Is there some point to the world or do we simply like to delude ourselves? Come on, face it, the world is a large spinning ball containing mostly water, salt water, with a bit of dirt here and there, and some ice on top and bottom. That's all there is. Why should such a ball have a purpose for each and every one of us?

But being human, and homo sapiens, wise humans, at that, we all have concluded that there is a point to our wisdom. We need a point for our wisdom, an outlet for those superfluous conclusions we draw every day. That is why the internet is so popular. We have all been raised in America to believe that we are all unique and special, but with so many unique and special voices, we need to be heard above the clamor.

The postmodern world is said to be filled with such ruckus, a mindless miasma of thoughts disconnected from the world around them, beings trapped without a sense of location, when, like me, they wander onto a computer and tap the powers of the net.

But is it that bad? Does not the internet, with its super strength of individualism surmount that babble? Of course it doesn't. The Rant is a single voice yapping in a loud brook, surrounded by thousands of other yappers, and a handful of screamers whose voices are known, heard, and occasionally recognized by many people who skim the net for those who can be heard.

There is more sound than ears to listen, more to be heard than can ever be heard. That is the nature of the world I and so many of the people my age have grown up in, yet we have all been told from infancy that our voices matter, that what we say counts. We have been raised knowing both realities as inherently true, and some people look at us and wonder, why are the young people today so disenchanted, so cynical, so refusing to vote? We have been decieved. That is why.

We have grown up with soundless voices, talked with our fingers, looked with a two dimensional screen and made friends with images alone. What else could we be but image centric, snappy thinkers who cannot look in depth at an issue? A generalization of course, but truer than many of us would like to admit to. We are fought by our own world as we grow up, yet coddled and told we are safe and loved.

Our own inherited passions have destroyed us, the technology we have been raised to love has replaced any other world in beauty, in rightness. There is no swifter way to learn, to talk, to experiance the world than the internet, but one day there will be. And that is the ultimate hope for any generation, that they outlive what they were born with and eventually become capable of remembering antiquated things, like vcrs.

Roman Wolf