[quote]miloofcroton wrote:
Maybe this is just another ‘are people getting dumber’ thread, but I’d be interesting in hearing your opinions on the influence of the net, and perhaps even internet censorship.[/quote]
People aren’t “getting dumber”; people have always been dumb. Now we are simply able to access their thoughts.
[quote]Tyrant wrote:
[quote]LankyMofo wrote:
Nothing, and I mean nothing, can be worse for the American population at large than television.[/quote]
lol as bad as most tv is, most shows that I’ve seen show how a person should act, maybe not in the characters entirety, but they show some decent qualities sometimes.
The internet? Jesus, fucking 4chan alone is the death of thought. Not to mention kids desensitizing themselves to gore and guns and stuff to the point where they don’t think it’s wrong anymore. Then wonder why they’re in jail for 20 years because they lit some goddamn kid on fire, because he stood up for himself.[/quote]
All of 4chan is in jail because they lit someone on fire because they stood up for themselves?
Is there a parody thread I missed?
[quote]miloofcroton wrote:
but think about the 11 year old girls out there, like the one that dun goofed up, that grow up involved in this crap. Think about how that shapes their fragile, gooey little minds.[/quote]
I don’t think it’s quite as bad as you think: our minds were just as gooey when we were eleven, only now what would’ve sat snugly in the privacy of our skulls is there on internet forums to come back to haunt the internet generation in years to come, like an out of date, embarrassing hairstyle. People destined to be at least of average intelligence will eventually grow out of it. The others would’ve been idiots anyway.
Maybe I’m being optimistic, but I don’t think the internet fosters stupidity. Most of it is just horseplay captured in time. The true downside is represented by pedo rings, etc.
[quote]miloofcroton wrote:
but think about the 11 year old girls out there, like the one that dun goofed up, that grow up involved in this crap. Think about how that shapes their fragile, gooey little minds.[/quote]
I don’t think it’s quite as bad as you think: our minds were just as gooey when we were eleven, only now what would’ve sat snugly in the privacy of our skulls is there on internet forums to come back to haunt the internet generation in years to come, like an out of date, embarrassing hairstyle. People destined to be at least of average intelligence will eventually grow out of it. The others would’ve been idiots anyway.
Maybe I’m being optimistic, but I don’t think the internet fosters stupidity. Most of it is just horseplay captured in time. The true downside is represented by pedo rings, etc.
One thing to remember, is that the internet brings the shit you don’t see from parts of the world you’ll never visit, straight to your fingertips - and sensory organs.
We live sheltered lives, we have no idea what goes on in this world.
As for de-sensitisation, well a friend of mine watched pretty much anything the internet can offer, curious as he was. From weird porn to animals getting skinned alive to mothers setting fire to their kids. He also commited suicide last year, even though he had a pretty good life going (from what everyone can tell).
I hope this isn’t a reflection of things to come for the rest involved in that.
Seriously guys! Have you heard of this thing called the “radio”, perverted people can say whatever they want on those! It’s quite scary!
[quote]countingbeans wrote:
[quote]debraD wrote:
It’s funny you guys still think the internet is just in America :P[/quote]
Canada is America, but calmer, cooler and more trees.
;)[/quote]
And with more sensible gun laws 
(I kid I kid)
[quote]RSGZ wrote:
As for de-sensitisation, well a friend of mine watched pretty much anything the internet can offer, curious as he was. From weird porn to animals getting skinned alive to mothers setting fire to their kids. He also commited suicide last year, even though he had a pretty good life going (from what everyone can tell).
I hope this isn’t a reflection of things to come for the rest involved in that.[/quote]
I don’t believe it is. If a person was truly de-sensitized to that crap, they would be excited by it, then need to experience it personally, sooner or later, in one form or another. Very few people have the inclination to take it that far - I’m talking serial killer level here, and serial killers have always managed to push the boundaries of their urges independently of the power of media and technology…their killing methods are usually tactile, brutal and basic (strangling, rape and torture). That’s no coincidence, but it’s too lengthy a topic to go into here.
It’s also no coincidence that your friend took the opposite route. If anything, he became too traumatized by it. That’s extremely fucking tragic, and I’m genuinely sad to read that. He must have been a good guy.
[quote]RSGZ wrote:
One thing to remember, is that the internet brings the shit you don’t see from parts of the world you’ll never visit, straight to your fingertips - and sensory organs.
We live sheltered lives, we have no idea what goes on in this world.
As for de-sensitisation, well a friend of mine watched pretty much anything the internet can offer, curious as he was. From weird porn to animals getting skinned alive to mothers setting fire to their kids. He also commited suicide last year, even though he had a pretty good life going (from what everyone can tell).
I hope this isn’t a reflection of things to come for the rest involved in that.[/quote]
Unfortunate about your friend. The thing is though, is that at least in my case, my browsing habits reflect my interests.
They are mainly T-Nation, a couple of fishing forums, and a couple spank sites.
So maybe your friend had a very strong personal interest in death. Without him to sort out which is which, it’s hard to say what is the cart and what is the horse. I can only say for myself, but in my case it is the interest that drives the seeking, not the finding that sparks the interest. I’ve seen a couple gore sites linked through threads on here, and there is no interest to be part of that type of thing.
I think it is a matter of the crowd effect. People think the internet is a huge and there is plenty to fuck with. They know they can be almost totally anonymous using w/e means they choose…so why not troll people and try to ruin their lives and expose them to danger aka fuck shit up. 4chan being the obvious source of these fags. 99% of them aren’t involved in this kind of stuff but a lot of it is traced back to 4chan.
[quote]Petermus wrote:
99% of them aren’t involved in this kind of stuff but a lot of it is traced back to 4chan.
[/quote]
Indeed.
I know it, because I backtraced it.
[quote]Otep wrote:
[quote]Petermus wrote:
99% of them aren’t involved in this kind of stuff but a lot of it is traced back to 4chan.
[/quote]
Indeed.
I know it, because I backtraced it.[/quote]
Lol’d.
Anyway, when I was in middle school I was playing N64 and sports… Nowadays, kids are blowing coke and having sex by the age of 12.
Our future is so fucked.
[quote]LankyMofo wrote:
[quote]Tyrant wrote:
[quote]LankyMofo wrote:
Nothing, and I mean nothing, can be worse for the American population at large than television.[/quote]
lol as bad as most tv is, most shows that I’ve seen show how a person should act, maybe not in the characters entirety, but they show some decent qualities sometimes.
The internet? Jesus, fucking 4chan alone is the death of thought. Not to mention kids desensitizing themselves to gore and guns and stuff to the point where they don’t think it’s wrong anymore. Then wonder why they’re in jail for 20 years because they lit some goddamn kid on fire, because he stood up for himself.[/quote]
That’s not even what I’m referring to. I don’t care if everyone on TV is the most upstanding citizen there ever was.
TV gives people something to do other than learn and educate themselves. The average American doesn’t care about political, economic, social issues anymore, they want to catch the newest episode of Lost. They choose ignorance over knowledge.
Couple that with the fact that most get their news from the mainstream media, shoving whatever bias it may have down their throat and you have a recipe for disaster.
Before if you wanted to know something you had to go out and learn about it. Now you have pundits just regurgitating whatever causes the most alarm because that is what gets ratings, without regard to the TRUTH.
[/quote]
Dude, there are no more new episodes of Lost. Last season was the final season. Duh!!
So check it, the internetz is this biiiiig hyoooge place right? With millions of places to go and chillax and anti-socialize. What ever your fancy might be you can find it at the tip of your fingers. Whehter it be some pron or some intellektual shit. It’s there.
Information is there but you may have to sift through a pile of shit to get to it. It may be a scary place but it can also be an amazing place.
I don’t really think that it’ll be the downfall of society; if anything it’ll make us stronger and more capable to meet the challenges as long as we can keep our focus on those challenges. But, like I said, there’s tons of shit to do up in this beotch.
I literally paid my credit card bill while listening to a morning show right after checking the weather for the next 10 days; now I’m typing out this diatribe to a bunch of meat heads who think they’re smarter than they actually are (some of you are smarter than you think you are). Point is that the internet has very little difference to life; it just makes it more convenient and efficient.
[quote]legendaryblaze wrote:
[quote]miloofcroton wrote:
Maybe this is just another ‘are people getting dumber’ thread, but I’d be interesting in hearing your opinions on the influence of the net, and perhaps even internet censorship.[/quote]
People aren’t “getting dumber”; people have always been dumb. Now we are simply able to access their thoughts.
[/quote]
Dead on.
Woa Woa Woa, Is this thread serious? The Internet is scary? Dood, go read a few history books. The time before modern civilization was fucking scary. I mean you realize that basically all humans did before modern sociaty was formed was war on eachother? I mean like swords and spears and raping and pillaging.
You are just out minding your business in your field and a band of barbarians rides over the hill on horseback. You have a sword and a 15 year old son. They have 20 men. You have a wife and 3 daugthers. You and your son are going to get skewered, the females will be raped over and over while the band of men consume the liquid resources of your farmstead. Then they May kill the women also, or they may take them and sell them later. You can’t call the police, you can’t do shit. Unless you are some fucking wizard with a sword, your world is going to end violently.
The internet is childsplay, literally, compared to what humanity used to be like.
V
[quote]Vegita wrote:
Woa Woa Woa, Is this thread serious? The Internet is scary? Dood, go read a few history books. The time before modern civilization was fucking scary. I mean you realize that basically all humans did before modern sociaty was formed was war on eachother? I mean like swords and spears and raping and pillaging.
You are just out minding your business in your field and a band of barbarians rides over the hill on horseback. You have a sword and a 15 year old son. They have 20 men. You have a wife and 3 daugthers. You and your son are going to get skewered, the females will be raped over and over while the band of men consume the liquid resources of your farmstead. Then they May kill the women also, or they may take them and sell them later. You can’t call the police, you can’t do shit. Unless you are some fucking wizard with a sword, your world is going to end violently.
The internet is childsplay, literally, compared to what humanity used to be like.
V[/quote]
whoa whoa whoa … hold the fuckin’ phone. I’ve used “whoa whoa whoa” at least three or four times today. You can’t be stealin my schtick right out from under me son…you better be paying me royalties or I’m gonna be like those barbarians in your post, rapin and pillagin and shit…
I’m moar alarmed that the name “4chan” has been uttered in his thread, liek 5 timez. Oh noez! I said it, now that’s liek 6 times!
It’s kind of like standing in front of mirror at midnight, saying one Bloody Marry, two Bloody Marry, etc. It’s just asking for trouble.
By the by, ED is the most awesomist site on teh internets, aside from T-Nation, of course.
[quote]Dustin wrote:
I’m moar alarmed that the name “4chan” has been uttered in his thread, liek 5 timez. Oh noez! I said it, now that’s liek 6 times!
It’s kind of like standing in front of mirror at midnight, saying one Bloody Marry, two Bloody Marry, etc. It’s just asking for trouble.
By the by, ED is the most awesomist site on teh internets, aside from T-Nation, of course.[/quote]
x2
I really wish you guys would stop mentioning the name. They could easily get into the site and bust some shit up.
