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Do we need to be discovered on the internet? This computer that I'm typing into in order to respond to your comment is not the world. The world is outside. I

Do we need to be discovered on the internet? This computer that I'm typing into in order to respond to your comment is not the world. The world is outside. I discovered a variety of people yesterday when I went for a walk in a crowded park. That is the world.

rektide 5y ago
take your "go live in a barrel" "stop participating in society" "advice" to somewhere offline & unconnected please. it's rude & out of touch. the internet has value and telling people to walk away, to not connect, not be found online, is insulting & belittling. this person was doing great & neat things. they deserve to be able to connect with the world. the world is better for it's chance to connect with them. "just dont" is a snotty terrible demeaning attitude to take. please take your own advice and take this anti-connective attitude elsewhere, off the internet. i really really wish every discussion on social networking & online hosting wasn't punctuated by this retrogressive anti-connected (what seems to me like) trolling. how you folks be so blind, so callous, so unwilling to see how great & awesome it is that people can share, that people can connect & communicate, that we can exchange so many awesome human moments? it's is unfathomable to me. it's so neat that folks can share, can make connections, that the power of the mind can expand so much further, and can roam so much more greatly. turning that off sounds like hell.
- MathMonkeyMan 5y ago
  You're right that my comment smacks of "go outside, kids" and sounds belittling. It's easy for me to make the claim that I did, because I have no stake on the internet. Neither my income nor my passion is dependent upon an online audience. Here I am in my armchair, "it's not a problem, you're the problem!" That's insensitive and I apologize. Still, do consider the possibility that the passion behind your response is grounded in an overinvestment in online interactions. I don't know you, and may be overstepping bounds, but this is the softer version of my point.
  - rektide 5y ago
    > Still, do consider the possibility that the passion behind your response is grounded in an overinvestment in online interactions. Oh yeah, the ability for humans to share things with each other freely & to explore each other's thoughts is deeply overrated. You're right, you're totally on-topic here. Discussions about hosting, providers, censorship: yeah, unimportant. We can forget all the questions we face there, those were just distractions. You're totally right. Thanks for pitching in. I see much more clearly now. I was just overinvested. And furthermore, every time we have a hard issue about online topics, we just need to keep telling ourselves: online doesn't matter. Chime in every time to berate the importance of the discussion, to make sure the real topic, how unimportant being connected is, is abundantly clear. (I want to have good places to talk about what you want to talk about. And in spite of my frustration you have been trying to do a good job of instilling a question that ought to be there. I don't think this internet thing is the only way to go, but I want it to be an option. And I see the real world as safe & secure in it's offerings. But I see an active battle going on, I see huge questions of control happening over how & where & whether humanity connects & is allowed to express themselves online. There's a very real challenge, and I don't think outdoor-reality needs defending. And I feel like the people trying to engage & advance something that is important are beset at every turn by endless lines of questioning, about whether they have any value. Being constantly made to defend that a humanity where connection is possible has value at all, being distracted everytime we try to talk about the difficulties & problems connectability face, is something that I think needs an effective resistance to it, needs to be shut down and told to find their own forum to have that discussion in: recognize there is value, first, be willing to join in discussion of this struggle that the topic has to it, second.)

rektide 5y ago

take your "go live in a barrel" "stop participating in society" "advice" to somewhere offline & unconnected please. it's rude & out of touch. the internet has value and telling people to walk away, to not connect, not be found online, is insulting & belittling. this person was doing great & neat things. they deserve to be able to connect with the world. the world is better for it's chance to connect with them. "just dont" is a snotty terrible demeaning attitude to take. please take your own advice and take this anti-connective attitude elsewhere, off the internet. i really really wish every discussion on social networking & online hosting wasn't punctuated by this retrogressive anti-connected (what seems to me like) trolling. how you folks be so blind, so callous, so unwilling to see how great & awesome it is that people can share, that people can connect & communicate, that we can exchange so many awesome human moments? it's is unfathomable to me. it's so neat that folks can share, can make connections, that the power of the mind can expand so much further, and can roam so much more greatly. turning that off sounds like hell.

MathMonkeyMan 5y ago
You're right that my comment smacks of "go outside, kids" and sounds belittling. It's easy for me to make the claim that I did, because I have no stake on the internet. Neither my income nor my passion is dependent upon an online audience. Here I am in my armchair, "it's not a problem, you're the problem!" That's insensitive and I apologize. Still, do consider the possibility that the passion behind your response is grounded in an overinvestment in online interactions. I don't know you, and may be overstepping bounds, but this is the softer version of my point.
- rektide 5y ago
  > Still, do consider the possibility that the passion behind your response is grounded in an overinvestment in online interactions. Oh yeah, the ability for humans to share things with each other freely & to explore each other's thoughts is deeply overrated. You're right, you're totally on-topic here. Discussions about hosting, providers, censorship: yeah, unimportant. We can forget all the questions we face there, those were just distractions. You're totally right. Thanks for pitching in. I see much more clearly now. I was just overinvested. And furthermore, every time we have a hard issue about online topics, we just need to keep telling ourselves: online doesn't matter. Chime in every time to berate the importance of the discussion, to make sure the real topic, how unimportant being connected is, is abundantly clear. (I want to have good places to talk about what you want to talk about. And in spite of my frustration you have been trying to do a good job of instilling a question that ought to be there. I don't think this internet thing is the only way to go, but I want it to be an option. And I see the real world as safe & secure in it's offerings. But I see an active battle going on, I see huge questions of control happening over how & where & whether humanity connects & is allowed to express themselves online. There's a very real challenge, and I don't think outdoor-reality needs defending. And I feel like the people trying to engage & advance something that is important are beset at every turn by endless lines of questioning, about whether they have any value. Being constantly made to defend that a humanity where connection is possible has value at all, being distracted everytime we try to talk about the difficulties & problems connectability face, is something that I think needs an effective resistance to it, needs to be shut down and told to find their own forum to have that discussion in: recognize there is value, first, be willing to join in discussion of this struggle that the topic has to it, second.)