Thursday, November 13, 2008
Is filtering harmful?
The subject of filtering and free speech is currently being addressed in class. As a citizen of the United States, when I hear the term "free speech," I associate it with being able to say what I want (minus hate speech) without fear of imprisonment. Free speech is a value that is held high in the United States and it should be kept that way. Filtering, however, is more controversial. Is it really bad to not be exposed to the "ugliness" of life? Lessing believes that there "is value in confronting the unfiltered." Although facing some of the darker aspects of life is necessary at some points, having sad things being placed in front of us constantly is harmful as well. People thrive on happiness. As studies have shown, happy people are more efficient, better to be around, and are a plus to society. Negative or unhappy people are a drain on society. If homelessness, poverty, and horrible crimes are constantly being shown to people; the end result will be a nation full of sad, upset souls. The nation as a whole will be unhappy and unproductive and a lower economy will result. Information should be filtered on the internet. A internet surer shoul dnot have to face problems when looking around. People are still going to live and exist in the real world and they will still have to see and deal with problems there. There should be no problem in making the internet an oasis, because it is impossible for people to live in the internet and never face real problems in the real world (if they are actual people who live and work and do not rely on the government for money).
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3 comments:
I do agree with DM said that we need to face the real world. We cannot escape from the real world. The problem that we do have to confront in everyday life even it has nothing to do with us. For example the poverty problem, homeless beggar, war and etc. Can you imagine if you on their shoes. Do you prefer people being ignorant and do not care about your difficulties? This example does make sense. If you won’t care about all these issues how the world want to become more productive? Why you want to filter if you self can think about the right and wrong of something. Just like what DM said. Is filtering harmful? Let us think in the advantage side of not filtering. You will get lot information that you may not think before. Besides that, you may get the society value which is collaborate in the world we live now. Society is very important.
I agree with DM in that it is unnecessary for people to be confronted with the ‘unfiltered’ but I think that people do need to realize the ‘unfiltered’ is a part of reality. People have an ability to create what reality is for them by choosing what surrounds them. You can live all your life surrounded by comforts and people just like you but you should know that this is not how most the world can live. DM says that most people through the normal course of their lives will confront the harsh realities some people face but I do not think this is true and I don’t think it’s that uncommon for people to live this way. For this reason I do think people need to address the ‘unfiltered’ and this should be done by not letting it be filtered in the first place and letting people handle it as it naturally occurs in the real world and on the internet. It should however not be forced upon people constantly.
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