I am starting to think that the Internet was the worst invention of all time, and it could end civilization as we know it. I know that the Internet has brought a lot of innovations and advantages, but wait, hear me out.

I remember when I initially got access to the Internet in the mid 1990’s, I thought this would now give everyone access to the same information. To find “the truth”, all we had to do was look it up on the Internet.

At the time, my mother-in-law would come out with whopper statement like- “You know, in WWII, a lot of the Nazi leadership were partly Jewish.” Or “It’s too bad that Johnny Cash died.” (He was still alive). I gleefully went over to the computer to look up “the truth” on the Internet “to prove” she was wrong. I should have known something was wrong then when my mother-in-law was not swayed from what I had found.

Fast forward 25 more years, now you can find “any truth” you want on the Internet.

Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House predicted this a long time ago when he said, “It doesn’t matter what the truth is, it’s what people feel.” This was followed up a few years ago when Kellyanne Conway, advisor to Donald Trump said there are always “alternate facts”.

In reality, people have always believed “whatever truth” they want, it was just harder to find “evidence” or other people to support your belief. But now with the Internet and particularly social media, they can easily find a group of people (or aptly called “tribe” according to Seth Godin) that will support “the facts” they feel are correct to reinforce their position. “Fake news” is any news you don’t like. It’s natural not to want to change our point of view so we fight to keep it by seeking “facts and friends” that support it.

Do you believe that the COVID-19 vaccine kills more people than the virus itself? You can find “that fact” on the Internet. Popular Fox News commentator, Tucker Carlson says that the COVID vaccine kills a lot of people (even though he is vaccinated). Do you believe that the earth is flat? You can also find “that fact” on the Internet. Some people say that Elvis is still alive! (I wish).

With everyone free to publish whatever information they want on the Internet, there is no final arbitrator of truth any longer. How does a civilization thrive or for that matter, even survive as a cohesive society if they can’t agree on a common simple set of facts? Are we destined to continue to be more and more angrily divided until we are just warring tribes?

It seems that these days, everything single thing is up for debate and interpretation. Simply things like the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school shooting are up for debate by people like Alex Jones and families have to go to court to stop him from saying it never happened. For some groups in our society, “misinformation” is the core part of their strategy to spread their organization and fundraising efforts.

Where do we go from here? Unfortunately, I offer no solution… just a hope that we find one.