Before The Internet We Had Imagination

Before The Internet We Had Imagination

Michael Joseph Farrelly Quote

Before The Internet We Had Imagination; we ponder whether the internet is actually a part of a millennial's imagination

The Imagination Of The Internet


Is the imagination of the internet really an extension of the millennials own imagination? From my observations when they imagine something they 'search' it to give it a realisation they can conceptualise in their mind with the objective of putting it into practice in reality.

The internet, or narrowing it down, a search engine, is not yet an actual imagination that creates its own ideas without input, but what it does do is stop short how far the Gen Y's and beyond are prepared to let their own imaginations do the work.

Making and fixing things has really changed, without such easy access to YouTube videos and 'how to' websites it used to be you would use your imagination to create things or fix them, failing that you would buy a book or ask someone to show you.

The point is by using your imagination to try to do something you would usually fail and it is this failure that is actually a wonderful learning curve to educate your mind with understanding of how things actually work.

Even a small failure is enough to burn that experience into your mind and it is that word 'experience' that builds wisdom into the human mind as you age.

Will the internet generation be relying on their hand phones and YouTube into their retirement years? From my experience this generation concentrate less on remembering things as they do not see the need for it with so much information only seconds from their fingertips.



Another thing is the internet is full of useful and useless information, I'll hazard a bet many have fallen prey to something as silly as the wrong method to boil an egg in a microwave oven, go google there is good and misinformed ways on how to avoid egg explosions.

Perhaps the useless information on the internet is there to give millennials the experience they miss out on by not using their imaginations to address issues, or boil eggs.

Before The Internet


The greatest generation, the baby boomers and Gen X are the only generations alive today aware of life before the internet. When the internet was born Gen X easily embraced it while the boomers were hit and miss on their uptake of the online world whereas those born before WWII mostly don't bother with it.

Depending which media outlet you take your info from I was born somewhere between the crossover from baby boomer to Gen X, I embraced everything about the internet and explored it with a curious fascination.

Before the internet, kids in my generation in Englands second city where I grew up were mainly interested in one thing, playing football. When I wasn't playing football I'd be climbing trees or going on epic bicycle rides around the countryside surrounding the city and in the summer playing cricket.

As a kid, one thing that I never encountered was an electronic device to pass my time from morning until night.

As an adult I've been exactly the same as I never really got into playing online games, my big thing using the internet has always been reading and learning.

I look at some of the avid 'gamers' as they are called and I cannot help but to think they are using someone elses imagination to pass their time, they are dwelling in an online world not of their mind but instead a creation designed by another persons imagination.

Kids start playing these games from an early age and throughout their schooling years and it will be interesting to see what neural skills they will have developed when they are adults. I look at my 8 year old son and the dexterity and speed of his fingers on a keyboard is more fascinating to watch that the actual game.

This makes me think that the gamers are honing a certain brain function whereby as they grow older they will be able to think or react quicker to certain situations, it will be interesting to see where technology takes us and what effect it will have on the human mind and what benefits different humans gain from growing up with never before used experiences.

The imagination is the same, the more you use it the better it gets. I remember as a kid if it was raining I had to stay indoors and without all the internet generation gizmos this generation have to entertain themselves.

One day I could be fighting world war II with a couple of toy soldiers and the next I would be walking on the moon with Neil Armstrong or playing imaginary guitar to the latest rock sensation in my bedroom. I could be anyone I wanted to be, anyone I ever imagined and more. I used to dream about planets, space flights and travelling through worm holes not knowing if I'd be back in time for dinner.

The Millennials Lack Imagination


The millennials have never had to imagine their way through a rainy afternoon, their worst case scenario is becoming bored of a game and flicking through an endless supply of internet TV channels looking for something to catch their interest.

Back in the day when the boomers took a photograph there was always an eager anticipation to get the photos developed and an excitement at collecting them from the print shop.

The internet generation demands instant gratification with seconds seemingly like an eternity to them if they have to wait to view their 'selfie'.

The one constant in life is change perhaps I am witnessing a change in how we imagine things and the future will be an online artificially assisted imagination leading to an era of artificial intelligence taking more prominent mind roles in our lives.

It will take years of conditioning for humans to completely accept and adopt this but when we reach that point it will be interesting to see what advantages come with it.

I've read theories that the conditioning started during the baby boomer years with the escapism of television and entertainment in general being a distraction to occupy our minds.

This in effect is the same as the millennial gamers being entertained by someone elses imagination, it is escapism from the mundane tasks that occupy our daily routines.


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