Debate about Internet

Yu Zhao
English 102E
June 10, 2010
Assignment 2

Nowadays, Internet is playing increasing important role in the contemporary society and brings profound impact on people’s life. In the meantime, whether the Internet is good or bad has sparked spirited debate. Some people argue that Internet has fundamentally beneficial influence on our lives like the author—Sherry Turkle, while many others contend that the Internet has detrimental effect as well like the author Clifford Stoll. In my opinion, I disagree with Stoll.
In article, “Isolated by the Internet”, the author is talked about how Internet was badly to influence people’s lives. At the beginning of this article, he is describing the advantages of Internet. From the second paragraph, he started to talk about the drawbacks that Internet generates. Stoll is believed that Internet is so danger, and it damages the relationship with friends and families. He thinks that Internet makes people feel depression and loneliness, also lost the normal ability to socialize with other people. Although, the author does a lot examples to support his ideas, for example, After following the study group, the psychologists found an average increase in depression by about I percent for every hour spent online per week.(649)He thinks internet made people loss real interaction with real problems. People will face the difficult real life problem and they don’t know how to deal with them.
According to the article, “Who Am We?” which written by Sherry Turkle. She talked a lot of similarities with Stoll. Both them are talked about the MUDs, but they talked about the thing which from different position. Both of them are talked about the Internet and the real life, but they give a different definition about these two things. Sherry thinks that we have a lot of aspects of real life, Internet only a part. It is not so worry about it. For example, Sherry talked about a person who used Internet very well, and that person can talk with other people use Internet. Other people are respected him. But, that people changed to another person. He cannot do something well. About the example, I think it is personality, not the Internet’s fault. Sometime, people can show different themselves in different situation.
I don’t agree with Stoll, after all Interest is a new technology; it can help the whole world better. For example, for international students, we left home and left our countries to go abroad to study. Thanks to the Internet, we can chat with our parents and friends. We can tell them so many fresh things were happened in America, and also they can talk so many things were happened China. We don’t lose something because of the Internet. We can see the parents and friends through the Internet. In my opinion, everything has two sides, but we should consider which side is better. I think the advantages of widespread of Internet are outweighing the disadvantages.