Inside Out Society

For many years, our society has been changing. Our society used to be extremely extroverted. While this extroversion does still exist in many areas, there is a growing trend towards introversion, caused in no small part by advancements in technology. With televison, phones, computers, and the internet, people hardly need to go outside their own homes anymore. That might not be as bad a thing as it sounds. Food can always be delivered, people can chat online, and some workplaces allow you to work from your own living room.

Now, I'm not saying our society would be better if we never left the house, but there are a few areas of our society that I feel could be improved if we started cultivating this trend toward introversion in some of our nation's problem areas. Let's take a look at them.

Education

There are many problems plaguing the public school system. Oversized classrooms, lack of funding, security, etc. I believe many of these problems could be solved today. Here's something I would like to try see implemented in some schools, if only on a trial basis. Kids that have a computer in their home could sign up for online classes. Now, this is nothing new. Colleges have been doing online courses for years. The problem is a lack of interactivity. I would use text messaging to start out with, saving webcam and microphones for when, and if, they are truly needed.

I actually have a personal theory about learning. Without going into too much detail about it here, I believe that there are three (maybe four) different types of people when it comes to learning things. These are Scholars, Workers, and Audience Members, with Artists being a possible fourth type. Scholars learn best when studying, Workers learn best when doing something, and Audience Members learn best when something is presented to them in an interesting or entertaining way. If we count Artist as a seperate type, these would be the people that learn abstract concepts more easily (although some would argue that a Scholar or Worker could also be an Artist). When web technology, different classes could be presented that best reflect the child's learning style. Admittedly, some subjects are difficult or even impossible to present in anything other than a given style, but I feel enough subjects cross these areas that it could prove beneficial.

What's more, interactive programs could be used for school work, homework, exams, research papers, etc. The programs would even be able to tell the student what their grade was. Technically, a teacher wouldn't even need to keep gradebooks with the advancements in database software, but since I've always been paranoid about losing my work, I would suggest keeping paper and electronic grade books just in case. Another thing is that lessons in history, science, and other subjects could be supplemented with videos that make the subject more interesting.

Now, I come up with a lot of ideas that are flawed (in fact, I can proudly say that I came up with the idea for the World's Dumbest Amusement Park Ride, but that's a topic for a different article entirely). Originally, I was going to open this up to debate, but since I had to make this an article instead of a forum thread (short answer: I'm cheap), I will answer any questions about education reform through technology below:

What about attendance? How do you make sure that students are going to their "online" classed?
Unfortunately, unless an adult is acting as a "stay at home" parent, this is pretty much left up to the honor system. A child that doesn't attend their online classes on a regular basis could be disciplined with having their online privileges removed, forcing them into the classroom, but I fear this would only lead up to the same problems that we have now (oversized classrooms, lack of funding, etc.).

What about classes that would be hard to implement online, like PE and Shop?
You wouldn't be able to, at least not with today's technology. There would have to be huge breakthroughs in Total Immersion Virtual Reality technology to allow students to be able to take these classes at home. Anyone who has ever seen the Matrix movies knows what Total Immersion Virtual Reality technology is. Well, that's actually an extreme example of the technology, but that is not the point. When Total Immersion VR technology becomes available, then you'd be able to do these and other hands-on courses from the comforts of home.

How would you prevent students from cheating?
Like with all online transactions, it would be practically impossible to completely prevent students from cheating on tests, or from e-mailing homework that someone else has completed. However you can make it extremely difficult for them to do so. Having a Student ID number tied directly into the student's computer would make it difficult for students to forge papers, and putting strict time limits on tests would not allow them time to let someone else do their test for them. If you want to be really crafty, you can use computer applications instead of textbooks. These applications would have a feature that only allows them to be accessed during "open book" tests, which some teachers do allow. In short, if you design the system right, then only the best hackers in the world would be able to "cheat the system" (unless two students are using wireless laptops and copying off each other, in which case its back to the drawing board).

Healthcare
Now this one is a bit trickier. There are already websites online that can help a person diagnose symtpoms, but this is by no stretch of the imagination a good substitute for a professional doctor. Of course, the real problems with the healthcare industry are twofold: hospital costs and the rising cost of medicine. The only solution that I can think of for the latter would be an online database (similar to the medical websites already mentioned) that could list all the different types of medication typically prescribed for that condition, which would include alternatives for patients with special conditions such as diabetes, as well as herbal remedies for those people that prefer less conventional medicine. This database could list the different prices of each medication as well, which would allow patients to pick the right medication for their price range (which would then be sent to their doctor for approval based on their condition, allergies, etc.).

With the current level of technology, the only way to have specific tests run (such as blood tests) is to actually visit a hospital. If (or maybe when) nanotechnology is invented, the machines inside our body could run these tests and transmit the results to the results to a medical professional. Until then, the only other way to perform these tests electronically would be to have specific machines connected to your computer for the specific purpose of performing these kinds of tests. Actually, there are digital thermometers, blood pressure testing machines, etc., so by adding a device that lets you transmit this information, hospitals could know your current temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, etc.

For those that would like to comment/debate this particular issue, these comments will be addressed below:

Your ideas for healthcare on-line needs more ingenuity. Sick people can't be helped from the resources you offer. Medical cases are complex and the doctor needs one on one time with the patient to monitor the success of the treatment plan.
This is true. Until nanotechnology is invented, it would be very difficult for doctors to monitor their patients once they leave the hospital. I suppose one way around this would be to give the patients some software that would allow them to keep in contact with their doctor. If we assume that the software includes a webcam interface, then the doctor would at least be able to see the patient's face while they discuss the progress of the patient's treatment. Another way would be to assign a tracking number to the patient, which could be used to keep track of when the patient refills his/her prescription. The doctor could then let the patient know if they are taking too much or too little of the prescribed medication. This, however, might be a violation of privacy laws. Of course, as the comment below states...

Even with a virtual exchange, nothing can replace the intimate doctor patient relationship.
This is true as well. Even with Total Immersion VR, nothing would be able to replace the real doctor patient relationship. The best you could do would be to have an open dialogue with your doctor, and if the condition seems to worsen or the treatment is proving inaffective, the doctor could recommend different treatments or even that the patient revisit the hospital.

Politics
Ah, now this is an interesting one. People have been voting online for years now, and cell phone voting has probably been around just as long. However, there is a lot more to this country than the right to vote.

One of the ways technology could improve our lives would be if everything that appears on the ballot was e-mailed to the american people. No propoganda, no mud slinging, just there it is. Some of these bills and measures are written in legalese, so for those of us that don't understand legal jargon (i.e. me), we could have programs that translate these bills for us.

Another good program would be one that lets us communicate with the congressmen/women, senators, lobbyists, etc. Often times, such communication is one-sided, with us never actually having any direct contact with our elected officials. Here's an idea that could work now without having to wait for future technology: government forum boards. I'm sure these exist, but no one ever comments on them. I'm sure that if Larry King or whoever replaced Walter Kronkite mentioned the top forum thread about issue X or the latest poll on bond measure Y, people would pay more attention to politics, and the politicians would pay more attention to the people.

Like with the other subjects, and comments will be answered below:

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That is just three issues that could be improved upon by using technology to cultivate an introverted society. Any comments regarding this article's subject will be commented on below:

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Thank you for reading this article. Hopefully, future articles will make more sense.