The Dark, Evil Virus?

Computers aren't just used for people doing school work. They are now unfortunately a part of modern living. You say that most of the world does not have access to the Internet, I am not sure if 90% is correct but just for arguments sake lets say this is correct. You are still only referring to households. The whole worlds infrastructure is powered by computer and the net. Everything from your employer, your moms employer, your doctor, your medical records, Travel (gps), power stations, the whole economy of every single county on this earth relies on the net (there's loads of more stuff, too much to list) and if it simply went down due to said virus the consequence would be catastrophic. You may have seen in the USA recently about storms cutting power to MILLIONS of people, if not search the Internet for a video , while it still exists and then imagine that, but times it by 7 Billion!!!! and then imagine if it was every single day.

@blindsilence You are right in many respects, and it would initially be devastating, I know. But most of the things you mentioned aren't essential to our lives or could be done in a different form (medical records on paper etc.) Also, that 90% figure includes everyone. My dad heard it on the radio, and they could be a bit off, of course, but there are so many people in Africa who don't use it, in south America and all over the world. A lot of people are against it, or just don't want it.

Just to add a little claim to culture, the title was taken from a quote by Metternich, Chancellor of Austria in the early 19th century, when he called the student festivals "dark, evil forces."

@Cabernax that's the thing, the devastation would

Be unreal. I would prefer a the better life you refer to but we just don't have the infrastructure to cope with such a transition.

@blindsilence Yes. Sometimes, a the means to obtain a better life is far more destructive than the end result is worth.

I wouldn't mind this... Except for the fact that right about now everything and everyone is reliant on computers. The old infrastructure pre-IT's been lost in this era and the scenario you're describing would plunge the world into chaos. Chances are we'd have to start from scratch, all the way from the 1900s again.

@sageivans But the very idea "start from scratch" implies that we will be trying to work back to what we have now, when perhaps simpler times (such as 1900) were better as far as technology was concerned. Sismce

...Sorry...since then our biggest breakthrough has been in healthcare and that would not be lost because of some silly computers. I agree with your point, but would it be such a bad thing after all?

@Cabernax That depends on your idea of 'better'. Simpler, yes. Probably happier too, when the world wasn't ruled by technology. Heck, it'd be nice to receive mail other than bills once in a while. But fact is, everything is based around computers. If the virus attacks everything computerised- that'd be... Well. Everything. Thousands of databases are located solely online, and if that goes down, the chaos would far outweigh the benefits.

@sageivans The western world would fall apart, but if you think of the damage that the western world in particular is doing to our planet, every possible hinderance is ultimately a good thing to the fate of our planet. We wouldn't all die, we'd just have a tricky couple of decades, and by tricky I don't mean impossible. In fact, it should make us more resourceful, more resilient and more understanding of the vulnerability of the world and the simpler ways of the world. Anything that doesn't kill you makes you stronger. And surely you can't deny that that would do, quite literally, the world of good!