Although the Internet has only been available to us for a few decades, it seems that all of humanity has become addicted to this “network of all networks”.
Now we wonder what we did before there was Google, social media and all the news and information available to us 24/7.
However, if we had to, we could probably do without social networks, but the question is what about all the institutions and infrastructure that depend on the Internet, such as power plants, telecom, banks, etc.
So it’s an interesting question what would happen if the internet disappeared, that is, if the whole world lost its connection to the network for some reason – this is exactly what the BBC science site, called “Science Focus“, tried to answer.
The first day
At the end of the first day after the entire planet would be cut off from the grid, Google and Facebook alone will lose more than £300 million, and the losses of other companies, many of which will cease to operate, will be measured in the billions.
After a week
The situation after a week would be completely chaotic, and the text specifically emphasizes that there will be problems with the supply of electricity, which leads to numerous new problems – since the electricity grid relies on the Internet to coordinate power plants and substations, there would be chaos in the energy system and local interruptions in the distribution of electricity for most countries in the world.
Chain reaction
There would be a chain reaction – without internet and electricity, gas stations can’t work either, because apart from being able to fill fuel, they can’t even monitor the state of the tanks. Furthermore, without fuel, there is no delivery of food or supplies to supermarkets, and traffic, industries and businesses would likely come to a halt.
After a month
The world will fall into total chaos – anxious and hungry people whose lives have changed radically in a short time will fight among themselves for already robbed food. The streets are in riot and chaos, and the army that would be brought in to help is in need of fuel and supplies that are running out fast.
After a year
After a year, most countries in the developed world will still manage to install basic telephone lines, so society will slowly adapt to the great changes and chaos, and Priyat will take over the agrarian economy. The consequences of losing the internet are terrible and SF says that the number of people who would not survive hunger, cold and riots could reach a billion.
Of course, these are all assumptions, but we can say that they are somewhat grounded in reality. We hope we won’t have to experience it, but we want to know what you think: What would happen if the internet disappeared? Write to us in comments.