Most Internet users did not gain proficiency in individual isolation. Helping additional newbies climb cyberspace's learning curve will require institutional support. To achieve under these conditions, we are urged to become life-long learners, constantly upgrading our human capital in order to retain our competitive edge in the job market. In these days of market realism, the classical ideal of a liberal education may sound quaint. But there is still enormous personal satisfaction and meaning to be found in exploring those topics and questions that spark our curiosity or demand our attention - from sports to art, from medical information to historical facts.
Human minds tend to wither and ossify if intellectual curiosity goes unnurtured.
Life-long learning is also important for citizenship. We live in a rapidly changing world in which the public sector plays an increasingly complex role and protecting the public interest has become more difficult. Preserving our democracy requires sophisticated citizen oversight, in which telecommunications can play a key role. Electronic networks allow people to overcome the barriers of time and distance, so they can talk with each other, learn from each other, come to know and trust each other, and begin working together in the type of voluntary groups that are the basis of civil society. At a minimum, networks can help strengthen geographic neighborhoods, letting people connect with each other even if they can't always be in the same place at the same time.