The internet improved many things. Communication speed. Access to information. The ability to find what you're looking for. Shared cat content. These are unambiguous wins.
But for every genuine improvement, there are things the internet systematically degraded. Not by accident. By the natural consequence of universal connectivity changing the stakes of experiences that used to exist in a state of comfortable, productive uncertainty. We are carving four faces into this mountain.
“FACE ONE: Arguments. Pre-internet, an argument between two people about a factual matter was a test of conviction. If you were going to assert something strongly, you needed to act...”
FACE ONE: Arguments. Pre-internet, an argument between two people about a factual matter was a test of conviction. If you were going to assert something strongly, you needed to actually know it or be willing to be wrong in front of witnesses. The argument could last days. Both parties would come back with additional evidence. Someone would say "I read somewhere that..." and neither party could immediately verify it. The uncertainty was generative. It forced real memory and actual engagement.
Now: one party pulls out their phone, searches 8 words, and the argument ends in 15 seconds. This is technically correct. The right answer is established faster. The intellectual exercise that the argument represented is completely gone. People no longer debate things they don't know. They Google and declare. The muscle of holding and defending a position under uncertainty has atrophied entirely.
FACE TWO: Getting Directions. Being lost used to be an experience with stakes and texture. You asked someone. The person giving directions was forced to describe the world in terms of landmarks and feelings. "You turn left where the old Kmart used to be." "Go down until the road sort of curves and you'll see a white building." The directions were unreliable. Sometimes you got lost. Sometimes getting lost led somewhere interesting. You had an adventure instead of a commute.
Navigation apps are objectively better. You are never lost. You always arrive. But you also never know where you are. You know the next turn. You know the time remaining. You do not know the city. People who grew up with GPS cannot navigate by intuition or memory. The spatial knowledge that used to come from being somewhere is outsourced entirely. You can visit a place 40 times and have no idea how it connects to anything around it.
FACE THREE: Waiting to Find Out if Something Was Good. You recommended a movie. Your friend hadn't seen it. There was a period of authentic suspense where they would watch it and you would find out what they thought. They had no prior opinions beyond your recommendation. Their reaction was pure.
Now your friend has read 40 reviews, knows the rotten tomatoes score, has seen the discourse, and has formed opinions about the film before watching it. The experience of arriving at something fresh is almost gone. Everything comes pre-loaded with context, analysis, and takes. You can intentionally avoid spoilers and reviews but you're fighting an information environment that defaults to telling you what to think before you've had a chance to think it yourself.
FACE FOUR: Restaurant Surprises. You used to go to a restaurant and look at a menu for the first time when you got there. You ordered something based on a brief description. The food arrived and you experienced it fresh. Sometimes it was amazing. Sometimes it was disappointing. Either way it was a genuine discovery.
Now you've seen the food before you arrive. You know which dish is the best. You've read about the preparation method. You have 80 people's opinions preloaded. The meal is confirmed rather than discovered. This is more reliable. It is dramatically less interesting.
The internet gave us everything and charged us the surprise. Sometimes you want to not know.