A World of Windows by Daniel

A World of Windows by Daniel - March 2022 Scholarship Essay

Never before in human history has mankind been graced with such an extent of communication. What once took weeks or months to communicate across vast distances can now be exchanged within a matter of seconds, allowing for new ideas to take root and be shared in ways never before possible. The implications for modern education are tremendous, allowing for curriculums to adjust as necessary in a continuously evolving world, and granting teachers and students access to a vast sea of information available at any time. Human learning, however, is not limited to the reaches of the classroom, and is a continuous journey of the mind. From the moment we are born we begin to learn of our surrounding world, taking in vast amounts of stimulation to process a response. Our capacity for complex learning grows more and more each time we overcome one of these obstacles, and with technology and digital media being more present than ever, we are now capable of overcoming our own obstacles with the aid and life experience offered by others who have already overcome those trials.

But this unique gift does not come without a distinct and dangerous liability: while social media can be applied as a means of learning, it can also be used as a means to foster delusion and a skewed world-view. Our generation has grown up with the capability to encounter events virtually firsthand, sharing and peering through windows into the ‘glimmer points’ of other peoples’ lives -- from the instagram model whose account is steadily flooded with images of her relaxing on the beach, or the popular kid whose account is constantly littered with pictures of him and his friends.

With the right mindset, social media can be a benign or even enjoyable practice that encourages a sense of community -- but if used without mindfulness of the risks involved, it can foster a fatal delusion on both the part of the poster and viewer. The one who posts the image will be further and further pressured to maintain the character which their images convey, even if that is not their true self, inspiring tension and superficiality with others. On the other hand, viewers may be unconsciously led to believe that these fleeting moments of ‘perfection’ compose the entirety of the poster’s life, and that the viewer’s own life is monotonous, insipid, and unworthy of recognition in comparison. Both of these misconceptions fail to address the reality of the situation and the world around them; that the worlds of others we see from the comfort and distance of our screens are not at all like the ones we encounter when we step out our front door.

To conclude, social media is not solely limited to the education of middle-schoolers or sociologists, but also serves to educate the human spirit and mind, allowing us to create a world-view based upon the many worlds we view from the other side of our digital window. The benefits which social media has in promoting education and allowing for communication cannot be overlooked, and their contribution in establishing exchange is undeniably a benefit to the human community. But just as any powerful tool, social media can be dangerous if we are unaware of how to use it. We must be conscious of how it educates our livelihoods outside of the scholarly setting, and that in using it as a total replacement for learning of the world-first hand, we ultimately deprive ourselves of the experiences that make life all the more worth living.