Justified by the nets

The internets can be a trap. Everybody complains that they get on their computer to be productive and then get sucked into some social site, and then get nothing done. This is not the trap that I am talking about. That is something that we are all aware of. I am talking about a different kind of trap, the "like minded people" trap.

We spend time online connecting with people all over the world. This can be good for many reasons, we can network, and spread the word about things. We can work together to brainstorm ideas and be productive, we can learn, and share, and do all kinds of good things with the ability to access the countless people who are also on the nets. The down side? We find like minded people. These people think like us, they share like us, and like the same things as we do. That is great we all need friends and support, but they can also trap us. When we don't associate with people who are different than us, how can we learn to see things from different angles?

What happens is, that we go on line and see images and read quotes and talk to people who all agree with you. You want to feel good about yourself? There is someone out there to stroke your ego. There is a person who thinks you are beautiful no mater how you look, overweight or anorexic there is someone to tell you that what you are doing is great. Don't feel good about something? There is someone who will tell you that you are great, and that what you are doing is just fine. Don't really feel like going outside your box, there is someone to tell you that the box is a good place to be, and you shouldn't leave.

This can become a problem. We spend our days reading "uplifting" quotes and looking at inspirational pictures so that we can feel good about how we are right now. This is not how a normal human is meant to improve. This is how we become stagnant. We read these things and think, well, everyone likes me just they way I am I don't need to actually go out and do anything to improve myself. We end up giving up on life, without even realizing that is what we are doing. We think that we are great the way we are and never again think it necessary to get better.

Change and improvement is part of the human experience. It is what make us better people. When we think we are perfect the way we are, we couldn't be more wrong. There is always room for improvement, and if we are content with who we are now then we will never try to become better. How do we expect to make progress as a society if as individuals we refuse to do the work necessary to become better people. When we all think that we are good the way we are, we are essentially dooming our future.

Everyday is meant to be a day used for self improvement. When we surround ourselves with a pillowy, flattering social life that encourages us to stay the same as we were yesterday, we are killing the person who we once had the potential to become. Life is not about finding a state we can be happy with and just staying there. Life is about constant and continual improvement, even if that means things get a little uncomfortable along the way, and even if we fail every once in a while. We must keep moving forward or we are going to fall behind.