Let's face it, we've googled ourselves at some point or the other. It's cool to see that we exist on the internet and google identifies us as a piece in the world wide web.
And of course with each episode of googling, sometimes a link about you surfaces which could be embarrassing. Like being ranked in the last quartile on an afaqs! quiz years go (that's me). Or seeing a link of a weird college video you once posted and are now ashamed of. The internet doesn't forget much.
I was reading the story of a mother pregnant with a child who has congenital heart disease. She wants it aborted but the courts just ruled that she can't. Hopefully the child will grow up and live as normal a life as once can hope for in this situation. Which brings me to the unfortunate point that when the child grows up and googles his family how will he/she react to the information that his parents didn't want him born?
Sure once he/she grows up, he/she might understand and empathize with his/her parents' situation. But when the child's young, who's to stop it from reading the nationwide online debate about his/her abortion.
For the child's sake I wish the internet suffers from amnesia this one time.
PS: I'm afraid I've only added to the 'internet's memory' with this post
Update. Couple of links (Cached pages, Deleting things from google) for those who want to read more about google cache and how not to let it remember things long after you've deleted them. Thanks for the links Namit.
Update. The lady carrying the child in question here has suffered a miscarriage. I suppose that closes this debate... for now.
Monday, August 4, 2008
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very touching indeed...
ReplyDeleteVery well thought
ReplyDelete~Joydeep
a very touching thought! but i think the parents who will have the courage to go through this entire process of giving birth and raising the child will pass on the maturity to deal with the issue...lets hope so!
ReplyDeleteinteresting take. A machine conscience that never forgets and can be tapped into. Rivals something out of Arthur C Clarke.
ReplyDeletedidnt occur to me...so true!
ReplyDeleteTalking of parenting, I think parents of adopted kids live in constant fear that the child will find out the truth about his birth parents, the alternative is no easier. When and how to break this to the child.
ReplyDeleteWe follow a "no surprise escalations" policy. Sounds like a corporate cliché but its relevant here as well. Fearing every single day about a small slip and danger of finding out seems far worse an option to me.
So even if whole media (including internet) suffers amnesia, can we rely on ourselves never to make a mistake?
is this really true??..sad then
ReplyDelete