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I find the internet addicting, and have had to wean myself off the amount of time I was spending.
Enjoyed interacting in forums when it was all new and exciting, but found myself spending far too much time with others in cyber space when it could have been spent with family and friends in real life.
I work from home, on the computer .. and am easily led astray! .. let's see now, books or forum ..
I really had to have a serious talk with myself. and I think I'm better now.
You would have to convincingly argue that Einstein and Newton did what they did because it had social value which they thought would be redeemed. What they did was still obsessive compulsive, and the social value that it had was something external what they were doing or their own self-perception of it.
Do you think Einstein would have given up on relativity if somebody convinced him that it would have no redeeming social value? By the way, what IS the redeeming social value of the theory of relativity? What about the guy who proved Fermat's Last Theorem, after decades of tireless work? What was the redeeming social value that drove him? Was it of greater or lesser redeeming social value than what Evil Knievel was driven to do?
People are driven to do what they have to do, and if society doesn't find their outcome to be of redeeming value, that's society's problem.
OK. Since you ignored my previous questions directed toward you (not that you have to answer them, but instead of talking theory lets be practical), what drives you to spend a significant part of every single one of your waking hours posting on City-Data? Do you believe this behavior to be obssesive compulsive? An addiction? Would your life change drastically if you stopped posting? If so, in what way? Do you believe in the concept of addiction? Example(s)?
OK. Since you ignored my previous questions directed toward you (not that you have to answer them, but instead of talking theory lets be practical), what drives you to spend a significant part of every single one of your waking hours posting on City-Data? Do you believe this behavior to be obssesive compulsive? An addiction? Would your life change drastically if you stopped posting? If so, in what way? Do you believe in the concept of addiction? Example(s)?
I don't remember your previous questions directed at me. But this one has absolutely nothing to do with my comment that you quoted.
Unlike many posters here, I do not form my social and humanitarian opinions based on my personal lifestyle or needs or my anecdotal experiences, but rather on the broad sweep of philosophy and the application of logic and analytical thought to that. So I'm not going to bother answering any of your questions about my life.
Comparing individuals like Einstein and Newton to heroin addicts or to people who post on internet forums all day long is beyond absurd. What the latter are involved in have no redeeming social value. Also, the actions and behaviors of addicts are self-centered and self-seeking. The people that you so absurdly tried to compare to addicts were involved in studies and adventures that benefitted the human race in terms of science and specified knowledge. It would be like saying that a person who spends every waking hour looking for a cure for AIDS is esssentially acting the same way as a person who spends every waking hour trying to pick-pocket people at a busy subway station. That is why I added to my theory on addiction the aspect of self-centeredness, to avoid the comparisons that you make. The essential difference between the two types of individuals that you tried to compare is self-centeredness as opposed to selflessness. Einstein, Newton, Fisher, and others of their ilk fall into the category of selfless, while a heroin addict and a person obsessed with spending their whole existence alone on the internet are self-centered.
Addiction is different than having a strong passion for something. A person who smokes marijuana regularly but is able to hold a job and take care of their personal responsibilities is not an addict, especially if thier life does not change if there comes a time when there is no marijuana available. That person can be said to have a strong passion for smoking pot.
On the other hand, imagine a person who smokes pot just as much but that is all they do. Marijuana is the center of their life, the procuring it, the using it, and the obsession of getting more of it. That person can be said to have an addiction because they are insulated from any normal activities. Their whole day revolves around marijuana. That is why I made the distinctions of obsession and compulsion along with an unmanagable and self-serving lifestyle in my previous post; to avoid confusing addiction with having a strong passion for something.
First, addiction of substance takers shouldn't be included in this conversation. No one is challenging that, so this is not at issue, here.
We are debating all the other human activities (with respect to possible addiction), while comparing these two groups: Ordinary people and famous achievers.
I strongly believe, with regard to addiction, it makes absolutely no difference whether someone eventually becomes famous as a result of excessive activity in a certain field, or not.
The bottom line we need to look at, is: Does anyone by spending lot of time in certain activity meet criteria of addiction, or he does not? The criteria are met when someone spends time with such activity as a result of obsession/compulsion, that drives him to the activity.
Now, as for famous achievers, how can we claim, that the achievers have not been driven to spending enormous time in their area by obsession/compulsion?
Activities like browsing the internet may or may not be addictive. If someone is obviously neglecting other things in his life because he can't get away from his PC, then yes, it looks like addiction.
However, the amount of time spent on internet, itself, should not serve as criteria for addiction.
There are people who spend most of their day on internet, because they are free about 24 hours every day, so they still can live a balanced life. And there are those who spend 1-2 hours on internet per day, and their life is getting out of order, since they are neglecting important things in their lives (because of internet). These are likely addicted, even if they spend a relatively a small amount of time on internet.
BTW, using internet could be very meaningful activity, depending how one spends time on internet.
I don't remember your previous questions directed at me. But this one has absolutely nothing to do with my comment that you quoted.
Unlike many posters here, I do not form my social and humanitarian opinions based on my personal lifestyle or needs or my anecdotal experiences, but rather on the broad sweep of philosophy and the application of logic and analytical thought to that. So I'm not going to bother answering any of your questions about my life.
You expect me to believe that a person who scours every thread that he posts on and always rebuts the replies to his posts does not remember my previous questions directed at him? I don't buy that and anyone else who knows how you post/debate should not buy it either. Anyway, if you direct your attention to post #25 you will be able to read my original questions directed at you.
You decided to post on a thread about interrnet addiction. Instead of spouting out endless rhetoric and theory (which you call philosophy and the application of logic), I decided that using an actual example of someone who is arguably addicted to posting on an internet forum (you) would be a pragmatic way of looking at the issue.
I mean let's be realistic for a second here. You decided to enter a discussion about internet addiction. If one looks at your post count and your average daily post count, the argument can be fairly made that you have an addiction to an internet forum. So I thought we might be able to hear the ideas and thoughts of an actual individual who has an internet addiction. When you decide to join in on a discussion, you open yourself up to questions, especially if the subject pertains to you personally.
You expect me to believe that a person who scours every thread that he posts on and always rebuts the replies to his posts does not remember my previous questions directed at him? I don't buy that and anyone else who knows how you post/debate should not buy it either. Anyway, if you direct your attention to post #25 you will be able to read my original questions directed at you.
You decided to post on a thread about interrnet addiction. Instead of spouting out endless rhetoric and theory (which you call philosophy and the application of logic), I decided that using an actual example of someone who is arguably addicted to posting on an internet forum (you) would be a pragmatic way of looking at the issue.
I mean let's be realistic for a second here. You decided to enter a discussion about internet addiction. If one looks at your post count and your average daily post count, the argument can be fairly made that you have an addiction to an internet forum. So I thought we might be able to hear the ideas and thoughts of an actual individual who has an internet addiction. When you decide to join in on a discussion, you open yourself up to questions, especially if the subject pertains to you personally.
OK, I'll define an "addiction" as a compulsive behavior that negatively impacts a person's life. Contrary to all your false and unfounded presumptions, that does not fit me. If it were any of your business (which it is not), I would tell you that I spend most of my day at home, I wander about from one activity to another, some on the computer and some not, and I read the contents of this forum when I feel like it.
I often take part in discussions about, for example, Muslims, or single moms, or illegal aliens, or convicted criminals, or prostitutes, or gay/lesbians, or former prime ministers of England. That does not mean I am one.
Who decides what constitutes meaningful time on the internet?
Providing that bills are paid and there is no neglect of others. What is the criteria and where did it come from and what is it in comparison to?
it's a personal judgment thing, kinda like how "everyone going faster than me on the road is reckless, and everyone slower is stupid."
it is subjective in its very nature, and if we stopped to think about it before we open our mouths to pronounce our disdain for something, we'd realize that we don't have a fart in a whirlwind worth of reason or logic behind the judgments we make.
but we make them anyway because we are human, which means that by nature we are ignorant, selfish, and prejudiced.
No, those actions in and of themselves are not addictions but they can be. It is just like saying that if someone does heroin once a year, they are not a heroin addict, which would be a correct statement. But if another person does heroin once an hour, you could correctly refer to them as an addict. It is not the action itself, it is the frequency of the action. So, washing your car can be an addiction if you do it 5 times a day. It is about the behavior, not the action.
Not all addictions are physical, so some will not cause physical withdrawal symtoms when the person is deprived of his/her "fix." When a crack addict is deprived of crack they do not experience physical withdrawal. They are still considered to be addicted to crack, though.
There are many different definitions of addiction but one thing that all of those different theories have in common is obsession and compulsion. Someone who is an addict is not "free" in the sense that their day revolves around fullfilling their particular obsession. Addiction is ritualistic, in that the addict repeats the same behavior over and over to quench their thirst for whatever it is they crave; therefore, rendering the addict incapable of meaningful thought or action. Addicts are insulated from situations that are outside of their ritualistic processes.
So take your case, jtur88. You have thousands of posts. You make an average of a little over 12 posts a day. If the time you spend awake, and not eating or taking care of other domestic situations is 12 hours (which I believe is a reasonable assumption), then you make an average of 1 post an hour. So it is safe to say that a good portion of every hour that you are awake is involved with submitting posts to one on-line forum. Even if City-Data is the only site you frequent on the internet (which is unlikely), that is a lot of time to spend on one thing. One could make the argument that you are addicted to City-Data. And this is something that you have been doing for a few years now. Did you ever think about what would happen if you took a break from posting on CD for two months? Could you do it? And if you could, how would you feel? Do you think you would experience some sort of emotional withdrawal?
actually I agree with this! Emotional withdrawl makes perfect sense. Actually this is a good post. And I do this this person has a lot of posts for the amount of time they joined. That does not include reading all the posts, and the other sites. By the looks of this alone it does look like to me you have abit of an internet addiction. However there could be alot worse addictions. Most of my time is spend in a gym lifting weights, I have a weightlifting addiction no doubt. If I dont hit the gym on the day I must do back, or chest, I am emotionally not too happy. So turn you addiction into a positive addiction. If your learning and gaining knowledge and ideas whats so bad about that addiction? If your ignoring your job, family, or people or wacking off to porno all day then its a problems. How does it effect your life? Weightlifting has not crossed those lines yet. At times it did for me, taking low doses of steriods but now I am getting it in check.
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