All forecasts indicate huge increases in level of activity on Internet, from those who will use it to buy all manner of items, possibly eventually alleviating need for giant shopping complexes we now have, to thousands (dare I say millions) who will be joining fortunate one’s who have been able to turn their home office and PC into a means to earn weekly wage.

What then, of all these unfortunate young people in a world where written word, once again, becomes as important as speech itself? How will they get on, what will be their lot in this Internet driven world of future? Dim to say least, I dare say.

In just last five to ten years way in which we communicate has undergone a huge change from telephone, telex (there's and oldie!) and letter to email. Anyone who goes to work in an office today, who doesn’t know how to use email, will be ‘incommunicado’. In fact, there are few who don’t exchange information, greetings and news in their homes among friends and relatives via email today. It’s simple, popular, cheap and secure way in which every type of communication takes place and what are we doing? Still turning out thousands of youngsters each year who have been short-changed by a system which has, albeit unexpectedly, left them unarmed, with no cover in an ‘illiterate no-mans land’.

There are some who have managed to come through ‘mill’ with a good degree of ability to express themselves with written word, but I would hazard a guess that there are two or three who haven’t for every one who has. The crying shame is that it’s not their fault.

If we are going to give in to a world virtually (pun intended) built around Internet, isn’t it a good idea if those in it are able to read and write?

So what’s solution? Well, like all things in life solutions are often more simple than we could ever have hoped for. We just have to keep our eyes open to grasp answers that are presented to us as opportunities everyday. Make a note when you are feeling bogged down and tired and think about how much information you have tried to compute in that moment. Give yourself time limits and a designated number of searches and downloads for a day. You can learn to take more breaks and find anecdotal means to sift through information, or even block out all stimuli in that break period. Gardening, meditation, stretches, breathing exercises, tai chi, yoga, cooking, sports, music…all of these are options to undertake when you want to get away from noise of too many ‘voices’.

The Internet is an awesome idea that has come to fruition. Like all tools and mediums of interaction it must be used mindfully, with care for user as first priority. You would never use a power saw without gloves, boots, and ear and eye protection. You could lose a finger…you’ve heard horror stories. Well Internet hasn’t really been around long enough for too many stories to be circulating, and I think its negative effects could be more subtle than my example, but case at hand is that we must be very careful how we interact with world around us. If we are all walking streets with giant nebulous nimbus clouds in our minds, there is bound to be trouble.