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It's the old institution that fears the rapid change and tries to cling to the traditional view of education and intelligence. To those young people, they comm

by Ixiaus 17y ago

It's the old institution that fears the rapid change and tries to cling to the traditional view of education and intelligence. To those young people, they communicate clear as day with each other. To them, the propers are out of touch, boring, and slow. I'm a young person and thus far have tempered my internet addiction quite well with a social life and plenty of book reading. I also follow the train of thought of the propers, clear, focused, and concise thought is expressed unhurriedly and deliberately. I love writing clearly and professionally (albeit I am a bit lax in comments and discussion forums such as HN). But youth should not be forced to find that appreciation for the ancients; they should find it through their appreciation of what they are becoming and what the came from which is only something they can do on their own. Technology isn't changing things for the worse, it is simply providing so much information that people (youngins especially) are trying to keep up with ALL of it. This is what creates the unfocused and distracted state of mind, not the technology itself. I have high hopes for Linked Data, the Semantic Web, and more broadly: the data, information, knowledge pipeline. The more meaning we give our data; the easier it will be to have technology manage that mass of input for us: allowing people to refocus on the knowledge. The meaning.

DanielBMarkham 17y ago
A psychological addiction is defined as when you spend time doing one thing instead of doing something else that you feel is more important. It's self-referential: only you can define whether you are addicted or not. By this measure, if the youths are self-reporting that they feel addicted to the internet, that's very, very interesting. It says that the youths themselves feel they should be doing something else, not some old, stodgy institution. I know it's fun to play the old folks against the young, but you just can't keep waving your hands around and yelling various buzzwords. At some point there are real, independent metrics that come into play. Kids can't spell. The ability to put together (or appreciate) a cogent argument spanning more than ten words is being lost on a generation. No amount of technology is going to give critical thinking skills back to people who spent their formative years on FaceBook and WoW instead of somewhere else -- anywhere else. It's not like being instantly connected to the world's body of knowledge and each other is going to make up for cognitive potential lost through inattention. We've got some really cool stuff going on now -- stuff that has the potential to change the nature of what it means to be human. But we shouldn't put on blinders to the sucky stuff simply because the cool stuff is so neat.
- Ixiaus 17y ago
  Then the important question is, whether students are labeling themselves as addicted or are being labeled by the examiners. I never intended to play the old folk against youth; I was attempting to argue that, instead of worrying about the cogency of self-expression or critical thinking skills in the framework of traditional systems (which never had the level of technology we see today, including my schooling) I think the focus should be placed on how to inspire youth to develop/learn logical thinking, rhetoric, and grammatical skills within the context of an evolving system. I'm arguing for the reform of our educational system to grow with these new technological advancements and with it all of the changes to language and thought processes. Is this not how new languages and forms of expression are created/evolved? I fully agree that precise, clear, and centered thinking as well as mindful and accurate self-expression are of the utmost importance in the development of an individual. However, I think a fine line must be drawn between compatibility of thought and expression between generations: should we conform to their new and developing form of communication and thought? Or should they conform to the old ways? You are correct, that technology will and should never replace the use of the brain. It is, however, becoming a deeply integral aspect of our culture; just as the book did once the printing press was invented. There is a lot to say on this subject, I'm going to leave it at that as this input box is too tiny and I have trouble reviewing what I wrote! Fun conversation :)
- roundsquare 17y ago
  A psychological addiction is defined as when you spend time doing one thing instead of doing something else that you feel is more important. I doubt the people taking the survey (people 11 to 18 years old) knew that. Its generally problematic to use a technical definition in the interpretation of a survey of non-technical (in the relevant field) people. Likely they read "addicted to the internet" as "spend a lot of time on the internet." It says that the youths themselves feel they should be doing something else Maybe to a degree, but given their lack of knowledge about the definition, I wouldn't necessarily draw that conclusion. All it means to me is they are spending a lot of time on the internet. I agree with the rest of your post though, so that might lead to the conclusion that kids are spending too much time on the internet (or the parts of the internet that aren't educational...).
- 17y ago

by Ixiaus 17y ago

DanielBMarkham 17y ago

A psychological addiction is defined as when you spend time doing one thing instead of doing something else that you feel is more important. It's self-referential: only you can define whether you are addicted or not. By this measure, if the youths are self-reporting that they feel addicted to the internet, that's very, very interesting. It says that the youths themselves feel they should be doing something else, not some old, stodgy institution. I know it's fun to play the old folks against the young, but you just can't keep waving your hands around and yelling various buzzwords. At some point there are real, independent metrics that come into play. Kids can't spell. The ability to put together (or appreciate) a cogent argument spanning more than ten words is being lost on a generation. No amount of technology is going to give critical thinking skills back to people who spent their formative years on FaceBook and WoW instead of somewhere else -- anywhere else. It's not like being instantly connected to the world's body of knowledge and each other is going to make up for cognitive potential lost through inattention. We've got some really cool stuff going on now -- stuff that has the potential to change the nature of what it means to be human. But we shouldn't put on blinders to the sucky stuff simply because the cool stuff is so neat.

Ixiaus 17y ago
Then the important question is, whether students are labeling themselves as addicted or are being labeled by the examiners. I never intended to play the old folk against youth; I was attempting to argue that, instead of worrying about the cogency of self-expression or critical thinking skills in the framework of traditional systems (which never had the level of technology we see today, including my schooling) I think the focus should be placed on how to inspire youth to develop/learn logical thinking, rhetoric, and grammatical skills within the context of an evolving system. I'm arguing for the reform of our educational system to grow with these new technological advancements and with it all of the changes to language and thought processes. Is this not how new languages and forms of expression are created/evolved? I fully agree that precise, clear, and centered thinking as well as mindful and accurate self-expression are of the utmost importance in the development of an individual. However, I think a fine line must be drawn between compatibility of thought and expression between generations: should we conform to their new and developing form of communication and thought? Or should they conform to the old ways? You are correct, that technology will and should never replace the use of the brain. It is, however, becoming a deeply integral aspect of our culture; just as the book did once the printing press was invented. There is a lot to say on this subject, I'm going to leave it at that as this input box is too tiny and I have trouble reviewing what I wrote! Fun conversation :)
roundsquare 17y ago
A psychological addiction is defined as when you spend time doing one thing instead of doing something else that you feel is more important. I doubt the people taking the survey (people 11 to 18 years old) knew that. Its generally problematic to use a technical definition in the interpretation of a survey of non-technical (in the relevant field) people. Likely they read "addicted to the internet" as "spend a lot of time on the internet." It says that the youths themselves feel they should be doing something else Maybe to a degree, but given their lack of knowledge about the definition, I wouldn't necessarily draw that conclusion. All it means to me is they are spending a lot of time on the internet. I agree with the rest of your post though, so that might lead to the conclusion that kids are spending too much time on the internet (or the parts of the internet that aren't educational...).
17y ago