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Was everyone stupid back then?

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Re: Was everyone stupid back then?

#21

Post by elcapitan »

fumar wrote: post #10
shubhamjain wrote: post #6

Did people really think that Internet was going to solve all problems or is that revisionist history by back-in-our-day millenials? Even for a techno-optimist, it would've been hard to forsee the sheer penetration. Yes, the euphoria was there from the beginning. But, there's a difference between saying "it's going to be huge" and imagining an instantly accessible network available in the hands of 60% of the world fro…

Is that a millennial in the comic? I thought it was a Gen X or older character. Back in our day, I am thinking mid to late 90’s for techno optimism at its peak.

Yeah, 90s tech optimism was more Gen X. It's probably conflating this time with the early 2010's (see "Arab Spring") optimism towards self-liberation via social media driven uprising?

Re: Was everyone stupid back then?

#22

Post by teddyh »

throw0101c wrote: post #5

See also Penny Arcade 's take from 2004: * https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19/green-blackboa... Previous observations on the CB radio band: > Similar behavioral patterns have been observed in the anonymous usage of Citizens’ Band radio, a short-distance radio communications device widely used by truck drivers to find well-stocked fuel stations and share traffic information. On February 20th, 1978, a New Yo…

And then Facebook (and Google+), with their Real Names policies, proved that it wasn’t anonymity which was the cause.

Re: Was everyone stupid back then?

#23

Post by RunSet »

falcolas wrote: post #15
nells wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is “social problems” (mentioned in the comic) if not politics?

Homelessness. Poverty. Addiction. Spousal Abuse. Sexual Abuse. Etc.

A: "Let's attempt to solve poverty, addiction, spousal abuse, and sexual abuse."

B: "Why do you have to make everything political?"

Re: Was everyone stupid back then?

#25

Post by what_the_h321 »

jfengel wrote: post #16

“Meanwhile, the poor Babel fish, by effectively removing all barriers to communication between different races and cultures, has caused more and bloodier wars than anything else in the history of creation.” Douglas Adams thought he was joking.

Do you have an example of a bloodier war than the World War 1 and 2?

Re: Was everyone stupid back then?

#26

Post by newZWhoDis »

shubhamjain wrote: post #6

Did people really think that Internet was going to solve all problems or is that revisionist history by back-in-our-day millenials? Even for a techno-optimist, it would've been hard to forsee the sheer penetration. Yes, the euphoria was there from the beginning. But, there's a difference between saying "it's going to be huge" and imagining an instantly accessible network available in the hands of 60% of the world fro…

The talk on IRC in the 90’s was “imagine a war going on with the internet and civilians on both sides could talk to each other, why would anyone fight?”

Re: Was everyone stupid back then?

#27

Post by williamcotton »

lotu wrote: post #18

The unsaid implication of this comic is that getting rid of the internet would make society better. It would NOT. The ability to have rapid peer to peer communication with anyone on the planet is a good thing. BLM, LGBT rights, disability rights are causes that have thrived thanks to the Internet. The Internet did not cause fascism and any suggestion that it does ignored all of the 20th century.

It’s more of a critique of techno-utopianism than the internet itself.

Re: Was everyone stupid back then?

#28

Post by YazIAm »

teddyh wrote: post #22
throw0101c wrote: post #5

See also Penny Arcade 's take from 2004: * https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19/green-blackboa... Previous observations on the CB radio band: > Similar behavioral patterns have been observed in the anonymous usage of Citizens’ Band radio, a short-distance radio communications device widely used by truck drivers to find well-stocked fuel stations and share traffic information. On February 20th, 1978, a New Yo…

And then Facebook (and Google+), with their Real Names policies, proved that it wasn’t anonymity which was the cause.

I think when we consider what Facebook has taught us about anonymity vs real name policies we have to also remember that Facebook's feed disproportionately rewards sensationalist content.

Re: Was everyone stupid back then?

#29

Post by pharke »

newZWhoDis wrote: post #26
shubhamjain wrote: post #6

Did people really think that Internet was going to solve all problems or is that revisionist history by back-in-our-day millenials? Even for a techno-optimist, it would've been hard to forsee the sheer penetration. Yes, the euphoria was there from the beginning. But, there's a difference between saying "it's going to be huge" and imagining an instantly accessible network available in the hands of 60% of the world fro…

The talk on IRC in the 90’s was “imagine a war going on with the internet and civilians on both sides could talk to each other, why would anyone fight?”

I think the problem with this vision isn't that "people talking to each other won't prevent violence" it's that people posting text, images, and video is not the same as people talking to each other. Even a video call is not the same as talking to someone in person. It's hard to build empathy and connection with someone you can't make eye contact with.

Re: Was everyone stupid back then?

#30

Post by derbOac »

shubhamjain wrote: post #6

Did people really think that Internet was going to solve all problems or is that revisionist history by back-in-our-day millenials? Even for a techno-optimist, it would've been hard to forsee the sheer penetration. Yes, the euphoria was there from the beginning. But, there's a difference between saying "it's going to be huge" and imagining an instantly accessible network available in the hands of 60% of the world fro…

I think you'd get different responses from different people but this comic didn't ring true for me because I don't recall the sort of optimism about information sharing it claims.

I'm sure someone could point to some quotes and some evidence of it happening but I don't remember that being the dominant theme. For every techno optimist there were probably an equal number of people terrified of their kids downloading porn or talking to strangers.

There was unbridled optimism, to what I remember as sickening levels of hype (although some of it turned out to be true eventually). But the optimism was more general I think and my impression was it was focused more on business and work opportunities, about how it would facilitate and open up possibilities for making tasks and things like communicating with loved ones easier. The stuff about it leading to a democratic utopia seemed to be looked on with a bit of ridicule — most from that time period had some memory of terrorism and conflict worldwide, and of the shadowy anxieties of the cold war. The idea that sort of thing would go away because of the internet seemed laughable, if for no reason its penetration wasn't clear even in the US and Europe.

But that's just one impression.

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