Who is left out as the world goes online, and what is the new connection for?
More of the world can now reach information, work and one another through a screen, and those who cannot are left further behind. What should the new means serve, and what do they put at risk?
The picture
What the numbers show, read from the Data library each time the page opens.
How to read the chart above, and the words it uses (for people using the internet).
How to read the data
The figure is the share of people who used the internet in the period asked about, by any device. It says who is reached, not for what they use it, how fast it is, or what it costs them.
Key terms
Internet user
Someone who has used the internet in a stated recent period, from any place and device.
Digital divide
The gap between those who can use digital means and those who cannot.
Connectivity
The means of reaching a network, such as a line, a signal or a device.
Who has a stake
Each interest, then readings from the Catholic library and the Classics library that bear on it, oldest first. Choose a group to read.
To share in the education, work, health information and public services that now run through the network, and not to be left behind.
That the means help people to know and to think for themselves, and do not replace understanding with the look of it.
To benefit from information, trade and company at a distance, and to be protected from deceit, harm and endless distraction.
That a new power to connect serves the common good and does not set people against one another or raise their pride above their means.
For discussion
If connection is becoming a condition of schooling, work and public services, what is owed to those who are not connected?
Thamus feared that the new means would give the look of wisdom without the reality. What in today’s tools would he want us to test, and what might he have under-weighted?
Technology expresses human freedom and genius, but can also serve pride. How can a community tell the difference?
