' Questions that I want to reiterate here:
Here is my hope.
The Web is a tool for communicating.
With the Web, you can find out what other people mean. You can find out where they are coming from.
The Web can help people understand each other.
Think about most of the bad things that have happened between people in your life. Maybe most of them come down to one person not understanding another. Even wars.
Let's use the web to create neat new exciting things.
Let's use the Web to help people understand each other.
Sometimes, frictions and disagreements are inevitable. I think some people aren't okay with being disagreed with, which I similarly think is an unhealthy way to interact with the world. There are some things that are worth this kind of stance - believing people don't deserve respect for their skin color, or sexuality, or gender, for example - but for the most part? It's okay not to agree about things.
But what is important is at least understanding why someone else would believe it. Maybe some part of it will make sense or appeal to you, and other parts won't. But it's not worth throwing the baby out with the bathwater - even if you fundamentally hate someone's beliefs, the only way to deconstruct them is to understand them.
Next.