[Prev|Next| Index ] 2/21/96, sturchio@acm.org, Short Hills, NJ USA

My Perspective on the Internet

     By Eva Sturchio, sturchio@acm.org.

     My name is Eva Sturchio and I live in Short Hills, New Jersey,
     USA.

     I believe the Internet is the closest that humankind has come to
     true democracy, where everyone has a voice. It includes the
     entire world and therefore cannot be controlled by any one
     government as we have seen attempted recently. It takes an open
     mind to listen to another's view that differs greatly from one's
     own. The beauty of democracy is that it gives people the
     opportunity to express their opinion as well as to listen, agree,
     ignore, or respond to the opinions of others. This can be a huge
     responsibility, but I am an optimist and I believe that we, as
     intelligent beings, can handle it. The Internet has existed much
     longer than the general public has been aware of it and has not
     disintegrated from a difference of ideas.

     I am a very curious person and I love to learn new ideas. I
     believe that progress can only occur with the discussion and
     cross-pollination of ideas. There are those who are afraid of
     ideas and wish to quiet the voices of the people whose ideas that
     they don't agree with. History has proven that this is not
     effective. I hope that we can learn from the past and allow any
     and all ideas to flourish on the Internet. There is a tremendous
     potential here with the large number of participants from around
     the world. It would be very unfortunate not to be able to realize
     the full potential of this global forum.

     Thank you for reading my essay!

     Eva

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