6 ms·

This reminded me of back 30 years ago or more when I first was messing around with Arpanet and it was just turning into the Internet, I remember how all of my f

This reminded me of back 30 years ago or more when I first was messing around with Arpanet and it was just turning into the Internet, I remember how all of my friends and I were so stoked about how it was going to change the world because everyone would have access to all the knowledge in the world and how exciting that was, the democratization of knowledge. We speculated on how everyone in the future would be so much smarter because they would have access to so much information and knowledge. Some of that is true, but sadly, not entirely. Much of the greatest knowledge is locked away. And even sadder still, so many people do not really cherish what we have and instead use it for a lot of ridiculous nonsense, which, I guess is me being Judgmental about what the internet should be used for. I guess what it really shows, is that the future often does not turn out the way you thought it would . I think this is a case like that, we thought knowledge would flow freely like from a fountain or oracle of wisdom, but instead it is filled with 140 character snotty comments and pictures of cats with fruit on their heads. Sorry for the rant.

SerLava 10y ago
I'm speculating here but there might actually be a lot of knowledge out there created by the internet that you don't really see - like little details about mundane aspects of life that people previously had no concept of, but aren't controversial.
- zw123456 10y ago
  You know what, thank you, you are right, every time I am depressed about the crap I see online, then I see something really great. you take the good with the bad, just like life :)
SerLava 10y ago
I'm speculating here but there might actually be a lot of knowledge out there created by the internet that you don't really see - like little details about mundane aspects of life that people previously had no concept of, but aren't controversial.
rm_-rf_slash 10y ago
Reminds me of a comic I saw here once about a guy who grew up on utopian 70s Scifi magazines and grew up to find the 90s would actually become... well... see for yourself. http://electricsheepcomix.com/almostguy/ http://electricsheepcomix.com/almostguy/
tomc1985 10y ago
I feel like the internet mostly held this ideal until the runup to the first dotcom bubble. Then the business people took over, and, as they tend to do, converted these principles into something more suitable for monetization; putting it in the hands of as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, through appeals to ego and emotion instead of reason and rationality. And here we are today, where the best knowledge is locked up behind paywalls and "cute" and "the new sincerity" (what a load of crap...) reign supreme.
- jasonm23 10y ago
  I think I missed a meeting where "The New Sincerity" was defined, would you expand on this or provide a link or simply examples.
  - eli_gottlieb 10y ago
    I always thought it meant the turn towards art, literature, film, etc. whose themes are actually in earnest, after decades of every bloody thing being ironic. TL;DR: "We got tired of being sarcastic all the time, so this time we decided to say something we actually mean."
    - GunboatDiplomat 10y ago
      Did we actually do that? I'm still being sarcastic all the time. I really don't know of any other way to be.
  - tomc1985 10y ago
    A lot of people have been using this sort of upbeat, 'I'm your friend'-style marketing, with lots of cute flourishes and 'built with love' BS. I've seen it called it 'The New Sincerity' in the sense that it is supposed to be about craftsmen displaying sincere (in the sense that they believe in its 'awesomeness') enthusiasm for their work; unfortunately in the process it has been co-opted by spin doctors and marketing people, filtered down to its emotional essence (cute, happy, lies about friendship, lots of awesomeness), and then used repeatedly until the next fad comes. One of the largest examples I can think of is the hipster-y, craft aesthetic (crossed arrows are particularly overused cliche). Come to think of it I think the SF hipster clique were some of its original proponents. http://www.maximumfun.org/blog/2006/02/manifesto-for-new-sincerity.html http://www.maximumfun.org/blog/2006/02/manifesto-for-new-sin... ... notice the writer's enthusiasm
petra 10y ago
I'm curious what happens if we would design a parallel web, ruled by a benevolent dictator that really wants to help humanity, in the wide and deep sense(and we're lucky and it doesn't turn into a bloodbath) - how would that internet look like ? and is it even a possible goal for a niche of the population ?
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- droidist2 10y ago
  Sounds like China
  - petra 10y ago
    Not really. Dictatorship ? being imprisoned for saying the wrong stuff ?
  - tagrun 10y ago
    He said "benevolent", and also "really wants to help humanity".
- Natanael_L 10y ago
  I2P? CJDNS?
  - petra 10y ago
    You'll still be left with free market like system - and the result won't be far from what we have today. For example the incentives around something like facebook will be similar. No - you really need benevolent dictatorship at the site/content level.

SerLava 10y ago

I'm speculating here but there might actually be a lot of knowledge out there created by the internet that you don't really see - like little details about mundane aspects of life that people previously had no concept of, but aren't controversial.

zw123456 10y ago
You know what, thank you, you are right, every time I am depressed about the crap I see online, then I see something really great. you take the good with the bad, just like life :)

SerLava 10y ago

rm_-rf_slash 10y ago

Reminds me of a comic I saw here once about a guy who grew up on utopian 70s Scifi magazines and grew up to find the 90s would actually become... well... see for yourself. http://electricsheepcomix.com/almostguy/ http://electricsheepcomix.com/almostguy/

tomc1985 10y ago

I feel like the internet mostly held this ideal until the runup to the first dotcom bubble. Then the business people took over, and, as they tend to do, converted these principles into something more suitable for monetization; putting it in the hands of as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, through appeals to ego and emotion instead of reason and rationality. And here we are today, where the best knowledge is locked up behind paywalls and "cute" and "the new sincerity" (what a load of crap...) reign supreme.

jasonm23 10y ago
I think I missed a meeting where "The New Sincerity" was defined, would you expand on this or provide a link or simply examples.
- eli_gottlieb 10y ago
  I always thought it meant the turn towards art, literature, film, etc. whose themes are actually in earnest, after decades of every bloody thing being ironic. TL;DR: "We got tired of being sarcastic all the time, so this time we decided to say something we actually mean."
  - GunboatDiplomat 10y ago
    Did we actually do that? I'm still being sarcastic all the time. I really don't know of any other way to be.
- tomc1985 10y ago
  A lot of people have been using this sort of upbeat, 'I'm your friend'-style marketing, with lots of cute flourishes and 'built with love' BS. I've seen it called it 'The New Sincerity' in the sense that it is supposed to be about craftsmen displaying sincere (in the sense that they believe in its 'awesomeness') enthusiasm for their work; unfortunately in the process it has been co-opted by spin doctors and marketing people, filtered down to its emotional essence (cute, happy, lies about friendship, lots of awesomeness), and then used repeatedly until the next fad comes. One of the largest examples I can think of is the hipster-y, craft aesthetic (crossed arrows are particularly overused cliche). Come to think of it I think the SF hipster clique were some of its original proponents. http://www.maximumfun.org/blog/2006/02/manifesto-for-new-sincerity.html http://www.maximumfun.org/blog/2006/02/manifesto-for-new-sin... ... notice the writer's enthusiasm

petra 10y ago

I'm curious what happens if we would design a parallel web, ruled by a benevolent dictator that really wants to help humanity, in the wide and deep sense(and we're lucky and it doesn't turn into a bloodbath) - how would that internet look like ? and is it even a possible goal for a niche of the population ?

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
droidist2 10y ago
Sounds like China
- petra 10y ago
  Not really. Dictatorship ? being imprisoned for saying the wrong stuff ?
- tagrun 10y ago
  He said "benevolent", and also "really wants to help humanity".
Natanael_L 10y ago
I2P? CJDNS?
- petra 10y ago
  You'll still be left with free market like system - and the result won't be far from what we have today. For example the incentives around something like facebook will be similar. No - you really need benevolent dictatorship at the site/content level.