Tucker, Joshua

Speiser

English 101

Oct 19, 2023

Anthropocene Essay

The Anthropocene is Earth’s current (unofficial) geological age, defined by humanity’s

dominance and impact on the planet. Beginning around the 1950’s, during The Great

Acceleration (a dramatic and continuous surge of human activity beginning from the mid 20th

century to now,) humanity has been impacting the planet's environment and ecosystem through

activities such as deforestation, overpopulation, and the burning of fossil fuels. These activities

have generated substantial amounts of greenhouse gases, leaving a large impact on Earth’s

atmosphere, thus resulting in many Scientists arguing we are now in a new geological era. This

new change in Earth’s atmosphere is what many scientists describe as being the main reason for

the Anthropocene era; however, other non-geological human activities can be considered a part

of this age as well. Among the many modern human inventions in recent years, none are as

impactful and important to the Anthropocene age as is the creation of the internet.

The internet was first created in 1969 as a way for government researchers to share

information with each other; the machine they created was called the ARPANET (Barry Leiner

et al). Initially, the ARPANET only had four host computers connected to it, but over the

following few years, many more hosts were added. By 1972, electronic mail was first introduced,

and in 1983, the Protocol/Internetwork Protocol (TCP/IP) was established, creating a standard

way for computers to “talk” to each other (A Brief History of the Internet). Eventually, on April

30, 1993, the World Wide Web launched, allowing anyone to navigate the internet by launching
a “browser” (Julian Ring). From there, the internet began to slowly grow into what it is today as

more people began to use it. What once started out as an easier way for government researchers

to share their information, the internet has evolved to be an essential component in our everyday

lives. The internet has given birth to entirely new cultures and communities, shaping our society

in ways that may have never been possible without it.

The internet has drastically affected the way we communicate with each other, the way

we learn new information, and the way we entertain ourselves. People can now communicate

with each other in seconds from practically anywhere in the world through the use of online

messaging and social media apps. Entertainment apps have allowed people to share many forms

of entertaining and/or educational content with others, usually in the form of videos. Online

search engines have given us a near limitless amount of information at our fingertips. All of

these things sound great, and have improved many people's lives in some respects, however, they

do not come without flaws. Online messaging has been so effective and easy to use, that many

people (especially younger generations) have opted to primarily communicate with each other

online. This lack of in-person communication can greatly deteriorate social skills, resulting in

widespread depression and feelings of loneliness (Nicole Beurkans). Entertainment apps, while

providing short term entertainment, can result in a decreased attention span, and a desire for

instant dopamine hits. A short attention span can cause problems outside of just entertainment; it

can be harder to focus in educational settings, and it may be harder to maintain a conversation

with others. Online search engines, while usually making it easier to find answers and research

information, can leave you susceptible to malicious intent. It is extremely easy to spread false

information online, since search engines have massive databases and aren't always able to sort

out the bad websites. Search engines also contain many malicious websites that can steal your
personal information, such as your bank account info, addresses, and account passwords. All

these problems with the internet relate back to Anthropocene ideas, as these problems are all

significantly more common in the Anthropocene age. Before the internet, people primarily

communicated with each other by meeting in-person and going out to do things (of course people

had landline phones for some time before the internet, but they were far more limited than

modern communications). People didn’t have at-home video entertainment as readily available

as we do now; most people would either go outside or spend time indoors doing more engaging

activities for entertainment, such as reading, playing board games, or solving puzzles. Lastly,

other than media corruption, it was not nearly as easy to spread large amounts of false

information as it is now, and it also wasn’t as easy for scammers to get your personal

information.

My experiences with the internet have been mostly positive, and overall, I do believe the

internet is an improvement to our everyday lives; that is, if you use it properly. The internet has

been extremely helpful in providing useful information about anything I need or want to know.

For example, say you wanted to start growing your own vegetables at home, but you didn’t know

what plants to get or how to properly care for them. Prior to the internet, you could go to a

library and find a book about gardening, or perhaps you could find someone that knows how to

garden and ask them for help. Both these options may not be quick, cheap, or readily available

for everybody. With the internet, you can easily look up free articles and tutorials on how to get

into gardening, giving you answers within seconds. Personally, I have found the internet to be

immensely helpful with school. Resources like online textbooks and tutorials have helped me

many times whenever I get stuck in my work, and online calculators and grammar checkers are

always useful in checking my work and improving my understanding. As a matter of fact, since
writing this, I have already checked my grammar and word choice several times using the

internet. However, you also must be careful not to rely on the internet to solve all your problems;

the internet should not think for you. This overreliance on the internet, according to Stuart

Wolpert in their article, “Is technology producing a decline in critical thinking and analysis,” can

lead to a decline in critical thinking skills and hinder your ability to process information when

used in educational settings. For this reason, it is extremely important that children are taught

how to properly use online resources, so they don’t end up abusing them. I remember back when

I was in fifth grade and I had just gotten my first phone, I would cheat on nearly every piece of

homework I got. It felt like having a phone made everything in school easier, because it was so

easy to look up answers (especially for math). However, when it came time to take a test on what

we had been learning, I realized I had barely learned anything since using my phone to cheat. I

was never actually processing the work I was cheating on, so I forgot everything I had seen on

how to solve the problems myself. This led to me failing the test, and I slowly began to realize

that it just was not worth cheating if I did not learn anything. I don’t remember how long I was

fully cheating for, but I do remember slowly cheating less and less until I got to the point where

the only help I was going online for was help in understanding, rather than directly looking for

answers. Education is an important aspect that the internet can have both positive and negative

effects on, but it is only one of many different areas the internet affects. If the internet is to

remain a positive addition to everyday life, people must be educated on how to properly use it,

whether it comes from schools or from parents.

In conclusion, the internet is an incredible resource for a variety of things, such as

entertainment, communication, and education. The internet can provide a glimpse into the bitter-

sweet way humanity is always trying to optimize and make things easier; many tasks can be
trivialized with the knowledge provided by the internet. The invention of this revolutionary

technology comes with new potential risks of misuse however, as many great human inventions

often do. The internet can pose risks from both yourself and other users; relying on the internet

for everything could cause deterioration in critical thinking and social skills, and there are also

people on the internet who have malicious intentions that you must watch out for. People need to

be educated on how to properly use the internet to prevent these risks; as it is with many other

inventions, it is up to all of humanity to prevent our own downfall.

Wolpert, S. (2019, May 9). Is technology producing a decline in critical thinking and

analysis?. UCLA. https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/is-technology-producing-a-decline-

79127

Beurkens, Dr. N. (2021, November 3). How does technology affect children’s social

development? Qustodio. https://www.qustodio.com/en/blog/technology-child-social-

development/#:~:text=Increased%20technology%20use%20has%20the,social%20skills%2

0development%20in%20toddlers.

A brief history of the internet. Internet Society. (2023, October 11).

https://www.internetsociety.org/internet/history-internet/brief-history-internet/

A Brief History of the Internet. A brief history of the internet. (n.d.).

https://www.usg.edu/galileo/skills/unit07/internet07_02.phtml