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As someone who uses the internet in a healthy way and healthy dose, i think this article is like when an (former?) alcoholic suggests to all the people to not e

by nadam 10y ago

As someone who uses the internet in a healthy way and healthy dose, i think this article is like when an (former?) alcoholic suggests to all the people to not even drink one beer occasionally. Seriously why should I not use email to communicate with people far away from me on interesting topics? Why would I not look up things in Wikipedia? Why would I not look at Fecebook once a day for 2 minutes to see whether there is something extra with my IRL friends and relatives?

grillvogel 10y ago
> internet in a healthy way and healthy dose, what are you basing that on exactly
netcan 10y ago
I see where you’r coming from. OTOH, imagine that you lived in a small community where trade routes or mass migration suddenly made alcohol extremely available, a new problem. You struggle with overuse, try to figure out if it’s a suitable morning beverage, etc. So do most people. Eventually, some people start to talk about moderation, age limits. Maybe we should only drink on Tuesdays, or after work or something. Culture is being bombarded with new stuff, some of which can cause problems. Culture is adaptive, but it’s hard to keep up with technology. I think it’s OK for people to muse out loud (this is a blog) and possibly useful This is how culture gets made, I think. We need culture to update, so I’m ok with this.
lkozma 10y ago
you can of course use it as much as you want -- but I thing the broader point of the author holds: for a generation that is supposed to be rebellious, there is a surprising amount of conformism in accepting these tools as something that need to be used all the time.
- clock_tower 10y ago
  It's best to think neither in terms of rebelliousness nor conformism, but in terms of right and wrong -- the standards by which we determine whether rebellion, or conformism, or withdrawal, or some other act are appropriate. Aging hippies and aging squares are both stopped clocks, wrong at least as often as they're right... That said, I'm with the author in one respect: I don't have a Facebook account and never will. Constant connectedness is the enemy of deep understanding of the world -- although drugs, pinball machines, and basking in one's alleged superiority to the squares are also its enemies.
- chongli 10y ago
  It's the hipster effect[0]. The more people try to rebel, the more they conform! [0] http://arxiv.org/pdf/1410.8001.pdf http://arxiv.org/pdf/1410.8001.pdf
npsimons 10y ago
I feel similarly, but I'm still sympathetic to Mr. Fry's thoughts on the topic. I did find myself thinking "well, it doesn't have to be all or nothing, just look at Joey Hess (https://usesthis.com/interviews/joey.hess/ https://usesthis.com/interviews/joey.hess/) for a nice compromise." Even the Amish have telephones; they're just not in the house - think how many times you've been interrupted at dinner by a phone call and you begin to understand . . .

by nadam 10y ago

grillvogel 10y ago

> internet in a healthy way and healthy dose, what are you basing that on exactly

netcan 10y ago

I see where you’r coming from. OTOH, imagine that you lived in a small community where trade routes or mass migration suddenly made alcohol extremely available, a new problem. You struggle with overuse, try to figure out if it’s a suitable morning beverage, etc. So do most people. Eventually, some people start to talk about moderation, age limits. Maybe we should only drink on Tuesdays, or after work or something. Culture is being bombarded with new stuff, some of which can cause problems. Culture is adaptive, but it’s hard to keep up with technology. I think it’s OK for people to muse out loud (this is a blog) and possibly useful This is how culture gets made, I think. We need culture to update, so I’m ok with this.

lkozma 10y ago

you can of course use it as much as you want -- but I thing the broader point of the author holds: for a generation that is supposed to be rebellious, there is a surprising amount of conformism in accepting these tools as something that need to be used all the time.

clock_tower 10y ago
It's best to think neither in terms of rebelliousness nor conformism, but in terms of right and wrong -- the standards by which we determine whether rebellion, or conformism, or withdrawal, or some other act are appropriate. Aging hippies and aging squares are both stopped clocks, wrong at least as often as they're right... That said, I'm with the author in one respect: I don't have a Facebook account and never will. Constant connectedness is the enemy of deep understanding of the world -- although drugs, pinball machines, and basking in one's alleged superiority to the squares are also its enemies.
chongli 10y ago
It's the hipster effect[0]. The more people try to rebel, the more they conform! [0] http://arxiv.org/pdf/1410.8001.pdf http://arxiv.org/pdf/1410.8001.pdf

npsimons 10y ago

I feel similarly, but I'm still sympathetic to Mr. Fry's thoughts on the topic. I did find myself thinking "well, it doesn't have to be all or nothing, just look at Joey Hess (https://usesthis.com/interviews/joey.hess/ https://usesthis.com/interviews/joey.hess/) for a nice compromise." Even the Amish have telephones; they're just not in the house - think how many times you've been interrupted at dinner by a phone call and you begin to understand . . .