Guest post by Nicola Williams
In my three months in Dominica this is the third incident to be attributed to demonic possession , and yes I know there are many who will argue that this is a real possibility and throw scriptures and anecdotes of all kinds in my direction. Fair enough, I too agree that good and evil exists but I can’t help but wonder if the “evil” that has been causing an increase in psychotic breaks, poor expression of self and a decline in the ability of many to cope with simple challenges in life is linked to the fact that approximately 70% (*1) of interaction between social systems takes place via Cyberspace and don’t you dare tell me it’s just the kids because I have literally stood and watch “mature” persons come together and the only thing they were able to talk about were posts on twitter or pics on Facebook (*2) and I am thinking is there no life for you outside of your Social Network circles??
Maybe I am the weird person but I do not find Facebook nearly half as entertaining as some of my friends. I see it as a means to link with distant friends and family and ever so often just to be plain inquisitive but after five minutes of scanning posts looking at pics and commenting on threads I resort to playing FB games which does nothing for my social side. I like walks and I love to “ramp” because outside of the obvious pleasure it helps me to unwind and detox, I also love good company that will tell me my arguments make no sense and we banter back and forth, granted I have seen how Facebook can be useful in that arena but the missing intimate touch from actual face to face interaction leaves a lot to be desired, seeing the odd facial expressions, the ever moving hands, silently keeps us sane.
Furthermore, Social Networks, in my opinion are entertainment zones, therefore many posts are merely for amusement. Very few will put a post out there to seriously ask for advice, those who do ask still do so in jest and very soon the matter becomes trivialized by those who comment, offering no benefit to the individual. At this point, I will expect people to argue that they freely rant and express themselves using these media but can you say you have truly truly dealt with the problem this way?
Right now I don’t even know if all this make sense as there is so much going around in my head relating to the matter and given I did no research I probably should not tout these arguments, however my reasoning is, in the same way we have found how neglect and lack of positive interaction and stimulation affects the development of the “psyche” so too does our involuntary yet voluntary submission to isolating ourselves from the rest of the world under the guise that we spend hours ” interacting” with the world- “Cybertronically“. This subliminal Isolation has cause many among us to deal with reality in rather odd ways since many find they only have a voice or even an opinion when online, we have no idea how to face reality and all the challenges it has to offer. I Honestly believe that among other factors the increasing deficit in real life development of our social being is affecting our behavior patterns and coping skills. Therefore, incidences of unexplainable outbursts, suicide attempts and breakdown is societal bonds will soon be the order of the day.
Our devotion to cyber space is affecting a lot more than our grammar and our vocabulary… call me what you may.
*1 – figure not based on actual research
*2 – though Facebook is mentioned there are many other cyber activities to be considered
Nicola C. Williams
Views of a Tech Enthusiast 