[Heineken]

A new study on "Internet addiction" is out.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01571.html

Is the Internet becoming another plasticized facet of our "simulated lives"? A substitute for real living?

[JustinFrankl]

Well, the Internet is like any other tool, in that it can be used for benefit, played with for fun, be dangerous in inexperienced hands, used with malice to cause harm.

It is also like any other pleasurable mind-altering activity (food, nicotine, booze, sex, porn, drugs, gambling, workaholism, exercise, religion) in that it can become an end to itself, an avoidance coping mechanism. For some people, their experience is one of an unending environment of stress and mind-crushing boredom, or a sense of being in a cage without ever being able to see the bars. For others, all it takes is to just really pay attention to the state the world is in, and it is no wonder that depression, paranoia, frustration, and rage set in. You'd really like to choke the living sh*t out of your boss. He's a bigot, ignorant, and an asshole. Day after day after day. Long hours, job pays well, though, difficult to find another job, and there's a wife and kids and mortgage. Better to develop a private drinking problem, rather than go to jail.

The problem isn't the tool, it's how the tool is used.

The problem isn't the drug, it's the environment.

The story isn't about Internet addiction, it's about the underlying state of the human condition.

[NEOPO]

Knowledge is Power.
Weak minds who fail to get out of bed because they can think of nothing but the internet are weak minds that would probably fall into one of many other societal pitfalls such as drug addiction.
If these people cannot deal with things now just imagine how the same people will deal with post peak life.....

Perhaps after the transition we can write psuedo psychological articles about how people are addicted to organic gardening or other sustainable practice.

"Yeah I get out of bed and the first thing I think of is my garden"
"I dream about plowing fields and harvesting amaranth!"
etc etc

[dinopello]

Its the [s]greatest [/s] most efficient conduit devised to date for everything non-physical (although you can order stuff and it will be physically delivered). Conversation, entertainment, knowledge etc. I was reading something offline and it mentioned the Barbary Wars and I could zap all the info I wanted on that instantly - quite amazing. I'm somewhat addicted to the information and entertainment aspect (damn that YouTube!).

I guess it really depends on what you could be doing alternatively that determines if you are frittering or not. If you are ignoring your real friends and family then yes, not doing needed house repairs or job-related activities then yes. In that sense it would be like any addiction. If you are online rather than watching TV or something then probably its just fine. My new puppy won't let me mess around too long on the keyboard, she's too cute to ignore.

[Rambo]

The flicker off the screen can cause eye problems.

More and more people are reporting eye problems every year as a result of too much time spent looking at computer screens.

[Heineken]

I'm a strange bird. Although I love books (physical books), I hated libraries. Had trouble finding what I wanted in them; felt lost and overwhelmed. Ironically, my father was a librarian, and at one time I was actually enrolled in a Masters of Library Science program. I had so much stress over that that I ended up in the hospital with some sort of stomach ailment they weren't able to diagnose.

Although computers have their own considerable frustrations, I certainly feel I've been "empowered" by the Internet, and I've made a fair amount of money in the stock market because of it. Living in a rural area, it enables me to buy specific items I need that would be difficult to obtain otherwise. If only it had been around when I was a student! I think I'd have gone a lot farther than I did, careerwise.

I agree with the others that the net is a tool that can be used properly or grossly misused.

One needs to keep an eye on the clock, though. I limit the number and length of my sessions and try to keep everything in balance.

I do think the Internet is a more or less temporary phenomenon. Even if a ghost of it remains tomorrow, raw survival will take up most of our time. "Internet addiction" will be another dreamlike memory.

[Zardoz]

How can I even begin to quantify what I've learned on this board alone, and on the dozens of news services I frequent? It's given me a perspective on the unfolding of events worldwide that nobody I know has anything close to (other than some of my fellow forum rats...).

[Zardoz]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Rambo', 'T')he flicker off the screen can cause eye problems.

[Revi]

I think I have it. Internet addicition. I like the thing too much, and this forum too much. I think I may cut back, a lot. Right after this session, no maybe tomorrow. Maybe next week...

[azreal60]

That title shouldn't read Are we frittering our lives away online. It should read How are we frittering our lives away online. Cause I can tell you right now, anyone who doesn't think they are is fooling themselves.

My problem is, this is cheaper than drinking, cheaper than video games ( although that's included in my online addiction), and cheaper than anything else that could distract me from being poor and not having alot I can do.

[NEOPO]

I have made a ton of money, had a ton of fun, met new friends (actually met them), found lost friends (classmates.com) as well as communicated a few hundred gig of thought to my friends and family and this is a short list which does not include my own online "education" which is a prize I value more then all of the certificates/degrees I have earned in the "real" world.

It use to be a about games yet there are so few true competitors out there amungst a sea of hacking rushing cheating lil bitches that it just isnt fun anymore

You want a job Az?
Willing to leave home?

[threadbear]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Rambo', 'T')he flicker off the screen can cause eye problems.

More and more people are reporting eye problems every year as a result of too much time spent looking at computer screens.[img]http://www.g1013.com/blog/wp-content/photos/_monkey
-nerd.jpg[/img]

[mekrob]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')I do think the Internet is a more or less temporary phenomenon. Even if a ghost of it remains tomorrow, raw survival will take up most of our time. "Internet addiction" will be another dreamlike memory.

[MD]

I have spent far too many hours on line, but I don't regret them, Iconsider them well spent.

Like most obsessive-compulsives, I claim to be focused and diligent.

Fortunately I have a limited attention span, which I prefer to refer to as an active and curious mind.

This means I get to bounce from obsession to obsession and avoid being bored.

Life is rich with experience. I wouldn't want to miss out.

[katkinkate]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('threadbear', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Rambo', 'T')he flicker off the screen can cause eye problems.

More and more people are reporting eye problems every year as a result of too much time spent looking at computer screens.[img]http://www.g1013.com/blog/wp-content/photos/_monkey
-nerd.jpg[/img]

[LGW]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Zardoz', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Rambo', 'T')he flicker off the screen can cause eye problems.

[LGW]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Zardoz', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Rambo', 'T')he flicker off the screen can cause eye problems.

[dinopello]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('katkinkate', 'I') go to the top floor of my building at work and find a place in front of a window with a spot on the glass and stand close enough that it is a strain to focus on the spot then focus out on the horizon and pull the focus back to the spot. Repeat several times once a day.

[Lore]

The internet is "crack"... and this forum is just another form of mental masturbation. Sorry, but true. In the end when the lights go out and your connections are cut you'll be wondering why you didn't get a real physical friend and believe me you will need them.