You are not a gadget

I wouldn't say the internet is some evil device destroying our humanity and culture. However, if we don't moderate and control ourselve and our use of the internet then bad things can happen. Mainly things like lacking friends and aquontances, Abusive use of the internet(trolling) and generaly advocating immoral and inappropriate material.

 

Excellent topic. Yes, I've always felt this is not normal. Especially things like "friends", "love"-button etc. People do not become friends and do not send love to each other, by hitting buttons. Take for example the robot industry in Japan. These people don't need robots as friends, and robots as lovers. They need people. But all the people are so busy building robots, that they grow more and more alienated. Their expectations of the human race are also distorted, and they won't accept themselves, and others, for what we are, normally. It's not even sad, and not even outraging, but rather... silly. *shrug*

It's usually not either-or, but some combination. This place has better tools than other places, but also the people are more humane.

A forum is not a good reference for such a study, it takes too little part of man's life. In general, the culture certainly creates most of what the human is. But to evaluate it properly, it really takes to analyze all possible senses and interfaces, which influence the brain, from birth.

 

If I remember it right, it was a raid by /b/.

You could say that culture is created by people, and that the internet is just a way of expressing that culture.

 

I think there is probably something to what the author says, but I don't think it will stop this particular culture from expanding. People like new stuff and they like new gadgets, but in the end it is all pretty shallow and of limited worth (assuming there probably is some worth in it). We like being more connected, but we really do not understand connection or the things that really are of value to connect to...so we accept the rather anemic, shallow substitutes most close at hand. Culture (or marketers of culture) will never get it completely right...I'm afraid it is still up to individuals to keep their own act together.

 

People create the culture... any culture.. with whatever they have.

 

Exactly. Without it, we have nothing to relate to, talk to, or do with others as a soceity. Culture changes with the newest generation, and their own set of values. To them, this is acceptable, and workable. It might not be intrinsicly right, but overall it usually isn't harmful. This one, I do not see as terribly harmful. Albeit, I am bais, as I am at the tail end of the net generation.

 

I would actually say quite the opposite. The internet, particularly places like forums, are wonderful places for identity play. They give places for people to be someone entirely new without social repercussions. People are typically composed of many many ways to identify, and all of the identities don't always agree. With the internet, we are alloed to explore all these various dimensions of themselves. This is unique because in normal real life, if we suddenly start acting out a new identity we would confuse people, who would be put off by our change. If everyone were constantly experimenting there could be no reliability on anyone, so a solid ident is useful for societal cohesion, but with mediums like the internet, we would just have to suppress all of our other idents. Yes, the anonymity can create trolls, but these trolls troll on the internet so they don't have to in real life. I know plenty of /b/tards IRL, who are freer in their expression than most, but really don't troll IRL. [/stream of consciousness]

 

I agree with much of what you said but I think one of the biggest pitfalls of the Internet is its ability to allow people to be anonymous and impersonal. So people feel free to say in text what they would never say in person, face-to-face. Maybe the Internet just supports cowardness?