Our society is being negatively impacted because the true idea of human worth is being compromised. The Renaissance birthed the idea of "what a piece of work is man" to celebrate the individual and his accomplishments, but now the tendency is to hide behind an invented face with an invented personality because the inventor believes himself to be boring or unsuccessful. In essence, he is laboring "to play the fool." Beyond this, fake relationships develop and ties that link family and community weaken.
This new style of representing oneself merits some respect, however. The Renaissance also brought with the idea of exploring new worlds. Today most of the land area on Earth is known. Instead we have begun to explore the digital world. Full of information and beyond real experiences, we now can enter fantastical worlds that only existed in dreams before now. The ability to redefine oneself and then interact with other uniquely designed personalities give us an opportunity that the real world does not produce. Without an aviator's degree, I have flown an airplane. Without having to buy a ticket and travel to a different state I have attended concerts. I have even traveled to far away galaxies and observed a pair of stars that orbit each other.
The Internet is a sandbox of limitless creation. Dishonesty abounds but so does creativity. Who we are influences what we create and what we create influences who we are.
The ideas you bring up about the internet could easily fit into all of the categories of the renaissance:
ReplyDeleteAd Fontes: Internet communication is exploring the past, and always demanding historical sources.
Brave New Worlds: People love to embark on a new journey. Whether that is exploring the galaxy through cyberspace or role playing a mystical character in an ancient land. Exploration and discovery are huge parts of this.
What a Piece of Work is Man: You speak of the desire to hide, and that is certainly very present, but there is also a desire to stand out. How many people collect friends on facebook or followers on youtube? Their online person might not have the same name, but they are showing who they really are.
Plough Boys and Bibles: More then ever protestants are able to get their messages farther, and faster to more and more people through the internet. Surely martin luther would have appreciated that.
Moveable Type: The printing press allowed more people to publish more things. The same has happened with the internet - more people are able to publish more things.
Sprezzatura: There are mountains of information out there ready to teach you about anything. Those who are willing to put the time in are going to come out with much more information then those who are not.