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The internet is kind of a predatory cesspit now

stephendiehl.com

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Re: The internet is kind of a predatory cesspit now

#231

Post by XorNot »

dexwiz wrote: post #49
Biologist123 wrote: post #24

> People increasingly behave like addicts because addiction is the business model. I sense my internet addiction got a lot worse in recent years. I don’t use social media, but I consume news, blogs and newsletters - and comment threads - voraciously. I think the addiction began as soon as I started to work at a desk behind a computer which had internet access - 20+ years ago. Like putting an alcoholic to work behind…

Pandemic really ramped it up. Also screen addiction has gone mainstream. In front of a screen 12+ hours a day 20 years ago? Total nerd. Now? Standard behavior.

Okay but what should people be doing instead?

The complaint that everyone is on their phone (or in front of screens) is less informative then the interlocutors ideas of what should be instead.

Re: The internet is kind of a predatory cesspit now

#232

Post by inigyou »

shevy-java wrote: post #198

> I still remember the early internet. It was slow, ugly, unreliable, and full of cranks, a strange world of wheezing dial-up modems, Usenet flamewars, tags, and dancing babies. I remember the 1990s and this guy's "description" is massively biased. I remember oldschool browser games in the 1990s - AM Mari (Archmage, from a korean company), or even Java Applets such as Dragonquest or whatever was the name. Or Joe Cart…

I noticed a drastic drop in the quality of YouTube shorts when they removed the dislike button.

Re: The internet is kind of a predatory cesspit now

#233

Post by inigyou »

Morromist wrote: post #219
bryan_w wrote: post #22

If you go to doomer places on the internet (this thread included), you will see the internet as doomed

Where to go to see the internet is blessed with a future of truth, fraternity and general goodness?

VC fund meetings, maybe?

Re: The internet is kind of a predatory cesspit now

#234

Post by inigyou »

skybrian wrote: post #21

I don't doubt that there are very large communities of grifters, but to say that they are "the Internet" seems a bit much. If you see grifting as the central core of the Internet, maybe that's a problem with your filter bubble. You need to filter that stuff out.

Can you name three popular websites that aren't grifts or platforms mainly for grifts?

Re: The internet is kind of a predatory cesspit now

#235

Post by s1artibartfast »

hypfer wrote: post #170
s1artibartfast wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are the two?

> Cynicism is a negatively biased view of the world Is what you said. The clinical thing. > You're just being cynical Is cognitive dissonance forcing its way out of the mouths of people to shoot the messenger.

Maybe I'm being slow, but I still dont get the difference. Isn't the 2nd the same as the first?

Isn't the first a product of generator of cognative dissonance? Doubling down on beliefs that pay rent, even when it doesn't fit?

Re: The internet is kind of a predatory cesspit now

#236

Post by JustinJoshi »

asdfman123 wrote: post #131
Biologist123 wrote: post #24

> People increasingly behave like addicts because addiction is the business model. I sense my internet addiction got a lot worse in recent years. I don’t use social media, but I consume news, blogs and newsletters - and comment threads - voraciously. I think the addiction began as soon as I started to work at a desk behind a computer which had internet access - 20+ years ago. Like putting an alcoholic to work behind…

If you're interested in what helped me overcome the worst aspects of my internet addiction, I learned to reframe it. I wasn't overcome with addiction, but I was CHOOSING to take a break. There are good reasons to read the news, there are good reasons to take breaks. End the war against yourself and take more wholesome breaks, so your subconscious doesn't take over and force them. It may involve forcing yourself to be…

Super hard agree with this

Re: The internet is kind of a predatory cesspit now

#237

Post by NoMoreNicksLeft »

aktenlage wrote: post #16

This so exaggerated. If you think some of the people you know are assholes, that's fine. If you think all of them are assholes, you are either choosing the wrong places to be, or (more likely) the problem is with you.

I wish I knew more assholes. It's the imbeciles that I keep running into.

Re: The internet is kind of a predatory cesspit now

#238

Post by hypfer »

s1artibartfast wrote: post #235
hypfer wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Cynicism is a negatively biased view of the world Is what you said. The clinical thing. > You're just being cynical Is cognitive dissonance forcing its way out of the mouths of people to shoot the messenger.

Maybe I'm being slow, but I still dont get the difference. Isn't the 2nd the same as the first? Isn't the first a product of generator of cognative dissonance? Doubling down on beliefs that pay rent, even when it doesn't fit?

Yeah tbh my sea lion warning light turned on on the first reply.

Right now it is flashing, so I will pull over and call AAA

Re: The internet is kind of a predatory cesspit now

#239

Post by ssl-3 »

tacostakohashi wrote: post #125
TFNA wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Internet addiction in the early millennium wasn't so destructive, because so much internet content was somehow related to quality interaction with other people. You could meet cool new people (even occasionally IRL friends) from forums and blogs, and they were a hub for discussion for real-life communities like music-band fandom or travel subcultures. Besides the deleterious nature of engagement-maximizing social med…

Yep... back then, the internet was a way people would discuss and organize their real world interests and activities, like clubs and usergroups would organize their next meeting... and then meet, off the internet. Now, it's all just online drivel that never turns into anything else.

I use the Internet about how I used to 30 years ago.

I chat with friends. Sometimes, I make a new friend or lose track of one. On rare occasion we get together to do whatever it is that we have a common interest in. That used to be IRC.

I learn new shit by interacting with people I don't know at all. Sometimes, that means hanging out in much more anonymous places (like HN) and sharing ideas. That used to be Usenet.

I learn other stuff by Googling things and otherwise conducting research. That used to be AltaVista; nowadays, it's often an LLM.

I order pizzas. (I just ordered pizzas, in fact.)

Re: The internet is kind of a predatory cesspit now

#240

Post by teekert »

bakugo wrote: post #50
teekert wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the opposite. The vast majority of kind and gently people are suddenly observing a small but ultra loud obnoxious minority take the stage and burn resources like nothing else to get maximum attention. Attention wins and you don’t get it by being gentle, balanced, kind and most importantly, don’t care about maximum attention.

This is the right takeaway. Before the internet went mainstream, these ultra loud and obnoxious minorities were restricted to being obnoxious within their local communities, and their speech was restricted to what they were willing to say to others face-to-face. Now, both of those restrictions have been lifted: they can now act obnoxious in front of a global audience that will be forced to listen to them, and they no…

Us kind souls are not forced to listen, however, something in our nature draws us to these extremes, and then, observing a lot of these extremes, our minds label them as “common”. It’s all quite unsurprising when put like this, imho.

The antidote is real interactions, and ignoring the online extremes.

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