the impact of internet on human society deleted? Do the mods have a different definition of "humanities" that I am not privy too? Also, this being the default philosophy board, I can't imagine which discipline would be better to tackle the implications of this question.
Anyway, I'll attempt again. Are we being negatively impacted by the internet? Does it foster pessimism and callous attitude in the young?
Somewhat. Part of the extremely online set have been hardened into mean-spirited pricks (hence this site), but others have become so sensitized that they become serial martyrs for the daily cause no matter how trivial, or so thin-skinned that they can't help but lash out at any insult or threat, real or percieved. I don't know whether the isolation prevents people from receiving the hardships necessary to keep us grounded, or whether constant exposure to the fears, grievances and hatreds of a million others drives us to madness, or both. Either way, the internet as it stands is a baying, bile-soaked pit brawl, and it's bleeding through to the outside world.
Very insightful answer. I hope this thread remains, because this is critical to any discussion of modern man. We can't escape it being framed in terms of our connectivity.
>whether constant exposure to the fears, grievances and hatreds of a million others drives us to madness
I think it's a quiet madness. Our empathy is conspicuous in its absence, but also, the hopelessness. I think we all feel the hopelessness, and maybe we'd feel it regardless, but it has this extra "sting" nowadays, I assume.
If there is something very wrong with the world that the internet has influenced, did it begin with television? the printing press?
Where did the burden of too much information first make itself felt?
I suspect that the main problem is social media and the 24/7 outrage culture it encourages. The old internet wasn't then and isn't now perfect though.
There was a little preview of the present problems back in 1992 when AOL was offering free access to usenet for all subscribers. Pre-AOL internet was a million billion trillion times more civil then the internet is now.
>Pre-AOL internet was a million billion trillion times more civil then the internet is now.
Yeah, I remember. I think one of the problems stemmed from a clannish divide of users in the early days; newsgroups and whatnot.
What always confused me was how quickly unsavory types picked up this medium and used it to promote horrifying imagery and nihilistic ideas. Now, maybe those ideas are perfectly correct, but they really didn't live in the minds of the masses as they do now.
I worry we have a generation of Phillip Mainlanders on our hands.
>Are we being negatively impacted by the internet?
Funny, I found myself thinking the same thing earlier. I typed in an eggplant emoji into the youtube search bar and came up with a couple of sexual videos and wondered to myself how many young kids had done the same.
They are exposed to far too much, but the problem is actually more than just this. I would be fine with exposing children to all sorts of things like violence, sex, etc. as long as the mentality were NON-indulgence, you know? But every time these things are displayed it is in an indulgent manner.
I consider this sort of a paradise here, because everywhere else in the internet you will find sexual or violent things being glorified, but it seems here you can recognize these sorts of things as being inherently sinful. Thank God you have found a place that cherishes God on the internet, I do not think you will find many other places that do.
And look at the places that don't like Reddit. They glorify gore and sex. It's not good for children. It's not good for man. Plain and simple.
edit: that don't, like Reddit.
Sometimes commas are useful.
>you will find sexual or violent things being glorified
I'm of the mindset that even the pileup of seemingly benign information is having some impact. Whether this is inherently negative, I'm not really sure. I'd like to read a history book from a century from now to see what they say.
All this stuff can ultimately be traced back to what happened in 1992 though. The great body of the masses was allowed in all at once rather then slowly and the old civil culture of the various Usenet groups was swept away in the tide.
>>What always confused me was how quickly unsavory types picked up this medium and used it to promote horrifying imagery and nihilistic ideas. Now, maybe those ideas are perfectly correct, but they really didn't live in the minds of the masses as they do now.
Anonymity + the fact that not everyone cares about being a good person however such a thing is defined = assholery.
>>I worry we have a generation of Phillip Mainlanders on our hands.
Just looked this guy up on wikipedia, I think you're overstating the problem a bit. Most people aren't depressive or suicidal, but rather desensitized.
>>Indulging in sex is sinful, as is liking displays of violence.
The religious moralizing is both off the mark and unnecessary. The first and foremost problem is that people are exposed to too much stuff for too long. Put another way, the problem isn't that a horny teenager can access pornhub easily, the problem is that he can access that and a million other things all the time with no real way outside of parental intervention to tell him to take a break and relax for a bit.
You understand we are God believers here.
Oops, sorry, forgot Europoor time kicked in. You Godless lot derive your morality from... nothing? As is evinced by this post
>Most people aren't depressive or suicidal, but rather desensitized.
It's not the height of alarmism to see how a desensitized populace that has become complacent with death begins to lose appreciation of their own existence.
>The first and foremost problem is that people are exposed to too much stuff for too long.
Yeah, this. It's just getting to Johnny Mnemonic levels of overload.
I'm American actually, and the problem again isn't that people are masturbating to porn or whatever else but rather the constant exposure to all sorts of things 24/7, it's not about people suddenly not having some sort of morals or ethics, post a video of animal cruelty on this site and see how fast all the edgy types start baying for your blood.
The internet generation has ethics, morals etc. They just don't have your specific set of ethics and morals. The thing the internet generation lacks is peace and quiet away from the constantly online smartphone bullshit.
I''m not saying there isn't a problem, I just don't see the average person becoming seriously suicidal because of it. People killing themselves requires a lot more then a certain amount of dysfunction.
>The internet generation has ethics, morals etc. They just don't have your specific set of ethics and morals
It can be said that a wandering moral compass is a broken one. I find myself having trouble deciding which side of some arguments to stand on; I "feel" this... but I "know" this.
It's maddening!
>People killing themselves requires a lot more then a certain amount of dysfunction.
Of course, but it's not helping, this bombardment. And on a practical level, think of the access to methodology. It's a little off the mark for the argument, but man, I can find a lot of ways to off myself with a hibachi through a quick search. But that isn't what I was getting at, just an aside.
Okay, I just got a warning for talking about events that didn't happen a minimum of 25 years ago (even though I've talked of no real "events," unless you count the advent of the internet, which did happen over 25 years ago)
But, that aside, do I have an incorrect definition of humanities? I'm asking in earnest. Please tell me if I do.
Dude if you're upset about people looking at porn then I have bad news for you, people have been looking at porn since long before the internet ever existed. Men as a group in particular have never really obeyed christian religious strictures against promiscuity as a whole. Even priests and monks would break these rules more often then you'd think.
>>Access to methodology.
Well I live in the US and any given sporting goods store has multiple firearms on sale that any depressive sort who's good at hiding their depression can easily acquire and make use of if they wish to take their own life. Suicide isn't new either. I really need to get some more sleep, so I'll continue this later if you're still here.
The Mods/Janitors are being cockbiscuits again. We may need to steal all the hotpockets once more.
>Dude if you're upset about people looking at porn
I think you're responding to the wrong user. I have no issue with porn. My beef was with the sheer volume of information we're exposed to.
>Suicide isn't new either.
No, but that oversimplifies it. I had a neat idea of the why a few minutes ago, but I too am burger and I too am tired. Maybe I'll remember later, unless I get hotpocketed again.
Oh well, never mind then.
>>The sheer volume of information.
This I agree with actually, but I don't think the internet as a whole is the problem, but rather the sort of shit that smartphones and other always online devices tend to encourage.
Yeah time for sleep now, see you later broseph.
Go in peace. I'll probably start this thread again tomorrow. Fuck Veeky Forums, Veeky Forums my bitch now!