Is the internet…
Peter Whybrow, the director of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, argues that “the computer is like electronic cocaine,” fueling cycles of mania followed by depressive stretches. The Internet “leads to behavior that people are conscious is not in their best interest and does leave them anxious and does make them act compulsively,” says Nicholas Carr, whose book The Shallows, about the Web’s effect on cognition, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. It “fosters our obsessions, dependence, and stress reactions,” adds Larry Rosen, a California psychologist who has researched the Net’s effect for decades. It “encourages””and even promotes””insanity.”
It’s not just that depressive people and those with OCD are especially drawn to the internet, although that’s true. There’s also evidence that heavy internet use (and it’s not clear how that should be defined) actually causes brain changes. All of this seems particularly true for social media, which have taken over the lives of young people to a startling degree.
As a blogger, I’m online a lot, but most of the time I’m engaged in the more conventional activities of information-gathering and essay writing. I’ve never joined Facebook or Twitter, for example, for the simple reason that I don’t want to spend more time online, I want to spend less, and I know that with Facebook and Twitter I’d be checking and re-checking and updating at the expense of my “real” face time with “real” people. I’ve also resisted purchasing a cell phone account that includes texting, making me one of the few dinosaurs who calls or emails back in response to receiving a text.
The reason I’ve instituted these restraints is that I’ve seen how the internet has taken over my life already. Although I think that on the whole it’s enhanced my life, I’ve always realized it’s done so at the expense of other things that I love, such as reading books. I also noticed early on that I had a tendency, if engaged in reading or writing something online that I found particularly fascinating, to experience time spent interacting with real people—such as a party, for example—as more dull than I used to, and to chomp at the bit to get back to my computer. That seemed like a warning sign and a hint to pull back from the technology rather than to get ever more deeply into it.
[NOTE: I found it very curious that the Newsweek article on which this post is based did not mention online pornography even once. It’s been clear for quite some time that online porn has been the source of major addiction for a significant number of people, and that this technology makes it far easier to get a stream of constant reinforcing hits for those susceptible.]
I’m like you, neo. I don’t want to spend more time on line. I am not on facebook, do not text, and only want a few, specific things from my computer.
I spend a lot of time managing my portfolio. Inasmuch as it is an important source of income, it has become my day job. As a result, I read a lot of financial news and views. Political blogs do get my pulse pounding on many occcasions, but financial sites and blogs are much worse. They seem to reflect the manic-depressive state of what I call Mr. Market. Mr. Market has a hyper manic- depressive personality. His mood can shift from the “End Of The World As We Know It” is coming to
“Happy Days Are Here Again” in a matter of hours.
Stocks and bonds gyrate around and seem to be affected by every little piece of news – even when the news is actually a rumor. Reading some financial gurus blogs can make you want to put your head in the oven and turn on the gas or call your travel agent and book a vacation – all in the same day. I have tried to keep a more nuanced view of it all and avoid riding on the emotional roller coaster that it can be. Often I have to just sell everything, step back, take some time off, and try to regroup in a rational fashion. I used to be a long term investor, but, with the way the market has been since 2001, I can no longer take the long view. I don’t have that much time left (unless I live a lot longer than the statistics say), so capital preservation and income is the name of the game.
Same thing, though to a lesser extent, with political blogs. Sometimes the political scene can be so anger inducing, seem so hopeless, or pointless that I step back, take a deep breath, and ask myself if all the drama is doing me any good. After a break, though, I find I need a fix. What does neo-neocon think about this or that? And what about all her discerning commenters? What can I learn. Yes, it has become something I cannot, at this point in my life, just go cold turkey on. It gives me educational and conversational opportunities I can’t get anywhere else.
Like TV, the telephone, fast food, and many other things – it’s both a blessing and a curse.
Boy howdy, has the Internet ever changed our lives.
I guess I’ll have to admit I’m pretty much addicted to the Internet. I’m retired and live in two very rural areas so, for me, the Internet keeps me from dying of boredom.
I still read books, but they are mostly acquired over the Internet or borrowed (again over the Internet) from public libraries and loaded into my Nook.
I love movies but almost never go to a movie house…I use NetFlix and Amazon Prime movies streamed into either my computer (if I’m watching one late at night in bed) or streamed through a Roku device into my TV. I like the huge selection and the ease of searching for the kinds of movies (or quality TV series) I like.
I get almost all my news over the Internet. And of course, I like reading political blogs 🙂 .
When shopping online, I like the convenience and low cost of having items delivered to my door ( a round trip to the nearest town for me costs about $7.00 with today’s gas costs). I have begun to include travel expenses in the cost of goods that I buy from retail stores.
Here’s an interesting article on the significant effect Amazon is having on brick and mortar stores, even including big box stores like Wal-mart:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/711991-amazon-is-killing-retail
Like J.J. above, my heavy Internet usage started with investments and trading. At one point, I day traded stocks, options, and futures contracts which kept me in front of a computer 6-7 hours a day. I have held positions for as short a period of time as 5 seconds (one click to buy, one click to sell).
I found I was much better trading/investing with longer time horizons than day trading so now I don’t watch Mr. Market all day long anymore. I do occasionally make a quick trade in stock index futures but it’s usually with the same attitude as the one I have when I walk into a casino. It’s really just entertainment and relief from boredom.
A very positive benefit to me of computers and the Internet is that they have extended the usefulness of my brain in time. I am “of a certain age” so being able to Google things I can’t remember anymore or to use tools to calculate things has been highly useful.
I do still have a life in the real world. I refuse, like neo, to posses a cell phone that can text, take pictures, surf the web, etc. I used to make my living in a highly technical field, but I haven’t even taken the trouble to learn how to get voice messages on my wife’s cell phone (I don’t have one of my own.). I’m not on Facebook.
I still love to travel (usually to Europe) and still enjoy going to cultural events like opera, ballet, and concerts.
I love driving with my wife and dog in the Texas Hill Country in my favorite toy…a 1983 Mercedes Benz 380SL roadster convertible.
All in all, the Internet has enhanced my already very blessed life.
I don’t even have a cell phone.
Never been on facebook.
I hate anything starting with MY
like MyPictures or Mylanta.
My doctor said Mylanta.
Hot Pocket. By Mennen.
All the love of advertising
(You deserve this.)
The always readable Stuart Schneiderman
states the alienation this way:
Sincerity was redefined to involve “violent self-expression” at the expense of your participation in social or commercial life.
Now that says it.
I consider Neo’s blog like a prairie dog gathering.
We’re social to begin with. The other stuff, yeah,
we might have it. Some of us more than others.
But we keep it under control and if we don’t there’s a shout down and even threat of removal.
So, we have something special here. I ask you to find another blog quite like us.
And if you have another opinion, fuck you.
Kidding. Just kidding.
Never knew what this song was about, but it didn’t matter. It was Freddie’s voice that mattered. As if nothing else mattered. Seems appropos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ
Too late. My time has come. Sends shivers down my spine. Bodies aching all the time.