santiago.lmtz on Nostr: There was a post on here the other day about how people just kind of stopped talking ...
There was a post on here the other day about how people just kind of stopped talking about internet addiction. It said that maybe we're all just to used to everyone being on it all of the time.
I think COVID served to that purpose because we were already addicted and were manipulated so that we didn't really interact with anyone else in a true (necessarily face to face) way. Loneliness is necesary in itself to think by one's own intelligence but it's not easy to bear if there's no one to come back to. Many people had already poor social relationships so defaulting to the digital drug/pseudo-socialization was the easy way to cope with the pandemic.
I find that an analogy to television holds in many respects. The difference is that the internet is way more accessible now than TV ever was. But the thought-replacement phenomenon is similar. The world is f'd up enough to bear so a sincere reflection on the state of affairs would be unpleasant. It's easier just to fill one's mind with the diluted, sort of degenerate dialogue that the internet can offer.
I think COVID served to that purpose because we were already addicted and were manipulated so that we didn't really interact with anyone else in a true (necessarily face to face) way. Loneliness is necesary in itself to think by one's own intelligence but it's not easy to bear if there's no one to come back to. Many people had already poor social relationships so defaulting to the digital drug/pseudo-socialization was the easy way to cope with the pandemic.
I find that an analogy to television holds in many respects. The difference is that the internet is way more accessible now than TV ever was. But the thought-replacement phenomenon is similar. The world is f'd up enough to bear so a sincere reflection on the state of affairs would be unpleasant. It's easier just to fill one's mind with the diluted, sort of degenerate dialogue that the internet can offer.