I'm noticing my entire life revolves around addictive behaviors. Dang :(
mattwitt
# 978
- Jun 28, 2018
- 2,307
The internet has definitely taken a lot of time away from some things in life I enjoy and all of the time for other things I use to enjoy.
Redt2go
flower child
- Jan 5, 2019
- 1,643
You're not the only one girl
Your Own Ghost
Human
- Mar 12, 2019
- 96
Internet addiction is real – but it's become normalized. I researched it at one point and cut it out of my household for three months. When I took my equipment up to the ISP, the conversation humorously went like so:
"Hi, here's my stuff. I'd like to quit the internet."
[dumbfounded look] "…What?"
I noticed some positive effects of quitting – or as it turns out, taking a break. My attention span improved during that period. I was free from the outrage culture. I had more time. But ultimately I just felt detached, and that's a sentiment shared by many who have tried something similar. And I find this ironic because when I use the internet to communicate, even right here, I feel detached. There's an element of it all that doesn't feel real to me, but I suspect it's because I don't have much else in my life outside of the internet that feels real, either. I could probably make some generalization about what this says about the world, maybe allude to the show Black Mirror, but that would just be my perspective. People's lives are too different for that.
Why do you feel like you're addicted to the internet? How do you spend your time on it?
"Hi, here's my stuff. I'd like to quit the internet."
[dumbfounded look] "…What?"
I noticed some positive effects of quitting – or as it turns out, taking a break. My attention span improved during that period. I was free from the outrage culture. I had more time. But ultimately I just felt detached, and that's a sentiment shared by many who have tried something similar. And I find this ironic because when I use the internet to communicate, even right here, I feel detached. There's an element of it all that doesn't feel real to me, but I suspect it's because I don't have much else in my life outside of the internet that feels real, either. I could probably make some generalization about what this says about the world, maybe allude to the show Black Mirror, but that would just be my perspective. People's lives are too different for that.
Why do you feel like you're addicted to the internet? How do you spend your time on it?
Mr. Hang Man
Just hanging around
- Mar 11, 2019
- 69
Stops us from going to social events and completing responsibilities. It's a parasite that eats away at you. But... you let it do it's work.
Pentobartbital
Crumbling
- Feb 25, 2019
- 183
What do you feel about information overload and virtually induced psychosis?
I think these two are examples why technology that otherwise expands and connects various aspects of human existence become detrimental and underline man's drop into collective neoteny.
I think these two are examples why technology that otherwise expands and connects various aspects of human existence become detrimental and underline man's drop into collective neoteny.
Your Own Ghost
Human
- Mar 12, 2019
- 96
I think we've become a sort of symbiotic species of body and technology one neat feature and privacy sacrifice at a time. And I'm 35, as part of my experiment to see what cutting out the internet would do for me, I recognized I was a part of one of the last generations to have known life before the internet and computer technology became so pervasive. In that time, I have seen people utterly confused about why I spend so much time online to now when it's not even being questioned as the common waiting room is full of people staring down at their phones. So it depends, I think, the degree of which you mean "virtually induced psychosis." By definition, psychosis is "a severe mental disorder in which thought and emotions are so impaired that contact is lost with external reality." I'd argue that reality has at least shifted because so many people have contact with and engage in habitual behavior that was previously unknown. As part of it, I'd argue we overvalue information and criminally undervalue things like boredom. What do you think?
As far as underlining man's drop into collective neoteny, I honestly haven't thought about it. But I'd like to hear details about what you mean by this.
Pentobartbital
Crumbling
- Feb 25, 2019
- 183
@Your Own Ghost
that's one theme of cyberpunk fiction that always scared me in how relevant it seemed: the invasive merging of information and computer technology with the human form and its environs wouldn't confer a seamless transhumanist ideal of cybernetic and organic synthesis, but rather would manifest like a disease such as HIV.
As it stands, too many options to choose from so as to render proper decision making inert (information overload,) combined with a lack of common social narrative (communal and religious ideals shared between various subdivisions of a population) have provided uniquely fertile ground for isolating people further into more generalised and at times extreme camps that stem from insecurity, alarmism and egocentrism. Developed nations are experiencing ramifications such as people walking into wishing wells because they cannot look up from their smart telephones for an instant's time to navigate. One can answer a text jingle or review the newest in a line of cultural floatsam before rendering traffic accidents from their vehicles. Litigiousness, hypervigilance and entitlement are rewarded to the detriment of otherwise hard-working and honest people. The reality of no privacy in a networked, globalised community isn't feared, it's been embraced so much that entire aspects of one's life can be willingly shared for fleeting bursts of dopamine and serotonin. Intimacy being relegated to swipes on a telephone application with empty coitus being the end result. I could go on and on, but my point is that the unitary Id now commands the common unconsciousness and is not prepared to give up the reigns or its toys. I would contend that reality itself has not undergone a fundamental change, but rather the inhabitants of said reality have maladapted from ignorance regarding long-term use of equipment that indirectly taints how they interact with others and their world. Of course my scathing judgement does not make me immune, as I too am a participant who has beheld and partaken in such distortion.
As for mankind's neoteny, I refer to its evolutionary dead end. I could write an entire book on this tangent alone, but will summarise accordingly. Rather than using technology to further delve into the secrets of the cosmos, man has instead chosen to fulfill his unlimited appetite for diversion, manipulation and egotism. Tools and powerful equipment that others would feel unbelievably blessed to maintain for their pragmatism and life-enriching benefits are being instead used to distract, inflame and fulfill base desires. The crutches have been used for so long that the legs atrophy, where infirmity has been chosen for its convenience rather than the effort necessary to convalesce. The dream of new spiritual heights and realms yet unexplored has been indefinitely mothballed for the sake of delusion and hedonism. Have you ever heard of the Red Queen theory? That mankind is not innately capable of accomplishing feats on a scale beyond his own home, but rather tricks himself into thinking he is. All the while more resources are squandered over frivolous ends, invaluable research routinely met with budget cuts in the name of austerity, human suffering prolonged for the sake of feel-good ideology rather than facing very real problems that current efforts can only apply token resistance to.
(but then again, what do I know?)
that's one theme of cyberpunk fiction that always scared me in how relevant it seemed: the invasive merging of information and computer technology with the human form and its environs wouldn't confer a seamless transhumanist ideal of cybernetic and organic synthesis, but rather would manifest like a disease such as HIV.
As it stands, too many options to choose from so as to render proper decision making inert (information overload,) combined with a lack of common social narrative (communal and religious ideals shared between various subdivisions of a population) have provided uniquely fertile ground for isolating people further into more generalised and at times extreme camps that stem from insecurity, alarmism and egocentrism. Developed nations are experiencing ramifications such as people walking into wishing wells because they cannot look up from their smart telephones for an instant's time to navigate. One can answer a text jingle or review the newest in a line of cultural floatsam before rendering traffic accidents from their vehicles. Litigiousness, hypervigilance and entitlement are rewarded to the detriment of otherwise hard-working and honest people. The reality of no privacy in a networked, globalised community isn't feared, it's been embraced so much that entire aspects of one's life can be willingly shared for fleeting bursts of dopamine and serotonin. Intimacy being relegated to swipes on a telephone application with empty coitus being the end result. I could go on and on, but my point is that the unitary Id now commands the common unconsciousness and is not prepared to give up the reigns or its toys. I would contend that reality itself has not undergone a fundamental change, but rather the inhabitants of said reality have maladapted from ignorance regarding long-term use of equipment that indirectly taints how they interact with others and their world. Of course my scathing judgement does not make me immune, as I too am a participant who has beheld and partaken in such distortion.
As for mankind's neoteny, I refer to its evolutionary dead end. I could write an entire book on this tangent alone, but will summarise accordingly. Rather than using technology to further delve into the secrets of the cosmos, man has instead chosen to fulfill his unlimited appetite for diversion, manipulation and egotism. Tools and powerful equipment that others would feel unbelievably blessed to maintain for their pragmatism and life-enriching benefits are being instead used to distract, inflame and fulfill base desires. The crutches have been used for so long that the legs atrophy, where infirmity has been chosen for its convenience rather than the effort necessary to convalesce. The dream of new spiritual heights and realms yet unexplored has been indefinitely mothballed for the sake of delusion and hedonism. Have you ever heard of the Red Queen theory? That mankind is not innately capable of accomplishing feats on a scale beyond his own home, but rather tricks himself into thinking he is. All the while more resources are squandered over frivolous ends, invaluable research routinely met with budget cuts in the name of austerity, human suffering prolonged for the sake of feel-good ideology rather than facing very real problems that current efforts can only apply token resistance to.
(but then again, what do I know?)
Your Own Ghost
Human
- Mar 12, 2019
- 96
@Pentobartbital
You sure do pack a lot into a few paragraphs. As I'm going through this, I'm wondering what your background is. You don't have to share with me, but I'd find it interesting to know the context. I was going to say, "You're obviously very intelligent," but then I remembered how annoying I find that when people say the same to me. I usually think, "What's the purpose, though? What good is it? My thoughts are dominated by ending myself."
And honestly I'm drunk right now. I apologize that it makes me say things such as "You sure do pack a lot into a few paragraphs." I also apologize if I skip over or misinterpret parts of what you say – it's not my intent.
"I would contend that reality itself has not undergone a fundamental change, but rather the inhabitants of said reality have maladapted from ignorance regarding long-term use of equipment that indirectly taints how they interact with others and their world." – Maybe this can be seen as a generational divide? To kids, the way technology and the world coexist now is one in the same. Is the process of interaction tainted? Maybe, depending on perspective, but I think it can also be seen as operating exactly as how we were programmed to operate, for better or for worse as it hits those serotonin and dopamine receptors over and over again. If it happens over a long enough timeline, it'll become a part of the species in the same way as we're hardwired to react to snakes. I'm reminded about that stereotypical argument about the printing press, though.
As far as what you said, "As for mankind's neoteny, I refer to its evolutionary dead end." After having similar thoughts, such as why aren't we doing more (I think that's what you're saying), I think I settled on the idea that evolutionary progress isn't the evolution of the advancement of good ideas, or the evolution of the perceived worthy ones, or the survival of the fittest – it's just survival. Or a more accurate way of saying it would be "what survives." The narrative for it all always comes later. It's gritty. It's a mess. And I think technology displaces us from a lot of that. Here on Sanctioned Suicide we're kind of reminded how much of a pain it can be and we struggle to come up with a rationalization for it all in thread after thread after thread… including this one.
But like you, then again, what do I know?
I think it's interesting to look at patterns of life. If you turn the volume down on what mankind tries to tell you what's happening and instead look at the things the species does it can be revealing in a phenomenological way. First we spread out across the earth. We etched our roads. We built our networks under the roads. And then we spread out in the air. We externalized our neural network into one giant connected globe all the while living under the illusions of our individuality.
P.S. Sorry for blowing up your thread @Final Escape
You sure do pack a lot into a few paragraphs. As I'm going through this, I'm wondering what your background is. You don't have to share with me, but I'd find it interesting to know the context. I was going to say, "You're obviously very intelligent," but then I remembered how annoying I find that when people say the same to me. I usually think, "What's the purpose, though? What good is it? My thoughts are dominated by ending myself."
And honestly I'm drunk right now. I apologize that it makes me say things such as "You sure do pack a lot into a few paragraphs." I also apologize if I skip over or misinterpret parts of what you say – it's not my intent.
"I would contend that reality itself has not undergone a fundamental change, but rather the inhabitants of said reality have maladapted from ignorance regarding long-term use of equipment that indirectly taints how they interact with others and their world." – Maybe this can be seen as a generational divide? To kids, the way technology and the world coexist now is one in the same. Is the process of interaction tainted? Maybe, depending on perspective, but I think it can also be seen as operating exactly as how we were programmed to operate, for better or for worse as it hits those serotonin and dopamine receptors over and over again. If it happens over a long enough timeline, it'll become a part of the species in the same way as we're hardwired to react to snakes. I'm reminded about that stereotypical argument about the printing press, though.
As far as what you said, "As for mankind's neoteny, I refer to its evolutionary dead end." After having similar thoughts, such as why aren't we doing more (I think that's what you're saying), I think I settled on the idea that evolutionary progress isn't the evolution of the advancement of good ideas, or the evolution of the perceived worthy ones, or the survival of the fittest – it's just survival. Or a more accurate way of saying it would be "what survives." The narrative for it all always comes later. It's gritty. It's a mess. And I think technology displaces us from a lot of that. Here on Sanctioned Suicide we're kind of reminded how much of a pain it can be and we struggle to come up with a rationalization for it all in thread after thread after thread… including this one.
But like you, then again, what do I know?
I think it's interesting to look at patterns of life. If you turn the volume down on what mankind tries to tell you what's happening and instead look at the things the species does it can be revealing in a phenomenological way. First we spread out across the earth. We etched our roads. We built our networks under the roads. And then we spread out in the air. We externalized our neural network into one giant connected globe all the while living under the illusions of our individuality.
P.S. Sorry for blowing up your thread @Final Escape
Jodes
Enlightened
- Nov 23, 2018
- 1,261
AhG
La vie est tout sauf un rêve
- Jan 24, 2019
- 313
