Do you remember life before the internet?
Not everyone is qualified to answer today’s prompt, for many were born after the internet had been invented. I am one of the remaining Baby Boomers or Gen X’ers who can differentiate between life before and after the internet.
Life before the internet was simpler, purer, slower, and closer to nature. Without the internet, contact with the outside world was minimal, and daily interaction with friends or relatives was unusual. In those non-internet days, kinship and friendship required much greater effort to maintain. Yet what I cherish most is the human touch, the tacit understanding, and the chemistry that no machine can provide. AI may work in sync with you, but it cannot feel what you feel or solve problems exactly the way you want. I miss the days when customer hotlines were staffed by real human operators—not AI.
Today’s question prompts me to imagine another: “How would life be without the internet in the modern world?” For those born after the internet, living without it may be unimaginable.
Under the culture of “one person, one smartphone,” even toddlers watch cartoons on their devices while their mothers play video games on theirs. Generation Z and Generation Alpha know the screen better than the sky, recognise video sounds but not birdsong, and befriend netizens more readily than real people.
While the internet offers many benefits in modern times, let’s pause and think: where has our freedom in nature gone? The internet is a tool to deliver resources—no matter how powerful, it is not the mother of the land, nor is AI the teacher of life or a true friend. To forsake nature, or to build relationships with something other than real life, is a life you may never truly experience.
As someone who has experienced life both before and after the internet’s invention, I feel qualified to express appreciation for both eras. Ably adapting to change while upholding the purpose of life is how I choose to live.
Living in a world of different time zones, no matter how fast the internet can make life, I affirm that the clock and pace of life are determined not by the internet, but by the heart. Just as every coin has two sides, so does technology. Using its advantages while guarding against misuse is wiser than rejecting technology altogether. And that, perhaps, is the wiser path.
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en yan hua fang 