{"id":112015,"date":"2017-09-01T10:15:02","date_gmt":"2017-09-01T14:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/countingpips.com\/?p=112015"},"modified":"2017-09-01T07:41:05","modified_gmt":"2017-09-01T11:41:05","slug":"is-the-internet-good-or-evil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/2017\/09\/is-the-internet-good-or-evil\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the Internet Good or Evil?"},"content":{"rendered":"
September 1, 2017<\/div>
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By WallStreetDaily.com<\/u><\/a> \"Is<\/p>\n

\"LouisA 22-year-old Newsweek article<\/strong><\/a> just resurrected itself, and it\u2019s now going viral.<\/p>\n

The article was written by astronomer, Clifford Stoll, and it wonderfully bashes the internet, which was in its infancy in 1995.<\/p>\n

Stoll was shockingly accurate in his criticism, saying\u2026<\/p>\n

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\u201cYour word gets out, leapfrogging editors and publishers. Every voice can be heard cheaply and instantly. The result? Every voice is heard. The cacophony more closely resembles citizens band radio, complete with handles, harassment and anonymous threats. When most everyone shouts, few listen.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But wait! There\u2019s plenty more from Stoll, like\u2026<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhat\u2019s missing from this electronic wonderland? Human contact\u2026 Computers and networks isolate us from one another. A network chat line is a limp substitute for meeting friends over coffee.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s eerily true, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>

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Stoll\u2019s virtually ancient thesis got me thinking\u2026<\/p>\n

Is the internet good or evil?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s see what my two superstar analysts believe, and then I\u2019ll weigh in at the end.<\/p>\n

Prosperity vs. Anonymity<\/h2>\n

\"JonathanThe invention of the internet, along with the World Wide Web \u2014 which is just shy of its 30th birthday \u2014 have brought people closer together than ever before.<\/p>\n

Family members separated by great distance can stay in touch with video chat and social media.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the web, once-isolated businesses and economies have access to global capital \u2014 and sources of revenue.<\/p>\n

Heck, the internet practically created a host of new industries out of thin air: cybersecurity (a $75 billion business), digital media (think $77 billion company Netflix or Apple\u2019s iTunes), and social media \u2014 worth $35 billion.<\/p>\n

That said, the internet has also unfortunately brought out the dark side of humanity\u2026<\/p>\n

The internet is the greatest communication tool known to man.<\/p>\n

But like any tool, it can be used for evil\u2026<\/p>\n

As humans, we constantly struggle with emotions. Greed, laziness, jealousy, vanity, rage\u2026 the list goes on.<\/p>\n

The internet brings all of these ugly traits out of us\u2026 140 characters at a time.<\/p>\n

Hiding behind anonymity, users are free to say all the things that would otherwise go unsaid in public.<\/p>\n

The internet didn\u2019t make people terrible, but it\u2019s a whole lot easier to be<\/i> a terrible person using it.<\/p>\n

Of course, the world is fighting back against \u201coffensive\u201d content on the web.<\/p>\n

But as long as a layer exists between a physical person and their digital \u201cself\u201d on the web, the internet will always be a dumping ground for the worst of human emotion.<\/p>\n

Jonathan\u2019s Final Call:<\/u> Even with its inherent downside, there\u2019s no question that the internet is good.<\/p>\n

Economy vs. Psychology<\/h2>\n

\"MartinDeciding whether the internet is good or evil is difficult. Mainly because it\u2019s a thing.<\/i><\/p>\n

Like steam engines or electric power, the internet is morally neutral.<\/p>\n

But like those two innovations, the internet has revolutionized our lives. For example, it would be impossible for me to write on a wide variety of topics without the internet\u2019s infinite resources of information at my fingertips.<\/p>\n

On a more macro scale, global supply chains \u2014 whatever their faults \u2014 are lifting billions of people out of poverty and would be impossible without the internet and modern telecoms.<\/p>\n

Still, you can see the downsides\u2026<\/p>\n

The forces lifting Chinese, Indians and Africans have tended to depress the earnings of less skilled Americans, as global living standards flatten.<\/p>\n

More important, our interactions with friends and colleagues have become virtual, so we visit people and places less, while surfing online more.<\/p>\n

Hutch\u2019s Final Call:<\/u> Overall, the internet has had a positive economic effect but a negative psychological effect.<\/p>\n

A Tenuous Balance<\/h2>\n

\"LouisAt the risk of being labeled an ill-fated \u201cdouble<\/i>\u2013minded<\/i> man, unstable in all his ways\u201d that the Book of James warns about\u2026 here\u2019s my take\u2026<\/p>\n

The internet is most definitely both good and evil.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s singlehandedly leveled the playing field for all types of businesses and individuals, increased efficiency, productivity, access to information, the list goes on and on.<\/p>\n

However, the same attributes that manifest in positive outcomes, can also manifest in negative outcomes. Like exploitation or the rapid spread of false or dangerous information, to name a few.<\/p>\n

In the end, the internet functions as a tool that can be put to good or evil use. It all depends on the user. So companies and <\/i>individuals need to be responsible users.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the tape,<\/p>\n

Louis Basenese
\nChief Investment Strategist, Wall Street Daily<\/em><\/p>\n

The post Is the Internet Good or Evil?<\/a> appeared first on Wall Street Daily<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By WallStreetDaily.com A 22-year-old Newsweek article just resurrected itself, and it\u2019s now going viral. The article was written by astronomer, Clifford Stoll, and it wonderfully bashes the internet, which was in its infancy in 1995. Stoll was shockingly accurate in his criticism, saying\u2026 \u201cYour word gets out, leapfrogging editors and publishers. Every voice can be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","no-post-thumbnail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112015"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":112031,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112015\/revisions\/112031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}