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Web 2.0 Suicide Machine - Meet your Real Neighbours again - Sign out forever

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Re: Web 2.0 Suicide Machine - Meet your Real Neighbours again - Sign out forever

#41

Post by pohl »

randallsquared wrote: post #24
pohl wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suppose the first step, then, would be to give people around you a real living example of what it means to "be the change you want to see in the world".

I think looking for a bit more leverage than that might be a better first step. There's more opportunity to improve the world via technological changes than social changes, it seems to me; huge numbers of people and organizations put a lot of effort into social change for little or no result. Henry Ford probably had as much effect on the social fabric of the US as all the civil rights workers of the 20th century (tho…

I don't disagree at all, and if doing more of the above is a change you would like to see in the world then it's laudable that you're doing it (if you're doing it.) The phrase that moved me to post was "the world just won't stay saved". Of course the world won't stay saved, because we're all subject to entropy and, with apologies to Chinua Achebe: Things Fall Apart.

The world is a garden and it requires constant maintenance.

Sisyphus, from greek mythology, is a metaphor for this inescapable curse. Modern man would probably decide that it's much better for the rock to be at the bottom of the hill, as it were, but that strikes me as choosing to be a part of the problem.

Re: Web 2.0 Suicide Machine - Meet your Real Neighbours again - Sign out forever

#42

Post by randallsquared »

pohl wrote: post #41
randallsquared wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think looking for a bit more leverage than that might be a better first step. There's more opportunity to improve the world via technological changes than social changes, it seems to me; huge numbers of people and organizations put a lot of effort into social change for little or no result. Henry Ford probably had as much effect on the social fabric of the US as all the civil rights workers of the 20th century (tho…

I don't disagree at all, and if doing more of the above is a change you would like to see in the world then it's laudable that you're doing it (if you're doing it.) The phrase that moved me to post was "the world just won't stay saved". Of course the world won't stay saved, because we're all subject to entropy and, with apologies to Chinua Achebe: Things Fall Apart. The world is a garden and it requires constant main…

Actually, the bit about the world not staying saved was a reference to the first little bit of The Incredibles. :) I think that fighting (metaphorical) entropy is worthwhile, though; I just prefer to find the most efficient means for the result, or at least a more efficient means than convincing folk to change their ways through rhetoric and example. I guess it's a bit ironic that I'm even writing this...

Re: Web 2.0 Suicide Machine - Meet your Real Neighbours again - Sign out forever

#43

Post by dschobel »

Retric wrote: post #40
sheats wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think there is a lot that is lost by society's tendency to group similar people and people's natural tendency to seek out those who are similar to each other. When all the elderly people get put in retirement homes think of what is lost by those who could have benefited from the elderly person's years of experience and wisdom. If you want to be a better entrepreneur, you are probably going to find an older entrepre…

Books. Edit: I am not trying to be snide, but you don’t actually have to talk to people to get an understanding of their viewpoint. Try reading some books from the far left and far right in the US and you will start to see how the other side thinks. Heck even tuning into Fox News, NPR, and the BBC in the same news cycle is useful.

The intersection of people with something worth saying and the people who write books is far from total.

Re: Web 2.0 Suicide Machine - Meet your Real Neighbours again - Sign out forever

#45

Post by smallblacksun »

Retric wrote: post #40
sheats wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think there is a lot that is lost by society's tendency to group similar people and people's natural tendency to seek out those who are similar to each other. When all the elderly people get put in retirement homes think of what is lost by those who could have benefited from the elderly person's years of experience and wisdom. If you want to be a better entrepreneur, you are probably going to find an older entrepre…

Books. Edit: I am not trying to be snide, but you don’t actually have to talk to people to get an understanding of their viewpoint. Try reading some books from the far left and far right in the US and you will start to see how the other side thinks. Heck even tuning into Fox News, NPR, and the BBC in the same news cycle is useful.

The problem with using only books to try and understand what people who are disagree with you think is that they aren't interactive. While reading something you disagree with, you will probably find yourself thinking "Well, what about X", and if the book doesn't explicitly address that issue you will never know what they would respond. Even worse, people tend to assume that those who disagree with them don't have an answer to their objections, rather than that the book simply doesn't address them. If you are instead talking to a (reasonably knowledgeable) person, they will be able to at least give some sort of answer to your objections.

Re: Web 2.0 Suicide Machine - Meet your Real Neighbours again - Sign out forever

#47

Post by Psyonic »

palish wrote: post #27
onewland wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You and I have different definitions of dangerous. Risky might be a better word. But the right word for that sentence is probably "unpleasant" or "vexing". Dangerous is getting your hand caught in your disposal. Not being able to talk to a neighbor is like getting a piece of food caught in your disposal. I'd say it's more dangerous to not know your neighbors. If you're ever in trouble in your neighborhood (where you…

I think... hope... he was being sarcastic.

I'm almost positive he was not. While not completely in agreement with him, I can definitely sympathize with him.

Re: Web 2.0 Suicide Machine - Meet your Real Neighbours again - Sign out forever

#49

Post by dschobel »

est wrote: post #5

Here's the quickest way to delete your account in China (only if your account has absolutely no link with your real identity): Use a proxy, and post anti-government stuff.

I can't tell if you're kidding, but I don't see what legal compulsion FB, MySpace, et al can receive from the Chinese gov to kill accounts.

Re: Web 2.0 Suicide Machine - Meet your Real Neighbours again - Sign out forever

#50

Post by Retric »

dschobel wrote: post #43
Retric wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Books. Edit: I am not trying to be snide, but you don’t actually have to talk to people to get an understanding of their viewpoint. Try reading some books from the far left and far right in the US and you will start to see how the other side thinks. Heck even tuning into Fox News, NPR, and the BBC in the same news cycle is useful.

The intersection of people with something worth saying and the people who write books is far from total.

That's true. But it's more meaningful from the societal level than the personal. As an individual looking for interesting or useful things you don't already know it's usually far more efficient to read a few books than to spend the same amount of time getting to know people outside your circle.

Now if you want to learn something that a large number of people don't already know then goes treasure hunting. But, suggesting people need to talk with a wide range of people to grow as a person is simply untrue.

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