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Let’s suppose they call a customer service desk that uses Internet tools to help them—or they’ve paid for a transaction on Square. Have they technically indirec
by jasonjei 6y ago
Let’s suppose they call a customer service desk that uses Internet tools to help them—or they’ve paid for a transaction on Square. Have they technically indirectly been a beneficiary of the Internet? Does that count as using it?
- throwaway1777 6y agoI don’t think that counts. It’s like calling someone a driver when they’ve only been a passenger.
- Sebb767 6y agoYeah, but they have been using a car. Not as driver, but as a way to get from A to B
- boring_twenties 6y agoA more apt comparison would be someone who doesn't use a car as a way to get from A to B, but still receives for instance mail delivery by motorized vehicle. Even if they wanted to opt out of that for some ideological reason, it's simply not an option.
- hansvm 6y agoYes, but the fact that both the driver and the passenger have used the car is a specific fact relating to that instance which doesn't generalize to all transitivity relations -- it's still possible for John to ask Karn to do something which uses the internet and for John to not have used the internet.
- Sebb767 6y agoProbably not, because if you count indirect uses, the rate goes to practically zero. The internet is deeply embedded in, for example, all of the infrastructure we use. Or your doctor will probably use the internet to look up symptoms and medications. So if they have any connection to society at all, you can say they indirectly benefited from the internet. Technically, the few isolated island tribes might count as not benefiting from the internet.
- exegete 6y agoNo, not for this. It’s a survey with a specific question asking if they use the internet, and here in this context “use” undoubtedly means “access directly” and not “indirectly benefit from”.