Am I Better Off Growing Up Without The Internet?

like every other "thing", the internet is merely a neutral tool and how YOU use it determines whether or not it is beneficial for you or not.
the only thing I would limit is access, what the fuck is with kids 4 years old walking around with a tablet playing games every waking minute!!!???
while it may seem social media sites are beneficial, how many kids spend more time interacting with others online rather than in person

 

Without question/sans question - it has ruined my life. I only continue on it because my girl locked me into the computer room a week ago, with a portable camp toilet, a cold water tap and a side of jerked beef. There's not much to read so here I am again - surfing the waves of the cyber-ark.

I take it you've never surfed, running 1200 baud

 

I only have facebook because online news media often require an FB account to leave comments and I can indulge my hang 'em and flog 'em rants

 

Yeah - we also used to ride bikes, play baseball, build forts, go fishing, play in the woods - I could go on

and on

Kilroy: and on and on and on

 

The internet was fine before the internet

 

Of course we rode bikes, how else were we gonna' get to the library?
And sure, some just jacked off with their time, or chased their assholes in circles,,,

 

Also,,,

A: Kids dont build Forts as much anymore because often the local village or HOA will have some code against such things and likely fine the parents until said fort is torn down. Sad but true, though there are plenty of good plans for them on pinterest to be found for those who still do

B: Kids dont go fishing anymore because of the constant warnings from their parents about pollution choking out the life in our rivers and most local aquatic life being highly toxic in comparison to the simpler concerns over Mercury levels back in the 70's & 80's,,, (Which could be easily solved with a mixture of aquatic crop cultivation and biochar filtration at source sites like Farmland,,, One of those things I came to realize in 1979 back in the Library btw... Pyrolytic Oil and Biogas feedstock as co-products of these resources & activities took a couple more years to strike me as well as the overall notion that we could have been turning our Carbon footprint in the opposite direction a long long time ago,,,)

C: And Kids dont play in the woods anymore due to the rise in number (supposedly) of the "creepy pedophile types" living among the trees, riding around in Vans and Busses and looking for innocent youth and runaways to abduct and molest,,,

 

The basic premise I'm getting at being that thanks now to the Internet, there IS LOTS of time for all the activities you bring up as well as due diligence and research into areas one may be unsure of if not completely oblivious in regards to is a very quick and easy task these days.

 

very possibly neither better nor worse.
i was 30 years old before it even existed.

i would say there are some positive advantages for humanity,
if it were possible for everyone on the planet to have unlimited access to it.

really just totally depends on what you do with it and what you use it for.
obviously we are using it right here and now.

television (and video gaming) is for entertainment,
internet is FOR PARTICIPATION.

and if, the internet, is allowed to become no more then yet another channel for the distribution of pre-packaged by corporate media entertainment,
it will have ceased, utterly, to serve its entire useful purpose and function.

 

I struggle with that dealing with my 13 year old daughter. She thinks social media and online gaming is a great form of socializing, and I explained to her that it's just a tool to bridge the gap, and that nothing can ever replace human interaction. You develop these skills a lot better when you can see the impact you make with your voice (tone, volume, pitch, inflection, etc.) your hand gestures and other noticeable body language, and facial expressions. All those things teach us how to engage, and the more you do it in real form vs digital means, makes you a better communicator. But did she get it? NOOoooo!!!