Bringing it all together.

As I reflect on the semester so far and the posts I've written for my blog, it is time to synthesize my previous seventeen posts into a thesis. I first went back and read my posts, searching for outliers to prune out before I try to combine the others or identify common themes. It's been a struggle, Individually, every post seems to be an outlier, haha. But overall I see a pattern of trying to tie in historical lessons with living in today's digital world.

As the computer scientist in the family, I often feel it's my job to educate relatives on all things digital, alleviating any struggles or concerns they have, and just helping them get along. I'm always excited to see family members using technology in some way that makes their day-to-day routines easier. The same feeling extends to people everywhere, not just family. The digital world is an exciting one, but it's not as scary as some might at first feel. The most important thing to remember about the digital world is that it has a lot in common with the real world. Bring your opinions and character with you. Bring in the lessons of your past, and the lessons of the past. And as always, remember moderation in all things.

So maybe I've found a thesis for my blog. Everyone can survive in the digital world, if they remember the lessons of the past, stay true to their real life selves, practice critical awareness, and use moderation. It's a long statement, but each part is important. 

History has taught us so many lessons, and we don't want to make them all over just because we added technology to our lives.

 Sure you can have some fake personality online, but the best way to contribute to our digital civilization is to just be you. 

And while you're just being you online, pay attention to what's going on around you. Be aware of the discussions going on, form your own opinions, and pass the discussion along to others you know who might not have  had a chance to see that discussion yet. 

And always remember moderation. Forming your own opinions is vital, but being aware enough to realize you're not always right is important, too. There's often more than one right answer, especially in the digital world. Open source is great, and so is closed source. There's more than one social network, and more than one digital video service. Most important of all: there's a digital world, and a real one. Don't get stuck in just one.