The Virtual World

Mimoh Likmabam *

An Opte Project visualization of routing paths through a portion of the Internet
Pic Courtesy : wikipedia.org

Can we solely depend on the internet for our daily lives? You can find every bit of information on the internet. But are they trustworthy? Some of them have no solid proof. Some of them have reliable sources. Some of them are utterly false. Some of them are already available since time immemorial and elsewhere.

The internet serves as a first-hand source of reference. A lot of people rely on them. But sometimes the outcome is not the desired result. This is because of unreliable source and unfavourable reference. It is also an undeniable fact that the internet can boost productivity in phenomenal way, better than what we could get without it. But to entirely depend on the internet is not a viable option. Many people now a days are living a virtual life throughout the day.

The internet can also make you a dummy if you depend on it every time, leaving you intellect behind. Combined with some logical reasoning however, it can complement in everything, in our daily lives. With the virtual world developing at light speed, it is an absolute necessity to know if our real world could go in absolute parallel with the virtual world and if harmony is not possible, how do we keep it under control.

It has also become a source of livelihood, a source of income, to be precise for many. A blessing for them in fact. It has helped many, mainly those whom are deprived of man-power and financial aids.

So what happens if we live entirely on the internet? Will all the books be lost one day? Can all those resources be ever uploaded on the online database? However, we should be reminded that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. So, once such resources and knowledge are shared on the internet, it can be a weapon if they fall into the wrong hands or a curse rather than a blessing.

Cyber-crime is also a big issue. Theft of confidential, financial and political data to name a few can also result in huge losses of an administration. Exchange of personal data and financial transaction are also susceptible to robbery as a consequence of online scam and fraud. There are a lot of cyber wars among the powerful countries, which involves hacking and stealing of political, administrative, military data among each other.

Call it an overstated idea but the internet can be the next weapon of mass destruction. It is a well-known fact that terrorist all over the world rely heavily on the network for their operation. The 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks can supplement this idea, wherein the terrorist relied heavily on satellite phones for communication and on Google Earth for building locations and targets.

The internet is also a place of hoax, scam and fraud. Hoax but of which are too good to be true are always a common occurrence in the internet. A lot of fake online lottery and offers also lure some into losing all of their money at the end.

The internet can also become an addiction for many. This addiction can cause one to refrain from the real world and real people. It can also change one's behaviour, integrity and personality. One's personal belief could be changed, their personal integrity could be destructed. On the whole the internet culture can creep into our own real-life culture which can cause more harm than good.

This platform has also resulted in the creation of many acts with regards to censorship of information and intellectual property. The main acts are Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act (PIPA). They have spawned many other similar acts. However such acts are often criticized, discussed and debated over their potential effectiveness. People like Edward Snowden and Julian Assange has also exposed many classified information and mass surveillance program conducted confidentially by some of the powerful governments around the world. Hence this platform is a victim of criticism, thereby generating mixed response over its application and potential.

But on the contrary the internet can become a substitute, perhaps replace many services like television, radio and also offer better results than them. Internet TV and radio is a rapidly growing sector. There are also many online photo editing widgets which do not need much resources unlike similar offline software. Sometimes the internet is a first-hand source of live telecast of events and ceremonies substituting television and radio.

Information could be shared the internet far and wide, better than any other means of communication. Exchange of information could be faster on the internet. People with common interest and idea can grow up their ideas through sharing in this virtual world if they could not reach out in the real world.

Some business could be expanded better on the internet. This yields better profit too. The economy can be boosted.

There are a lot of DIY information on the World Wide Web, even sometimes information that couldn't be found elsewhere. A lot of archived media is also available only on the internet. Softcopy of written records are kept documented on the database as a backup and for sharing them on the platform. Sometimes commodities that are nowhere to be found in the real world, could be purchased right off the internet in an easiest and a comfortable way.

Total dependency is not opined, but interdependence on both the real world and the virtual world for our productivity can boost it to a whole new level.

So it can be therefore concluded that the internet is indeed creeping into our daily lives, plausibly a complete invasion. But it would be wrong to accept this complete change and become 24 hour online and leave the rest of the world. By keeping it at in a perfect parallel with our daily lives, we can reap the fruits of our labour with extreme ripeness and one day who knows we can brought about a change, with a big awareness in the real society with the help of the virtual world.