A new drug

[Tonberry King]

This is going to be hard for some people to stomach as it will hit close to home for a lot of people out there.


The advent of usable modern technology for the masses has completely transformed the way we live compared to one hundred years ago. I grew up around addicts; specifically crack addicts-80's baby. Watching people I cared about lose their path was painful and sticks with me even to this very day when I sit and write you all. The times have changed but addiction is roughly as it was when I was growing up. Same addictions but new drugs, now.

This is where I come from the sidelines to bum rush you with the simplest insight about a new drug that has broken many a soul, already.
This drug of which I write is entirely duplicitous and masquerades as your friend. In fact, it has many of you fooled at this very moment. This new drug is something we were not prepared to deal with at all and as I write this it feels reminiscent of Nero fiddling while Rome burns. I remember the first time I saw a computer in middle school, didn't really think too much of it. Just a machine, right?

Not too long later comes this newfangled internet that is promising to improve the world and here we are still waiting for things to improve. They haven't! Gotten worse in fact!! Please people! Use these tools responsibly. These are just tools and it seems like they are actively being used against the best interests of everyday normal people. Computers and phones are just like tv and radio, they have off switches.



Most importantly: a lot of people just don't have the mental capacity to understand that the internet and reality are different things completely and end up mentally conflating the two. Becoming disillusioned into the fantasy that the person which is presented online is in fact the REAL person and neglecting the REAL person behind the screen. If society thinks it appropriate to put warnings on cleaning products then they really fucking dropped the ball on this internet shit because I swear I've seen internet junkies and so have you.​

 

[chompy]

Put this shit in your blog. /r/iamverysmart

 

[Xorkoth]

I don't know, I think it raises some good points. Some people have an Internet addiction and I would say social media is actively trying to cause it. However, the Internet is also a tool of unsurpassed world-changing power that brings a lot of good. For example, this forum. Like drugs, the Internet has the power to produce good, too, and to be used in positive ways. I would say that most people use it in a healthy way, although it seems the younger generations are more often becoming addicted to it. But I mean, TV is the same way. A lot of people are addicted to television, which is actually much less interactive.

 

[Tonberry King]

Life is about escaping existential dread and chasing highs and rushes anyway.

If you make it that way. I'll live how I please and so can you.


@shadowmeister I just wanted to put this out there. Your point about television being less interactive doesn't help the case of the misused internet. A lot of the interaction on the net is profit driven and generally toxic, especially with social media like you said. I think it is a large concern that we need to acknowledge and address; given how frequently we rely on these technologies.

 

[Mafioso]

I really don't agree with pairing drug addiction with purely behavioral problems. A person born addicted to crack, along with the numerous health implications that come along with it is no where close to someone who is wasting their life on the internet.

But warning of the internet would be like warning about literature and all other forms of media. Kinda silly in my opinion. These are tools that we have created for legitimate use, whether recreational or professional or deviant, we don't blame a hammer for being an evil tool of murder because it can and has been used to kill people. The line is even blurry with legitimate killing tools, like guns.

Kind of ironic you are trying to use the internet to lecture/warn us... There definitely can be negative health(particularly mental) implications that can be encouraged or sustained through the use of internet(I,e, sexual deviance), but this is not from the internet itself. There are people who literally use the internet all day at work, yet are perfectly normal and healthy.

I don't entirely disagree with your point, but the presentation reads like scaremongering and plays off of fear of drug addiction. The notion that the "internet is evil" does nothing to help anyone. These are your opinions, and they may be true with the role is has played in your life, but can not be stated as general truths. Just because the internet has had a negative impact on your life, doesn't make it true for the rest of the world.

 

[Tonberry King]

Now, I done warned y'all this was a sensitive topic.

@Mafioso The irony isn't lost on me. I'm doing the job that very fucking well paid people seem to have been incompetent on. You can get defensive and shit, so? You still concede you agree with my point and I've not the time to argue semantics. This "mindfucking" on the internet has to stop and no; those responsible for this "mindfuck" are not going to fix nothing buddy. They are more than happy to allow the public to waste their potential with narcissism yet these technotards keep these devices out of their elite private schools that their children attend. What's that tell you, Sherlock?

 

[Kaden_Nite]

This is going to be hard for some people to stomach as it will hit close to home for a lot of people out there.


The advent of usable modern technology for the masses has completely transformed the way we live compared to one hundred years ago. I grew up around addicts; specifically crack addicts-80's baby. Watching people I cared about lose their path was painful and sticks with me even to this very day when I sit and write you all. The times have changed but addiction is roughly as it was when I was growing up. Same addictions but new drugs, now.

This is where I come from the sidelines to bum rush you with the simplest insight about a new drug that has broken many a soul, already.
This drug of which I write is entirely duplicitous and masquerades as your friend. In fact, it has many of you fooled at this very moment. This new drug is something we were not prepared to deal with at all and as I write this it feels reminiscent of Nero fiddling while Rome burns. I remember the first time I saw a computer in middle school, didn't really think too much of it. Just a machine, right?

Not too long later comes this newfangled internet that is promising to improve the world and here we are still waiting for things to improve. They haven't! Gotten worse in fact!! Please people! Use these tools responsibly. These are just tools and it seems like they are actively being used against the best interests of everyday normal people. Computers and phones are just like tv and radio, they have off switches.



Most importantly: a lot of people just don't have the mental capacity to understand that the internet and reality are different things completely and end up mentally conflating the two. Becoming disillusioned into the fantasy that the person which is presented online is in fact the REAL person and neglecting the REAL person behind the screen. If society thinks it appropriate to put warnings on cleaning products then they really fucking dropped the ball on this internet shit because I swear I've seen internet junkies and so have you.​

Maybe the person you are really trying to reach with this message is you.

 

[Tonberry King]

Maybe the person you are really trying to reach with this message is you.

If that was the case I'd keep it inside. My inner monologues tell me this message needs to get OUT and fast too. The fact I take time out of my day to reach out to others with this message is pretty blatant. I have no need to remind myself of this information because I encounter it daily. I work in the public sector and see the damage first hand. I came here to give a lecture, not receive one; but I appreciate any activity to this thread because the time is now to reverse this damage.

 

[Mycophile]

This makes some good points in terms of internet addiction when it comes to doing things online that are generally a waste of time or escapism, which to be honest is mostly what I use it for, and yes, posting on forums like this one is FOR ME usually about 85% escapism with probably only a small percentage of my posts or conversations leading to anything that profits me in life.

However, I think TV is 10 times more destructive because the internet has all kinds of good uses that are not escapism whereas TV is pretty much about 95% escapism other than MAYBE the news I guess.

Pretty much, watching anything other than the news (and I barely ever watch the news so I am talking about myself...) is escapism, and sometimes I think about how many hours of my life I've wasted and continue to waste watching TV.

Sometimes I wish I could go back in time and gain back years of my life or live longer, then I think "why not just fucking stop watching TV or using the internet for anything other than work and use that time for PRODUCTIVE things and you can gain more time RIGHT NOW?!!".

Then I don't do it lol.

If suddenly I cut my cable and also never used internet for recreation or wasting time WHO KNOWS what else I'd do, and it would be a smart thing to do, but I don't know if I can get myself to do it now.

I mean I wonder what percentage of people use the internet mainly for work vs for recreation? Maybe a poll exists for that, but honestly, I'm going to guess that a larger percentage of people spending a larger percentage of their internet time for work and not recreation than I do.

TV is complete escapism, and so are video games.

 

[Mycophile]

Whats wrong with escaping "reality" through whatever means possible?

Its not like the "real world" and "real life" are better than spending your life drugged out of your mind in cyberspace. Well they might be better if you are super rich and can afford doing fun things and not working. And even then some people opt for drugs and cyberspace lol.

Life is about escaping existential dread and chasing highs and rushes anyway.

This is actually a REALLY depressing post when you think about it.

I mean I'm as bad an escapist as anyone else, but it's almost ironic you would ask this question.

How could anyone NOT see A SHITLOAD wrong with "escaping reality through whatever means possible"??

For many of us, myself included, escapism in its many forms is perhaps the biggest thing that is ruining our lives. Whether its drugs, TV, internet, etc, if it's escapism and it's done more than a small percentage of the time then it means you are most likely avoiding facing all sorts of problems in your life that only get worse when you don't face them. I mean I know that's what I'm doing all the fucking time.

To a very large extent my reality is not close to what it could be cause of all my escapism through drugs, internet, TV, etc, so then that is exactly why my real life is so inferior to the escapism.

It's actually really sad to think that "life is about escaping existential dread and chasing highs and rushes", and I don't agree at all.

I think that's what your life is about if your life isn't that good, so that includes ME LOL, and then your life is even LESS good cause you keep doing it and not working on making your life better.

Ideally, life would be about making yourself a stronger person through facing down all your problems and escaping as little as possible to the point where you would actually have a really kickass life, (not a perfect one cause no one's is), that is still that good even MINUS barely any escapism, so that your job kicks ass and what you to on a daily basis WITHOUT chasing highs IS WHAT TRULY SATISFIES YOU so you don't actually need barely any escapism at all.

Most likely most of the happiest people in life are those who actually spend the LEAST amount of time on ANY form of escapism, be it drugs, internet, TV, or even too much recreational reading or whatever.

And that's why I should follow my own advise, cause my life is totally not what it should or could be cause of trying to escape existential dread all the time.

 

[Xorkoth]

Yeah, every time I've been my happiest was when I was not trying to escape, but rather embracing life head-on. Whenever things get really hard I tend to turn to escapism.

The Internet, as Mycophile said, is not a "bad" thing, but it is used by many as a form of escapism/virtual reality. However, it also enables so much in improving our lives that it is one of the most pivotal inventions in human history. The Internet was bound to happen, what it is is simply a global network of connectivity. It is neither good nor bad. Like anything else, it can be used for good or bad. I think the current manifestation of social media is net negative. But social media is not the Internet.

 

[Save]

Nice.

I have been strategizing an internet schedule as I realize daily use is not needed for me yet I feel a pull to be on the net daily. It is designed that way.

Got rid of all screens at home including my smartphone and tablet. A happy Light Phone user now. Also have a landline. Those handheld screens were crazy for me.

Thanks for this post.

 

[Mafioso]

Now, I done warned y'all this was a sensitive topic.

@Mafioso The irony isn't lost on me. I'm doing the job that very fucking well paid people seem to have been incompetent on. You can get defensive and shit, so? You still concede you agree with my point and I've not the time to argue semantics. This "mindfucking" on the internet has to stop and no; those responsible for this "mindfuck" are not going to fix nothing buddy. They are more than happy to allow the public to waste their potential with narcissism yet these technotards keep these devices out of their elite private schools that their children attend. What's that tell you, Sherlock?

lol I'm being defensive because I have an opinion you disagree with you that the internet and internet "addiction" is comparable to crack babies?

The dark side isn't a place for your personal rants and blogs about the impending doom the internet is going to cause. If the internet is so evil, stay off of it and stay away from sites like this.

This isn't an argument about semantics, and even if it were, in this case it'd be a pretty important one. There is a need for semantics, and differentiating between a behavioral disorder and a substance use disorder is a point I, and most of medicine and science, would agree is a pretty important one and one worth taking the time to discuss.

Dissent doesn't have to degrade into inflammatory responses like the one you posted. If it isn't worth the time of discussion, the how is it worth the time and energy to write an angry response? Seems like the same amount of time could have been put forth to write anything thoughtful or worthwhile. Not sure what "job" you are doing either, ranting on a site ran by volunteers that doesn't allow soliciting can't really be considered a job, now can it?

k, i'm done here. I spend my time on this site trying to help people not argue with people who think I'm getting in their way of saving the world.

 

[Vastness]

Computers aren't drugs, the internet is not a drug, this comparison is stupid, IMHO.

A couple of differences I can think of:

• There's a realistic cap on how much you can pay to use the internet - most people aren't going to turn to crime to pay for their broadband subscription.

• There are physiological limits to how much internet use can affect your own body. The method of administration of this "drug" is exclusively via the senses and thus has no direct effect whatsoever on the chemistry of our body or brain.

• It's not possible to overdose on the internet.

• It's not possible to develop a physical dependence to the internet.

• The internet is a global communications network and a vital part of modern human society... most drugs are not either of these things.

Honestly I get the point but it's a messy, tired and pointless argument. Also can people please stop conflating the internet with social media or whatever time drain you personally might be pissed off about and looking for someone or something else to blame. Computers are probably the most critical technology invented by any creature we know of since the wheel. I'd be very curious to know what kind of "warnings" the OP thinks should be on web-connected devices. Should smartphone retailers be forced to put large warnings on their packaging, like cigarette companies do? "WARNING - MAY CAUSE YOU TO WASTE YOUR TIME AND LOSE YOUR SOCIAL SKILLS!" with pictures of fat, pasty weirdos crouched in the corner of a darkened room littered with empty pizza boxes and empty bottles of hand lotion, staring dead eyed at a screen?

Please... I think most people could see why that would be a ridiculous and unnecessary idea. But it serves to illustrate another issue with these tired old arguments - we don't want to scare people away from technology. The more people familiar with technology the better, because the more people understand it, the faster we progress, and the more useful knowledge we can attain and use to improve everyone's lives.

 

[blueXtX]

Life is about escaping existential dread and chasing highs and rushes anyway.

Life can be so much more than that.

 

[Tonberry King]

Computers aren't drugs, the internet is not a drug, this comparison is stupid, IMHO.

It isn't a direct comparison, true. However, I think it fits close enough.

Please... I think most people could see why that would be a ridiculous and unnecessary idea. But it serves to illustrate another issue with these tired old arguments - we don't want to scare people away from technology. The more people familiar with technology the better, because the more people understand it, the faster we progress, and the more useful knowledge we can attain and use to improve everyone's lives.

Don't be so naive my friend. Technology isn't here to "save" us it is here to replace us and it is steaming right along. I do want to scare people away from certain harmful things, sue me.

 

[Mafioso]

I'm going to close this thread, not because I find OP's point irrelevant or relevant, but because OP is not asking any questions, is not looking for help, or even talk about any personal problems. Instead is using the thread more as a blog to express personal opinions- which TDS is not the place for.

I think enough discussion has taken place, and both sides seem to have expressed their views, however this is not the place for debating the potential evils of technology.


OP, if you would like to start a new thread talking about the ways in which internet/technology addiction has impacted your life, the life of a loved one, and ways to cope, manage, and just reach out for support, we are here for you. But otherwise, please take your opinions to another more appropriate sub-forum.