The Effects of Religious and/or Political Fundamentalism on the Internet

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Description:

Both religious and political fundamentalism (depending on the country these are sometimes combined into one) have a profound effect on the shaping of the internet. Some western-minded political scientists will agree that an example of political fundamentalism is Castro's Cuba or Kim Jung Il's North Korea. The effect of these types of political institutions is that the availability of the internet is controlled by these factions and thus limited or completely banned to the citizens of these countries, and thus has a profound negative effect on the ability to further the unrestrained sharing of knowledge and limits the concept of McLuhan's global village.

To describe religious fundamentalism, one has to go no further than a local newspaper to read about violent acts carried out in our own towns and neighborhoods as a result of fervent religious believers who are attempting to further their cause through inculcating fear and violence.

Enablers:

- Technogical adavnces in medicine - Better conditions of living in the Developing world - More health awareness

Inhibitors:

- Extending the retirement age to another 10 years so people will have to work more

Paradigms:

There has been enormous concern about the consequences of human population growth for the environment and for social and economic development. But this growth is likely to come to an end in the foreseeable future.

Experts:

United Nations US Department of Health and Human Services

Timing:

Improving on earlier methods of probabilistic forecasting, here we show that there is around an 85 per cent chance that the world's population will stop growing before the end of the century. There is a 60 per cent probability that the world's population will not exceed 10 billion people before 2100, and around a 15 per cent probability that the world's population at the end of the century will be lower than it is today. For different regions, the date and size of the peak population will vary considerably.

Web Resources:

http://www.un.org