From Dr. Liu Huajie
Preface for Hebei University Publishing House Edition
Even faster than predicted, the Internet is growing. In the United States, an estimated 60 million people are now using the Internet to shop, to socialize, to work, and to do research. This is nearly double the number of people who were using the Internet four years ago.
But the Internet is no longer simply a United States phenomenon. Equally amazing and exciting is the rapid growth of the Internet across the globe, from Europe to Africa to Asia. Four years ago it seemed everyone on the Internet was speaking English - now it is becoming a true world community.
I am especially excited to see China beginning to establish an Internet presence. I think the future of China and of China's relationship to the United States will be made better by this new technology, if people use it well.
It will be interesting, however, to see if Asian countries face some of the same prob! ! lems and confusions that Americans have faced. While my understanding is that Chinese users rely on the Internet and e-mail more for research and business than for fun and friendship, I suspect that social and entertainment uses will become more common.
This book is very much about the 'social' and 'human' side of Internet use - how conversations by e-mail differ from conversations when two people are in the same room, how making 'virtual' friends on the internet is different than becoming friends with someone you meet on the street. Is a community of friends who only meet through the computer a true community? Will our computer friends become more important to us than the people who live nearby to us in our towns and villages? As more people in China access the Internet, more of them will explore these same questions.
Americans have been both excited by the Internet and the wealth of knowledge and information that is available, and frightened by the rapid change! ! . Many people worry that there is too much information on ! the Internet, more than anyone could ever use, some of it unreliable or dangerous. Some worry too that the use of e-mail and electronic discussion is breaking down the common bonds that unite people, that electronic friendships are not as strong as face-to-face relationships. Some worry that too much time spent in front of the computer and not enough time out in nature is bad for the human spirit. I am sure users in China will have some of these same questions too.
I teach university classes in the United States, and when I ask young American students what excites them the most about the Internet, they often say "talking to people my age in other countries." Wouldn't it be interesting if American students and Chinese students were in regular daily conversations, not just about world events, but about music and sports?
Some have predicted that the Internet is way to world peace. I suspect this view is an exaggeration, but I do hope that the increased e! ! ase of communication that comes with Internet use will help people from China and the United States -- and people from all countries on the planet - to understand one another better, and to focus on what we have in common more than what sets us apart.
Dinty W. Moore, May 1998
