How the Internet Breaks Down Barriers....

Here's a short story which shows the incredible potential the internet really has to build bridges between people....

Several years ago, I used to play this online text-only game.... It's known as a MUD, a "Multi-User Dungeon." However, this particular MUD is kind of interesting, because its creators have given it a basic economy.... That is, you can experiment with business, in a very simple way, in the particular MUD.... (You can find out more at www.shattered.org , or www.shattered.org/economy.htm for more about the economy....)

Anyway, it was an interesting world, with real people playing various "characters." It was such that you could do chattel trading, run businesses and buy and sell them at an auction, do advertising....

This was a non-standard way to play the MUD, but it was interesting that this approach was possible.... (I actually learned about this approach from my brother Thomas, who discovered it for himself....)

But that's all besides the point....

There was another player who I befriended in this online world.... He went by the name Llewellyn.... We did a few "adventures" together....

One day, I spoke with him a bit further, and he told me that in fact, he was blind. He had a speech synthesizer attached to his computer, which read out the words on the screen to him. So he'd type in his commands, and his speech synthesizer would read out the text to him....

In our little online world, things like this made no difference.... We were all equals there....

And that's the point.... As we all know, the internet enables many people to break down barriers. There are barriers of disability, barriers of race, barriers of many other types too....

But the internet is an amazing tool which helps people to break these barriers down....

I think it is an amazing thought, and it shows that what we are dealing with is not only whiz-bang technology, but something that can really make a huge difference in many people's lives....

Just some food for thought!

Dien

I didn't cover one of the biggest barrier breakdowns which occurs online.... Breaking down the business gender barrier....

I've just been reading about this.... Many women find that there is less of a gender barrier to doing business online than in the real-life "bricks and mortar" world....

Probably the reasons are the same as to why the barriers of disability or race can be broken down too....

People often see your words and thoughts first, and see anything else only later.... So people are less prejudiced.

It can actually be quite powerful....

I've read that nowadays, women make up over 50% of new entrepreneurs.... Part of the reason could be because of the "glass ceiling" which may exist in some industries.... When a woman hits that "glass ceiling," in response she often goes out and starts a business, so she can grow in her work further....

I've just started to read more about women entrepreneurs.... I just got Anita Roddick's autobiography (it looks great, just flicking through it) -- she's the founder of "The Body Shop".... And there's more coming too (once I get some more reading done).... :)

However, breaking down the gender barrier also seems to be one of the powerful forces at work through the internet!

- Dien