51–60 of 175 posts
I respect what he's getting at, but this is all sorts of backwards for someone who wrote an earlier paragraph about escaping the eye of advertisers (and presumably surveillance)
The Internet has gone from a place with a high barrier of entry (and the interesting characters that self selected for that barrier), to an all encompassing entity with a load of moralisers, businesses and governments fighting over the ability to call the shots.
In its current state, I think it's better to take a step back. View the Internet as an occasional tool for getting things done, rather than a place to live within and rely upon. Let the masses have their addictions fulfilled, while technology enthusiasts move on and enjoy real life.
It's not surprising he'd want to turn his back on social media after the (justifiable) kicking he took over this: http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/apr/14/stephen-fry-s...
Justifiable? Based on what he actually said? -- there's an accurate transcription down in the link.
The 58-year-old went on to say: “Grow up.”
So, yes.
It makes me wonder whether a better approach to disconnecting is to set quotas, essentially saying something like "I would like 2 tweets and 1 blog comment to make it to my attention daily -- hide everything else from me for my own sanity."
Relevant to the discussion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3fgkK1J3Cs
I've been trying to do this and as of this week, HN and stackexchage are the last social accounts I have but only because I can't find a way to delete them. I could just log out and walk away but it feels like there's no closure that way. Anyone know of a way to close an HN account?
Does HN count as "social"? It feels more like an Internet forum to me. I guess you're using your real name here, but you don't have to. I don't know anyone socially who I would expect to find on here.
One of the better discussions of this topic is Vi Hart's explanation[1] of Edmund Snow Carpenter's[2] "They Became What They Beheld".
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm-Jjvqu3U4
[2] almost certainly written with Marshall McLuhan
Goodness me, that's a lot of bloviation. I think there's a point buried in there somewhere that has been made far more succinctly by a lot of other people.
I usually think the same for vast majority of stuff on HN, i.e. most articles could be cut down to one or two paragraphs with little value lost, but... There are generally two reasons why I read - to extract information and for the experience of reading. Stephen Fry's blog is one of the rare cases where I just enjoy the writing and the information value doesn't really matter.
It's not surprising he'd want to turn his back on social media after the (justifiable) kicking he took over this: http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/apr/14/stephen-fry-s...