Has the internet ruined our lives and made us all self centered selfish snowflakes.

Mr. Incognito

I am at an age where I remember the internet actually becoming a thing.

First it was chat rooms, then facebook, then snapchat, now instagram and twitter.

We have literally unlimited information at our disposal. The Vast Library of Human knowledge, ALL knowledge, in a small phone beside us.

I'm no psychologist but human behaviour has changed enormously as I can see. I was coming back to Dublin on a train over Christmas and a girl was in the carriage travelling alone taking dozens of selfies as you do.

It used to be rude to have your phone out when you were talkig to people but is socially acceptable now. And god help you if you go to a gig or anything scenic. It's just people taking 2 minute videos of things (Does anybody actually watch these things?? or selfies in front of some vista. )

Basically it's all me, me, me, me, me. Whatever vacous thought you have, post it on twitter. Every meal you have on instagram.

And people consume this tripe.

The unbridled vastness of information and people want to watch someone apply make up or take selfies at the gym.

I was watching a documentary about an air show crash that happened in post war britain. They had the crash and they cleared the dead pilots and spectactors and got on with the rest of the show.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1952_Farnborough_Airshow_crash

This blew my mind. They literally cleared their dead relatives, popped everyone off to hospital and got on with the day with the kiddies. One of the survivors was interviewed and said it was just after the war and people were tough and resilient and just got on with things. If that happened today there would be an hyper orgy of media grief for months. Just look at how recent disasters have been treated.

Despite all this vast information people are less educated, less knowledgable, less considered because they spend their day watching cat videos or equally vaous twits or reading issues that have been condensed to 160 characters. Journalism has been reduced to ctrl C ctrl V and throw in a few comments from twitter users.

The poster boy of course is Trump who is literally throwing a hissy fit in the US until he gets his wall. A 70+ year old throwing a 5 year olds tantrum.

But the consequence of this me me me me me culture without any engagement or empathy has very real consequences. It dehumanises and simplifies issues. It divides people. The consequences of the internet has meant that all the village idiots could get together and starting spreding nonsense like anti vaccine propoganda.

It seems to be accelerating. Brexit which was a bum fight in the conservative party is a disaster. Politicians literally said "we can have our cake and eat it". What sort of idiot says that. What sort of idiot actually believes that.

I know that the genie is out of the bottle and I realise the inherent irony of complaining about the internet, on the internet but Its really profound the negative consequences or the darker side of humans it has helped amplify.

TLDR. Is the internet actually destroying us as a species or are we basically a bunch of selfish bastards anyway.

Effects

You sound like quite the snowflake yourself.

Ironically, considering all the modes of communication at our disposal social skills have regressed. Walk into a pub for instance, half the punters are staring downward into a screen. The art of conversation is diminishing, subsumed by a braying idiot on YouTube selling his myopic version of the world. Instant gratification is the buzz with fact-checking out the window, and he shouts the loudest courts the most clowns.

eviltimeban

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

Brexit which was a bum fight

It sure was.

Jim 77

Just be thankful you got to experience a time before the internet became all-pervasive.

_Kaiser_

I too am around long enough to remember life before the Internet and I remember the general advice in those early days of the online world was to not take it too seriously and have a bit of a thicker skin as there will be muppetry.

Seems like that advice is even more relevant today in the era of people living through their phones and soaking up the worst of the American-led nonsense.

dense

I know nothing about people posting pictures of their meals on social media, nor do I want to.

Why subscribe to the nonsense and then complain about what you're subscribing to???

Detach yourself from the vacuous nonsense if it's upsetting you.

As for people taking selfies, yes they're obviously self obsessed. Are they doing any harm? Difficult to say. Do I want my kids doing it? No, why, well I don't really know, other than having some feeling that their photos if online could be fodder for paedos.

MrCostington

I have to say I agree, there are many plus points but seems more negative re the internet. The internet/smartphone seems to have turned the majority of under 30's anyway into mindless zombies, was just looking at a girl walk by me this morning at the lights, engrossed in phone and I thought people theses days can't seem to bear being alone.

So, I've very mixed feelings about the internet, and, that's how I make my living!

Apiarist

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

I am at an age where I remember the internet actually becoming a thing.

First it was chat rooms, then facebook, then snapchat, now instagram and twitter. .

Jeez, youngsters these days complaining about internet. I was there before the the interwebs. I have to dial up to a BBS to leave a message for someone and to pick up new messages. Oh, the insults that you can invent when you have a day to answer a message :cool:

I would conjecture that there are no actual snowflakes on the internet. Instead they are manipulators who cannot argue their case so they derail a discussion into a comparison of hurt feelings. It is just a tactic. Unfortunately, it works just as well as swamping a discussion with any stupid waffle, offtopic and so on.

eviltimeban

The internet isn't the problem, it wasn't even putting it in people's pockets via phones. It's really social media been taken over by advertisers / "influencers" / paid promotions / Google following your every step / people sharing nonsense on their feeds / SJW / "fake news" / Daily Mail-type scare tactics / etc.

I remember when I was first on Facebook, it was a great way to stay in touch with people / get back in touch with old friends / share photos and updates. Now it's just a load of nonsense shared on people's feeds, people that you often don't even know. I unfollowed pretty much everyone and everything I had previously followed and it really made no difference to my life. I've since deactivated the account, after 11 years.

Instagram is easier to deal with as it's just photos. I'm finding Twitter a right pain now as well. The best one for me at the moment is Reddit; you can subscribe to only what you want to see, and it doesn't suggest anything you don't want to see. Plus you can look at generally popular categories if you feel like going a bit wider. It's sort of going back to the an older-style message board.

_Kaiser_

MrCostington wrote: »

I have to say I agree, there are many plus points but seems more negative re the internet. The internet/smartphone seems to have turned the majority of under 30's anyway into mindless zombies, was just looking at a girl walk by me this morning at the lights, engrossed in phone and I thought people theses days can't seem to bear being alone.

So, I've very mixed feelings about the internet, and, that's how I make my living!

The problem with social media is it's not entirely avoidable what with companies using it for customer service and updates.

I use the Internet as a tool and as a source of entertainment, but I have no interest in posting the details of my dinner, random pictures of myself or or other such "look at me" nonsense.

But as I say, I'm old enough to remember life long before the Internet and smartphones, and was in college when Win95 came out so it didn't suck me in the same way as it seems to have the younger generation.

I do genuinely worry about my 6 year old though and the effects this trend will have on him. He's already playing games on the phone and watching Youtube videos. What will things be like in a decade from now if it's gotten to a state where many can't switch off now?

eviltimeban

^ Windows 95 was a really great OS.

Ger Roe

Here's an opinion that I will offer.... to be shot down in flames.

I think the problem arises when you make anything easy to access by those who would otherwise have no idea about how it works, what it could do, and how to use it. When you 'App' everything so that there is no effort required to use it or no consequence, then that service or facility or technology descends rapidly towards the lowest level possible.

The internet hasn't ruined our lives or made us ALL, self centered snowflakes, just those who would have otherwise had no interest (or ability) in being on it in the first place. Microsoft, Google etc have made it easier and easier for people to have access to very powerful resources that they don't understand and wouldn't have been bothered with, only for the fact that it was made easy for them so that they could be targeted for exploitation by very clever marketing focused companies.

The sad fact is that most people don't understand that they are pawns in the biggest corporate games that have ever been played and we are all in a worldwide social experiment.

My tinfoil hat is firmly attached, for my own protection.

nthclare

The only reason I hesitate about not bringing a phone somewhere with me is in case I get broken down in the middle of nowhere...

I could quite happily do without it for a few days, it's like a modern day book of life...

The essential magic book of the present.

After all, looking back in time if anyone could hear a description of a smart phone 100 years ago, if would be inconceivable....

The magic book

com1

It's all been and seen, ADHD and Dyslexia.


And, _Kaiser_, take the bloody phone off him!

_Kaiser_

Ger Roe wrote: »

Here's an opinion that I will offer.... to be shot down in flames.

I think the problem arises when you make anything easy to access by those who would otherwise have no idea about how it works, what it could do, and how to use it. When you 'App' everything so that there is no effort required to use it or no consequence, then that service or facility or technology descends rapidly towards the lowest level possible.

The internet hasn't ruined our lives or made us ALL, self centered snowflakes, just those who would have otherwise had no interest (or ability) in being on it in the first place. Microsoft, Google etc have made it easier and easier for people to have access to very powerful resources that they don't understand and wouldn't have been bothered with, only for the fact that it was made easy for them so that they could be targeted for exploitation by very clever marketing focused companies.

The sad fact is that most people don't understand that they are pawns in the biggest corporate games that have ever been played and we are all in a worldwide social experiment.

My tinfoil hat is firmly attached, for my own protection.

There is an element of people who previously would have been dismissed as cranks or ending up in the likes of The Sun or the National Enquirer now being able to get their "message" out to a much wider/global audience.

Phrase it just right and it might go "viral" and be picked up by previously legitimate news agencies which are now staffed with 20-somethings who live for this stuff. They in turn repost it on the News page of their employer (who struggles to come up with enough actual news now that physical paper isn't a problem anymore) and boom - suddenly it looks like legitimate headline news.

Trump's random Twitterings are a prime example, but it's a lot more widespread than that.

_Kaiser_

com1 wrote: »

It's all been and seen, ADHD and Dyslexia.


And, _Kiaser_, take the bloody phone off him!

I would, but it's his mother's phone he uses (and she's happy to use it as a way to entertain him). He won't be getting one of his own for a long time yet though.

Gimme A Pound

Effects wrote: »

You sound like quite the snowflake yourself.

Meaningless comment.

Don't know about "our" and "us all" - it is a great resource which I'd prefer to have than not to, and it is how you use it and what you allow yourself to see or not (although it is dishonest to say you can control all of it) and it probably isn't harming (as much) those who remember life before it, but it is of course causing negative behaviour. The biggest problem in my opinion is the spread of misinformation by absolute morons. Anti vax crowd being good example. Also the freeman stuff - and other crowds whose ethos is basically "You shouldn't have to pay for stuff you need" and it gets lapped up.

valoren

An example.

Was sitting at home and remembered a golf course I played once in north Cork. For the life of me I couldn't remember it. Spent a few minutes trying to think of it, it was on the tip of my tongue but relented and used google maps to take a look. Kanturk was the answer. So we really don't have to think anymore. Information is there, literally at the touch of a button. That is a powerful thing with positives and negatives.

realitykeeper

We need Christian Brothers to beat the internet out of the young.

Gimme A Pound

Kanturk IS pretty forgettable though.

Ger Roe wrote: »

Here's an opinion that I will offer.... to be shot down in flames.

I think the problem arises when you make anything easy to access by those who would otherwise have no idea about how it works, what it could do, and how to use it. When you 'App' everything so that there is no effort required to use it or no consequence, then that service or facility or technology descends rapidly towards the lowest level possible.

The internet hasn't ruined our lives or made us ALL, self centered snowflakes, just those who would have otherwise had no interest (or ability) in being on it in the first place. Microsoft, Google etc have made it easier and easier for people to have access to very powerful resources that they don't understand and wouldn't have been bothered with, only for the fact that it was made easy for them so that they could be targeted for exploitation by very clever marketing focused companies.

The sad fact is that most people don't understand that they are pawns in the biggest corporate games that have ever been played and we are all in a worldwide social experiment.

My tinfoil hat is firmly attached, for my own protection.

I don't think you'll be shot down in flames at all. That's spot-on.

Mr. Incognito

victor8600 wrote: »

I would conjecture that

This is the absoloutely perfect response setting aside the grammatical difficulties.

A conjecture is an opinion formed on the basis of incomplete information.

"I would conjecture that" could be the preface for 99% of the internet's contents including my OP.

If this isnt a thing it should be.

Thank you.

Liam28

It's called progress OP. Like other technologies such as the telephone, car, plane, computer, email, etc, in general it improves people's lives, but has some drawbacks. You are not the first to nostalgically reminisce that things were better without X, or back in dd/mm/yyyy.
However you are probably the first to use an air show disaster from 1950's Britain to illustrate your point. But you fail to make any connection between this example and your internet rant. Is it that they cleared up 29 dead bodies and 60 injuries and debris and just got on with the show? So this made people less selfish back then? Yet later in your rant, you say the self-centered culture is dehumanising? So today, because of the internet, people are snowflakes and would have stopped the show? Or would people be taking selfies of the carnage, and posting on social media? Probably, but would the show continue? Probably not, which seems to contradict your point.

dense

A comedian was talking about people socially excluding themselves with phones.

His angle was how can "boring" real life compete with what's at your disposal on the net....

harr

https://youtu.be/hER0Qp6QJNU

Seen this video posted on another thread.. some good points being made.

Drumpot

Ger Roe wrote: »

Here's an opinion that I will offer.... to be shot down in flames.

I think the problem arises when you make anything easy to access by those who would otherwise have no idea about how it works, what it could do, and how to use it. When you 'App' everything so that there is no effort required to use it or no consequence, then that service or facility or technology descends rapidly towards the lowest level possible.

The internet hasn't ruined our lives or made us ALL, self centered snowflakes, just those who would have otherwise had no interest (or ability) in being on it in the first place. Microsoft, Google etc have made it easier and easier for people to have access to very powerful resources that they don't understand and wouldn't have been bothered with, only for the fact that it was made easy for them so that they could be targeted for exploitation by very clever marketing focused companies.

The sad fact is that most people don't understand that they are pawns in the biggest corporate games that have ever been played and we are all in a worldwide social experiment.

My tinfoil hat is firmly attached, for my own protection.

I don’t think it has to be either or when having these discussions.

The derogatory word “snowflake” , as I understand it, is about the hyper sensitivity of a certain section of society? Given the way political correctness has gone into hyper overdrive, I’m not sure how this can be disputed. The internet and mobile phones access has become an extension of people and given them a voice that they might not of used previously.

I wouldn’t say the internet has made snowflakes in so much as it’s allowed that self absorbed , sensitive part of people thrive. It’s given it an audience and a stage and many people have lost the art of “if there is nothing nice to say, say nothing”. We have also turned back the clock to the age of burning witches . Death by media shaming is now an acceptable method of justice being served. It’s like the Wild West of courts where anybody can string up somebody they don’t like and there is little to no ramifications.

Where I am concerned is that we are pathetic a species as it is trying to sort out major issues and that we keep repeating. The internet has pushed us closer to the species depicted in idiocracy. I find it amusing when people confidently dismiss the possibility of our species regressing. We have regressed, having shiny phones doesn’t change that. You can always find people who will make posts marveling at all the wonderful things we have achieved in the last 30 years.

To be honest our last great achievement was getting to the moon and that was basically motivated by the Americans wanting to beat the Russians. Like two schoolchildren vying to be the cool kids. When you take a step back and look at the things we can do as a specifies it’s quite pathetic where we have prioritized investment and resources and the things we need to motivate us to act. I mean we are even not bothering to address climate change with an “ah sure it will be grand” approach.

Our biggest threats, climate change, disease , some sort of solar flair that could destroy the worlds power grid, a meteorite... Statistically lowish chances of happening but like death they will happen and we don’t know when. There’s even a chunk of an island that could fall into the ocean anytime that could cause tidal waves on the entire east coast of USA and all they do is monitor it.

The human species is tragically flawed. It’s funny when you hear about AI potentially having self awareness, I think many many people lack this very trait. It’s one of the reasons you hear about when people are dieing or get very bad news and they all of a sudden are aware of how shallow they lived their lives....

com1

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

I would, but it's his mother's phone he uses (and she's happy to use it as a way to entertain him). He won't be getting one of his own for a long time yet though.

Ahh, fair enough, makes perfect sense now!

Wibbs

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

Despite all this vast information people are less educated, less knowledgable, less considered because they spend their day watching cat videos or equally vaous twits or reading issues that have been condensed to 160 characters. Journalism has been reduced to ctrl C ctrl V and throw in a few comments from twitter users.

I would disagree Mr. In. People are more informed today in general. The rose tinted glasses of the past tends to obscure how little people knew beyond their own lives/work/interests. More, how hard it was to get information and from different sources. Sure the sources are all over the place now and require an open and discerning mind to sift through them, but they at least are there*.

There is most definitely a vibe of "in my day..." going on. Well in Your Day™ that you felt most comfortable in I guarantee the vast majority of the previous generation were asking WTF about you. At least with the interwebs there's more of a spread of generations. It's what I like about it. What you dug when you were twenty or whatever, people of sixty would be oblivious to, even suspicious of, whereas unless you tell me your age, or act a bit stereotypically for a certain age I wouldn't know whether you were twenty or seventy. This is a good thing.

TLDR. Is the internet actually destroying us as a species or are we basically a bunch of selfish bastards anyway.

Neither IMHO. We're at heart a social animal who collects knowledge. All of the positives and negatives of the interwebs comes from those two angles. Add in money as a third. What is a concern is how web companies are fine tuning their attention seeking triggers more and more. Information is gold, but attention is how you mine it and our basic humanity is well... basic, so easy to mine. It's how arsebook et al function. It can lead to more self centred behaviour alright. It has also led to more and more polarisation into factions compared to the past. QV the fall of linear forum spaces like Boards and the rise of Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and the like where birds of a feather flock and create more and more echo chambers, where the group consensus is promoted because any contrary opinions are either downvoted or banned, if they ever get invited in the first place. That's a pity and a concern. It's great for companies and advertisers though, as it handily prepackages your client base into neat groups you can sell stuff and ideas to.

I would say I've seen a rise in things like autism spectrum type people. I would suspect the internet has helped fuel that. There were always people out of step, but it was harder to be a loner, or at least it was more obvious. There can also be a tendency for people to self identify as X, find others with X, find more info about X. Which are positives, but the negatives can be egging each other on to be more X than the next guy.






*from childhood I was always an information junkie to the point of mania. Pre Interwebs how I did it were books and of all things monthly hobby/enthusiast magazines. I used to go into Easons and often picked titles at random. I found three months of a particular hobby/enthusiast mag would give you a fair gist of the subject. Like I say; mad. I was an even more insufferable prick pre web, now folks figure I'm googling stuff so the heat's off.

Zorya

The internet has been great, but I see censorship creeping in, the logarithms are open to manipulation. It is harder to search for stuff outside of the spin.

I have met some good people (and a fair amount of assholes)via the internet that I share a lot of the same opinions with, which is a relief as otherwise my general world view goes down a bomb on this mountain. There's only so much head-shaking and eyebrow-raising a body can take coming at them.

My phone is a Nokia, not wifi connected, which suits me, so if I am out and about the world could fall asunder and I would never know. But my kids can still call me wondering if they left their good hat behind them after the Christmas.

You can choose to live a life that is interesting enough to regularly break the draw of the undeniably mind stimulating surf through the interwebz.

Wibbs

valoren wrote: »

An example.

Was sitting at home and remembered a golf course I played once in north Cork. For the life of me I couldn't remember it. Spent a few minutes trying to think of it, it was on the tip of my tongue but relented and used google maps to take a look. Kanturk was the answer. So we really don't have to think anymore. Information is there, literally at the touch of a button. That is a powerful thing with positives and negatives.

Yep. Like writing. Julius Caesar of all dudes noted this about the Celts and their incredible memories because of their oral culture and wondered if his cultures more reliance on writing and books, external memory as it were, was a positive or negative. Plato, a intellectual effin giant mused similarly, if even more so against the notion of writing. He thought writing risked a scholar not exercising their memories and that such a scholar who relied on the written word was an empty shadow of the real deal. And both of them were wrong as it turned out.

When the printing press hit Europe there were similar concerns and not just from out of work scribes. Leonardo DaVinci wasn't taken by the invention and never published in his lifetime(he rattled up a frontispiece for a mate's book, because he was a good mate that way, but that was it). It would be like I dunno Stephen Hawking refusing to use the internet. Yet without the printing press almost everything you take for granted wouldn't exist.

facehugger99

I have a 15 year old niece (by marriage). She did a bit of babysitting for us over Christmas. She literally never took the phone out of her hand the whole time we were talking to her, hardly made eye-contact.

We were making small talk like 'how's school going?' and she's just staring at her phone occasionally tapping at the screen while giving monosyllabic answers.

I'm not sure if she's typical of that generation, but if she is god fcuking help them.

Wibbs

Drumpot wrote: »

I find it amusing when people confidently dismiss the possibility of our species regressing. We have regressed, having shiny phones doesn’t change that.

The human species is tragically flawed.

I don't believe that for a second. We're the single most incredible creature to ever burst forth from nature. For all we know we may be the only ones around in the universe at this moment. Do we make mistakes? Hell yeah we do and continue to make them, but we make fewer mistakes as we go along. Go back a couple of centuries and your average person in any civilisation you care to mention was illiterate, lacked basic knowledge of the world beyond the village they grew up in and rarely wandered much further than said village, relying on kings and priests for guidance.

maccored

the internet lets people show what they are really like, to strangers. ergo, its not a problem created by the internet. its just many humans have two faces - one for the outside world and one of the real them. Its easier to see the real person when they think they are anonymous.

Wibbs

facehugger99 wrote: »

I have a 15 year old niece (by marriage). She did a bit of babysitting for us over Christmas. She literally never took the phone out of her hand the whole time we were talking to her, hardly made eye-contact.

We were making small talk like 'how's school going?' and she's just staring at her phone occasionally tapping at the screen while giving monosyllabic answers.

I'm not sure if she's typical of that generation, but if she is god fcuking help them.

1) she's a 15 year old FH. Monosyllabic answers to old farts is their birthright.

Go back generations and people that were your age were complaining that teenage Sean or Aisling spent hours alone in their bedroom listening to their records and wearing silly clothes. Probably thinking of doing drugs or sex. And disrespecting their elders. And guess what? They turned into people your age now.

2) she was having conversations, just not with you.

Apiarist

facehugger99 wrote: »

We were making small talk like 'how's school going?' and she's just staring at her phone occasionally tapping at the screen while giving monosyllabic answers.

Did she actually want to make small talk with you? Do you have anything to say that may be of interest to her? If not, then pretending to be busy on the phone is a quite polite way to let someone know that the conversation is not going anywhere.

riffmongous

The way people go on about 'snowflakes' you'd swear they were the worst thing ever to hit humanity. Lets think back a bit to what the previous generations had instead, the Churches, the Brothers, the Bean Mhic Mhathúnas etc., far from dehumanised, the current young generation will probably have the least shameful record of abuse when the counting is done

The thing with phones as well is that they're blasting the sh1te out of your dopamine system, and there's a major addiction element to it..you'd wonder how it is going to work out..

Gimme A Pound

I dunno, Wibbs - I mean, I can't stand when people are acting the wannabe old fogey and "Back in my day in 2007" etc, and yes, every generation has said they fear for the younger generation... but there has been nothing to compare with the internet, social media and smartphones. Nowhere near it - not even cinema, television, rock music or computer games.

Gimme A Pound

riffmongous wrote: »

The way people go on about 'snowflakes' you'd swear they were the worst thing ever to hit humanity. Lets think back a bit to what the previous generations had instead, the Churches, the Brothers, the Bean Mhic Mhathúnas etc., far from dehumanised, the current young generation will probably have the least shameful record of abuse when the counting is done

It's a valid term at times I think - for incredible hypersensitivity, but people using it wrongly, just in relation to everything they disagree with, is grating. Ditto people looking for offence to be offended by - i.e. being snowflakes themselves.

Graces7

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

I am at an age where I remember the internet actually becoming a thing.

First it was chat rooms, then facebook, then snapchat, now instagram and twitter.

We have literally unlimited information at our disposal. The Vast Library of Human knowledge, ALL knowledge, in a small phone beside us.

I'm no psychologist but human behaviour has changed enormously as I can see. I was coming back to Dublin on a train over Christmas and a girl was in the carriage travelling alone taking dozens of selfies as you do.

It used to be rude to have your phone out when you were talkig to people but is socially acceptable now. And god help you if you go to a gig or anything scenic. It's just people taking 2 minute videos of things (Does anybody actually watch these things?? or selfies in front of some vista. )

Basically it's all me, me, me, me, me. Whatever vacous thought you have, post it on twitter. Every meal you have on instagram.

And people consume this tripe.

The unbridled vastness of information and people want to watch someone apply make up or take selfies at the gym.

I was watching a documentary about an air show crash that happened in post war britain. They had the crash and they cleared the dead pilots and spectactors and got on with the rest of the show.



Despite all this vast information people are less educated, less knowledgable, less considered because they spend their day watching cat videos or equally vaous twits or reading issues that have been condensed to 160 characters. Journalism has been reduced to ctrl C ctrl V and throw in a few comments from twitter users.

The poster boy of course is Trump who is literally throwing a hissy fit in the US until he gets his wall. A 70+ year old throwing a 5 year olds tantrum.

But the consequence of this me me me me me culture without any engagement or empathy has very real consequences. It dehumanises and simplifies issues. It divides people. The consequences of the internet has meant that all the village idiots could get together and starting spreding nonsense like anti vaccine propoganda.

It seems to be accelerating. Brexit which was a bum fight in the conservative party is a disaster. Politicians literally said "we can have our cake and eat it". What sort of idiot says that. What sort of idiot actually believes that.

I know that the genie is out of the bottle and I realise the inherent irony of complaining about the internet, on the internet but Its really profound the negative consequences or the darker side of humans it has helped amplify.

TLDR. Is the internet actually destroying us as a species or are we basically a bunch of selfish bastards anyway.

I would not recognise my useage or that of anyone I know from your scathing words... You seem to use it a lot too

Drumpot

Wibbs wrote: »

I don't believe that for a second. We're the single most incredible creature to ever burst forth from nature. For all we know we may be the only ones around in the universe at this moment. Do we make mistakes? Hell yeah we do and continue to make them, but we make fewer mistakes as we go along. Go back a couple of centuries and your average person in any civilisation you care to mention was illiterate, lacked basic knowledge of the world beyond the village they grew up in and rarely wandered much further than said village, relying on kings and priests for guidance.

I believe that its this sort of self centred species adulation that blinds people to the counter balance to our achievements. We have never been more informed and more ignorant in the history of our species. I think of all the possibilities of our species and we fall awfully short of our potential because our basic human desires that are all about the now and less about the long term bigger picture.

Why is racism or Xenophobia even a thing ? We are all made of flesh and blood and yet irrational, non existent things like borders (Brexit) still dominate our lives. If we were so intelligent and progressive we would of casted these distractions aside long ago. But our monkey brains ultimately take control and drive us into wasting vast resources on man made constructs and prejudices that only exist in our heads.

How can a mind-numbingly idiotic, self absorbed , silver spoon narcissist like Donal Trump get to be the leader of the supposedly leading nation of our kind ? He represents "the working man" ? That is idiotic on any barometer. That wasn't progress, it was an effort to go back in time "make America great again". . I understand why it happened, but its again an example of how thick the human species can be when it tries miserably to address corruptions it perceives in the status quo.

Why don't we work harder to address climate change or at least try to be less part of the problem? Or try and expand on our understanding of the universe ? Explore the cosmos by investing more resources ? Oh yeh, its because we have a thing called capitalism, a very flawed but popular system that promotes profit as the primary target. If something isn't profitable its generally not worth exploring. Therefore the future of humanity is on a whim of what we want . . More sex toys, More apps on our phones, more "cat videos" as somebody put it. . The resources of minds and labour are focused on profit, which is not an intelligent use of our potential.

But benchmarking our progress against darker times is not a good way of measuring Progress IMO. Its a way of lowering the bar of expectation and excusing our primate priorities that still rule our motives. Kings of old ages didn't stock pile nuclear missiles that could literally end the whole world, as deterrents to ward off rivals . . The reason why this has happened is irrelevant. We are monkeys who have a bit of knowledge and the more knowledge we attain the more dangerous we are to our own survival.

eviltimeban

I loved the advent of the internet, I used message boards in 1992 and had an IOL email account when it was run by three guys in town. So I'm all for progress and technological developments.

However, the development of social media has given a small vocal minority a place to shout louder. And be heard. Most of us check their feeds and maybe retweet the odd thing. Most people don't shout about how offended they are about something, or outrage about something else; they just want a quiet life.

PS yes, I also didn't get the reference to the air show crash in the OP - can you explain?

Raheem Euro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmXcjvL9VSc

dense

victor8600 wrote: »

Did she actually want to make small talk with you? Do you have anything to say that may be of interest to her? If not, then pretending to be busy on the phone is a quite polite way to let someone know that the conversation is not going anywhere.

No, it just shows she has neither manners or social skills.

eviltimeban

No different from someone staring at a Gameboy / walkman / iPod / magazine / book.

Zorya

We used to be such social unselfish creatures

Apiarist

dense wrote: »

No, it just shows she has neither manners or social skills.

I would class the successful disengagement from the meaningless small talk as a social skill. I think she dealt with it correctly. Let's abstract from any concrete person here, so I would like to make absolutely clear that below I am not talking about facehugger99 or his or hers niece.

In that hypothetical scenario, what would you do if you were a 15-year old girl when a middle aged man tries to chat you up? Would you put on your manners and make an impression that he is charming and interesting? You would need a crowbar to pry him from you next time, you will spend all the time listening to him. Or you lay it straight and say -- "Look, please stop harassing me and let me babysit in peace?" Chances are you will not be babysitting again in this house. So the reasonable approach is to avoid and deflect. Mumble something, look at the phone, etc, in the hope that the uncle gets tired of asking stupid questions and gets the message not to bother you again. Nobody's hurt, no false hopes of companionship raised. Win-win.

Wibbs

Richard Zealous Stock-still wrote: »

I dunno, Wibbs - I mean, I can't stand when people are acting the wannabe old fogey and "Back in my day in 2007" etc, and yes, every generation has said they fear for the younger generation... but there has been nothing to compare with the internet, social media and smartphones. Nowhere near it - not even cinema, television, rock music or computer games.

Well I look around at my mate's kids and all I see are kids of all sorts and all doing pretty well. Maybe why I'm not so concerned is because I don't have kids? So that I have some remove from it. Parents naturally worry as parents will.

Wibbs

Drumpot wrote: »

I believe that its this sort of self centred species adulation that blinds people to the counter balance to our achievements.

Not really. "Species adulation" is not fashionable at the moment for a start and more the "we're just glorified apes" of the 60's counterculture stuff. An overswing from the previous judeochristian we're the top of the tree stuff.

We have never been more informed and more ignorant in the history of our species.

That's a bit of a contradiction.

Why is racism or Xenophobia even a thing ? We are all made of flesh and blood and yet irrational, non existent things like borders (Brexit) still dominate our lives.

Because we're at heart abstract creatures. It's one of the major things that made us different. Money is "non existent" too. As is art of all types.

But benchmarking our progress against darker times is not a good way of measuring Progress IMO. Its a way of lowering the bar of expectation and excusing our primate priorities that still rule our motives. Kings of old ages didn't stock pile nuclear missiles that could literally end the whole world, as deterrents to ward off rivals . . The reason why this has happened is irrelevant.

It;s anything but irrelevant. Never mind that your basic average life and options and opportunities would make the greatest of pharaohs look "poor".

We are monkeys who have a bit of knowledge

We are so much more than that. Demonstrably so.

dense wrote: »

No, it just shows she has neither manners or social skills.

or that she's a moody teenager.

Zorya

When I was a 15 year old babysitter the small yappy dog used to hump my leg while the husband made small talk and awkward passes at me. I wish I had had a phone at the time to swat him on the head. Either one of them.

Women without Makeup

I can resist all temptations on the internet except porn!