What is the newest?

The “newest” could have made its appearance as recent as just the minute prior to the statement being made, or it could have been around from as far back as a month.

So, “new” is a relative term. In the media world, printing led to an information explosion that was accelerated by radio, followed by television. With the arrival of digital computers in the 1980s, the Internet and other digital applications like computer games ushered in an age where such media evolved into “new” media like podcasts (a newer form of radio), online publications (the newer form of print media) and digital videos (an Internet form of TV). Accompanying these has been an explosion of personal online communication platforms like blogs and vodcasts. Businesses have been quick to adopt these new marketing tools on an international scale through the use of websites and business/industry portals. Hardware has become increasingly miniaturized for convenience in tandem with the ease of communication facilitated by new media. Today’s mobile phone, an engineering and marketing marvel, is equivalent (almost) to a little customized computer in one’s hand!

New media has accelerated globalization so that the battle for hearts and minds is now fought on the virtual front as evidenced by Barack Obama’s Presidential victory being celebrated in even a little Japanese town named Obama. The reach of the public into our private lives is so insidious that we hardly notice it. In fact, local film producer Jason Lai made the point that today’s young are so “plugged in” to their electronic toys, that they might as well be born with it! 3 Feet Apart is an animation set in the near future, where a boy, Han, is born with a phone inside his head. He falls in love with Pepper, a girl who is born with two small speakers inside her head and a small TV inside her right palm. Han and Pepper are a pair of star crossed lovers – for they always have to be three feet apart because of static interference! The point about the inability to relate on a personal level because of the over-dependence on new media is charmingly and pointedly made. Hence, there is a dark side to these technological boons.

Literary works have been warning about some of these dangers that will confront our future generations. Aldous Huxley’s The Machine Stops, portrays the humans, who had survived a holocaust and were living underground in individual cells, as isolated beings who can barely walk since all that they need is provided by pressing buttons on a screen before them. The machine that provides their limited needs, is their God. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury also paints a deterministic world where the duty of firemen is, ironically, to start fires to destroy books because knowledge is dangerous – it gives ideas to people, a thought that is also present in the previous story. George Orwell’s 1984 suggests that globalization can bring about a mindless acceptance of whatever reality is presented as “truth” by “Big Brother”. The red flag has been raised about new media being a useful tool for spreading a pervasive philosophy that may be harmful if there is no self-regulation or self-reflection on the user’s part.

Hence, the young need to be warned. Youth today are so comfortable with technology that they are dependent on it. The increase in social networking platforms like Facebook and My Space capitalize on this preference for a virtual community where “like-minded” individuals have the opportunity to “meet.” Second Life is another platform that has increasingly taken on its own form of life and taken over the real lives of some individuals. This virtual world mimics the real world, allowing individuals to assume an alternative identity or “avatar” and act out a desired life and lifestyle. This escapist “hobby” can soon become the only meaning in life. Online “relationships” have been reported, ironically, as a cause for divorce and even suicide where these failed. In the same vein, it has also become increasingly easy to fall prey to cyber pornography, sex, and crime. Sociologists and educators have noted that the tendency to prefer personal space and privacy has bred socially inept individuals who lack the ability to work in teams with others, expressing their frustrations in various degrees of maladjusted behavior.

Internet compulsion and game addiction are further ills that may afflict our young. Parents who are IT-dinosaurs run the risk of unknowingly allowing their children to fall prey to some internet snares like pedophiles masquerading as online “secret friends” because they do not monitor their IT-savvy children’s online activities. Visits to video sites like YouTube should be chaperoned as young children may unwittingly stumble onto sexually explicit material and learn inappropriate behaviour without understanding that these may be socially unacceptable. A simple rule that parents should enforce is that personal computers must be placed only in common family areas rather than in the bedrooms of the children. Family members can then be vigilant over the sites that the children are visiting and monitor the amount of time being spent on the computer.

The need to be vigilant and true to oneself has never been more essential. As the Preacher succinctly expressed it, …all is vanity” (Ecc 12:8) and really “there is nothing new under the sun (Ecc 1:9).” The only truth we need to hold on to in a world of relativity is in Ecclesiastes 12:13, “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments…”

Elaine Lim is a high school teacher whose Bible remains the bound copy with real pages to leaf through and savor God’s wisdom. She worships with her family at the Salvation Army Central Corps.

The New American Standard Version of the Bible has been referenced.