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A Net Skeptic's Conservative Manifesto

32 points by TDL 13y ago

tomphoolery 13y ago
The Internet isn't a religion, nor is it a supreme being. So why would anyone put their faith behind it? It's just a tool. I like to invoke the gun analogy. A gun can be used to shoot a person in the face and ruin countless lives, but it can also be used to kill an animal so you can eat it. The Internet doesn't make you smarter, but it does give you access to more information. But you still have to make yourself smarter by reading and taking in that information.
- icegreentea 13y ago
  It's because it's so easy to combine 'Internet the technology' and 'the people on the Internet' because of how we tend to interact with it the Internet. It's a sloppy, leaky, and often terribly wrong abstraction, but I feel that it's also human nature.
- nitrogen 13y ago
  The Internet isn't a religion, nor is it a supreme being. So why would anyone put their faith behind it? It's easy for people to believe that the effect a technology has on them is the same effect it will have on everyone. In the case of the Internet, it's easy for an idealist to believe that an open, peer-to-peer global communication network would inevitably fuel a positive revolution in human interaction. The expectation might be that everyone, upon seeing the power of the Internet to share, collaborate, and contribute, would join in the Utopian happy science party, eventually leading us to our well-deserved Star Trek-esque future. Instead, however, while the idealists see ideals, capitalists see cash, politicians see power, etc. Long ago, when I was first discovering the Internet, I came across things like IRC and telnet-based chat services. I was amazed that I could just start a conversation with anyone who wanted to listen, and it didn't matter who they were, what they looked like, or where they lived. I was so excited by the possibilities that I wanted to share the technology with everyone. The first thing I did was show a friend how to connect to a chat server. I was dismayed when he immediately began trolling, harassing, and trying to come up with creative ways to ruin the conversations of others. We didn't stay friends for long after that, but I began learning the important lesson that not everyone will use a tool for good.
- jamesrcole 13y ago
  By saying it's "just" a tool you're implying that all tools are equal, and with your gun analogy you're implying that all tools have a balance of good and bad consequences. I'd dispute both of those points. The vacuum cleaner is just a tool. And the printing press? That's just a tool as well. But the printing press massively changed society, and for the better. It think it's arguable that the internet will have -- sufficiently far down the line (and remember that it took a long time for the consequences of the printing press to be really felt) -- bigger consequences than the printing press did.

32 points by TDL 13y ago

The Internet isn't a religion, nor is it a supreme being. So why would anyone put their faith behind it? It's just a tool. I like to invoke the gun analogy. A gun can be used to shoot a person in the face and ruin countless lives, but it can also be used to kill an animal so you can eat it. The Internet doesn't make you smarter, but it does give you access to more information. But you still have to make yourself smarter by reading and taking in that information.

icegreentea 13y ago
It's because it's so easy to combine 'Internet the technology' and 'the people on the Internet' because of how we tend to interact with it the Internet. It's a sloppy, leaky, and often terribly wrong abstraction, but I feel that it's also human nature.
nitrogen 13y ago
The Internet isn't a religion, nor is it a supreme being. So why would anyone put their faith behind it? It's easy for people to believe that the effect a technology has on them is the same effect it will have on everyone. In the case of the Internet, it's easy for an idealist to believe that an open, peer-to-peer global communication network would inevitably fuel a positive revolution in human interaction. The expectation might be that everyone, upon seeing the power of the Internet to share, collaborate, and contribute, would join in the Utopian happy science party, eventually leading us to our well-deserved Star Trek-esque future. Instead, however, while the idealists see ideals, capitalists see cash, politicians see power, etc. Long ago, when I was first discovering the Internet, I came across things like IRC and telnet-based chat services. I was amazed that I could just start a conversation with anyone who wanted to listen, and it didn't matter who they were, what they looked like, or where they lived. I was so excited by the possibilities that I wanted to share the technology with everyone. The first thing I did was show a friend how to connect to a chat server. I was dismayed when he immediately began trolling, harassing, and trying to come up with creative ways to ruin the conversations of others. We didn't stay friends for long after that, but I began learning the important lesson that not everyone will use a tool for good.
jamesrcole 13y ago
By saying it's "just" a tool you're implying that all tools are equal, and with your gun analogy you're implying that all tools have a balance of good and bad consequences. I'd dispute both of those points. The vacuum cleaner is just a tool. And the printing press? That's just a tool as well. But the printing press massively changed society, and for the better. It think it's arguable that the internet will have -- sufficiently far down the line (and remember that it took a long time for the consequences of the printing press to be really felt) -- bigger consequences than the printing press did.