Look At All the Lonely People

The internet.  Is it just an extension of the human mind, spanning a global network?  Or is the internet a virtual world, where people come to escape their real life problems?  Erza Klein wrote an article, called "Being 'Fully' Human Online", where he explains that the internet is basically a world that humans have created where we can interact.  Interacting with others is what makes us uniquely human.  Socializing is what we yearn for and the internet is a place where those characteristics are exemplified.  I feel as if this is a great definition for what it means to be human.  This seems to be one part of the puzzle: Human beings are social creatures.  

However, Roger Ebert has a slightly different take on the internet, which sheds some light on a different part of humanity.  In "All the Lonely People", it talks about how if someone is lonely, what they will do in this day and age: go on the internet.  Some people might jump to a conclusion about anyone who spends all of their time on the internet, replacing reality for a virtual world.  However, there are stories behind those people that caused them to become lonely.  "Companionship. Love. Recognition." That is what human begins long for, as Ebert stated.  It seems to be the more advanced human beings become, the more those three things become necessary.  Just like how the body needs food, the mind needs satisfaction of those three things.  If somehow, they aren't felt by a human, they sometimes become lonely.

The internet.  Is it just an extension of the human mind, spanning a global network?  Or is the internet a virtual world, where people come to escape their real life problems?  I think it is a great example of what makes us humans: being social creatures.