The ivory tower (la tour d'ivoire) refers to academic theories detached from real life. When we describe someone as "living in an ivory tower," we mean they are "unworldly and live in their own world." Today, with the internet's immediacy, convenience, and personalization, anyone with an idea can publicly share their views. These perspectives naturally find like-minded people and form niche communities. If they continue to spread, they coalesce around the author as a "critical mass," and one day, they may overflow into the mainstream, causing newcomers to "follow the crowd."
Media theorist McLuhan described the "electronic environment as myth" before the 1970s. Through speed alone, he believed it could restore the spirit of the Balinese people—those who "do everything well" and "care about quality and detail."
McLuhan's "electronic media" then referred to radio and television. He believed these two changed how the masses accessed information. Transposed to today's environment, this means "the internet." Paul Levinson, founder of the Connected Education Network in the United States, reinterpreted this idea, arguing that the "compression of time" in the internet age is itself a kind of virtual myth.
For example, a viewpoint or article we post online today can easily be seen by someone on the other side of the world. In the era of physical writing, it might have taken years for academic ideas to travel overseas. Not to mention such distant scenarios—nowadays, opinions we spread through the internet are easily seen by people who didn't know us before. They form a subjective first impression of us based on our writing style, perspective, and logical structure.
Of course, the internet can provide each of us with the ability to seek information about "myths" in our own way and at times of our choosing, sharpening our tool for pursuing truth as individuals. But no one can guarantee that all this information is true. Even though the internet does help us and makes life better, or rather, allows us to create the appearance that we're doing well.
This is what we call "keyboard work in the post-ivory tower era." In the past, during the industrial age—or more accurately, before the internet rose—people communicated face-to-face, with far more opportunities to bridge gaps or not care about them. But now, we often sit focused in front of our screens, thinking about social media aesthetics, the quantity of articles, perspectives, and structure, or immersed in reading. This may lead to "creating an online image while neglecting actual contact with people and the world."
The effects of the internet age are unexpected. We never imagined that through writing shared across the internet, we could make others know us, agree with us, or understand us. But now that everyone holds the right to publish different forms of opinions, will the mythical sense brought by the internet fill the world with fiction? Will authentic understanding become scarce?
This is what I'm reflecting on.
We live in an age where transportation is convenient wherever we want to go, and it's easy to meet whoever we want. We shouldn't need to live in an ivory tower, yet we confine ourselves in front of screens, or bring laptops to cafés and stay glued to screens thinking and writing.
Brand expansion requires keyboard work, but reducing contact with the real world while indulging in the virtual one to construct our life's narrative—is that really enough for people to understand me? Do I truly have the capability? Are people's expectations of themselves too low or too high? These gaps between the internet and reality deeply move me.
Though it's ironic that I'm writing this reflective essay through the internet… I'm still learning. By the way, after finishing this article, I discovered that McLuhan also mentioned that when the virtual reaches a certain degree, people will "retribalize," meaning they will try to bridge the gap with the real world and "liberate themselves." He said this 40 years ago (he was truly a prophet).
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