At What Point Does Internet Addiction become too much ??? (Christmas, marijuana, revolution)
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I'll tell you when it becomes bad: when it becomes so much of a crutch that you actually have an addiction, it's bad! I understand that not long ago, someone opened an Internet Addiction Clinic in California. Honestly--is there anything in the United States that isn't an excuse for something?
Location: planet octupulous is nearing earths atmosphere
13,621 posts, read 12,731,507 times
Reputation: 20050
Quote:
Originally Posted by jtur88
We are not using technology---technology is using us, as a marketing and economic and even political device.
Why do they give you a free cell phone?
Technology does not give us the power to control anything. It gives THEM the power to control US.
It's a Weapon of Mass Destruction.
yes i totally agree!!!! we are the pawns. it's kinda strange that most or all of the old more addvanced civilazations are gone. with no writen history except for some hieroglyphics and petroglyphs that survive on the ancient structures, but the more primitive civilizations like the bush men of the kalahari, or the inuit indians, amazonian tribal people new guinea forest people,,, just to name a few are still here and will have the best chance to survive in the post holocaust future!!!!!! cause they are not tied to technology like we are.. in the end it will be technology that will be the real killer of most or all of the modern world....... sad but it's the truth!!!!!you have to be a blind man living in a farout valley somewhere in the boonies to not see the future of technology..
I dunno. Ya gotta figure, the guy has it made to an extent. He has managed to beat the stereotypes. He obviously wasn't getting any before. He's married and he definitely isn't getting any now. He has an off button. If he just shuts it down then the last conversation was not saved, and he can start over if he wants to. No memory. Really safe sex. No children. Once he shuts down, who is going to know if he cheats?
It's not an addiction. Neither is washing your car or buying lottery tickets or watching The Daily Show or putting sugar in your coffee. Do you have physical withdrawal symptoms when you go on vacation? It's just a preference when you have choices.
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?
We are not using technology---technology is using us, as a marketing and economic and even political device.
Technology does not give us the power to control anything. It gives THEM the power to control US.
If the British had brought the Internet over with them to this country, we might all be driving on the left side of the road today, fish & chips, prominent photo of the King and Queen in our living rooms.
And any forum thread hinting at overthrowing the British or criticizing the monarchy would have been censored.
I'm sure our current government, oftentimes, loses sleep at the thought of a massive prolonged power outage that would propel any number of us to finally meet our neighbors and end our continual isolation and discuss topics you'd be terrified of discussing on any forum.
The Technocrats of the 30's continually made solid promises: Trust us! Technology will make your lives easier!
Easier for the government and corporations to control us!
I believe that the Internet, particularly forums, are addictive in the sense that it spoils you. I notice it particularly in phone conversations, social interactions.
When I gather with co-workers on a break from work, how I wish, many times, I could put any number of these people on Ignore, or switch to a more interesting thread or open a new thread when bored with the current threads being talked about. You can't do that so easily when interfacing with human beings, just walk away when you're bored.
And the addiction can be potentially devastating to your health, unless you're extremely disciplined, and even with the disciplined, it can, many times be extremely challenging to walk away from the terminal to take a half-hour walk around the neighborhood. Since I discovered the Internet, my excuses for not exercising continue to grow. And yet, when I do push myself out the door for that long-delayed walk, I come back refreshed, more alert, sharper, with different insights.
Now, if only they'd develop monitors for these devices. After X amount of time, the system shuts down and a message appears on your screen: Time for some excerise, system shutting down for a half-hour, have a nice walk!
I just got a rep comment on my post above saying "lol, really." I will explain it so it makes sense on how I can spend my whole shift at work on the internet. I am a security guard that works overnights in an office building. I am paid just to be there and be awake. They gave us cable television and internet so that we can can keep are minds occupied and not doze off.
Sounds like you have a good setup. If your job was during the day, I'd do it.
I was thinking about this some time ago here at this forum. I have been technically a member since some time in 2006 and I've got a little over 2100+ posts. Mostly this is a way of passing time since I've been here in Sweden and stuck in doors quite a bit. So it breaks the day for if nothing else, a bit of entertainment value and actually some new things to learn from. If I was actually back in the states and back in the field again, I'd probably rarely come here.
Everybody has their reasons. I don't know if it's addiction, but it feels that way to me. Something I noticed the past couple of days, tho, while net was down, was acknowledging how I use my time. I was like great! I can't post - I'm not allowed to waste my time.
So, I started looking into my winter hobbies (photography and photoshop), painting, making jewelry, etc. I'm low on supplies and I need a new monitor. Since the dh isn't working, we're strapped. That may play a role for many in this economy. I suppose I could clean, but frankly, by the end of the work day I'm pooped. I spent my vacation in October working on the house. I installed a ceiling in our kitchen, so that was productive. I could read a book, but I read all day. I'm sick of reading lol. And it's not interactive like a hobby.
And then, as others have pointed out, there are a lot of "lol" type posts, so I don't know how reflective that is of time spent posting. What is concerning for me, is spending too much time on particular posts. Sometimes I feel it's advantageous, like evo debates, because I learn from the those. But other topics, like feminism, is a waste of time for me.
Everybody has their reasons. I don't know if it's addiction, but it feels that way to me. Something I noticed the past couple of days, tho, while net was down, was acknowledging how I use my time. I was like great! I can't post - I'm not allowed to waste my time.
So, I started looking into my winter hobbies (photography and photoshop), painting, making jewelry, etc. I'm low on supplies and I need a new monitor. Since the dh isn't working, we're strapped. That may play a role for many in this economy. I suppose I could clean, but frankly, by the end of the work day I'm pooped. I spent my vacation in October working on the house. I installed a ceiling in our kitchen, so that was productive. I could read a book, but I read all day. I'm sick of reading lol. And it's not interactive like a hobby.
And then, as others have pointed out, there are a lot of "lol" type posts, so I don't know how reflective that is of time spent posting. What is concerning for me, is spending too much time on particular posts. Sometimes I feel it's advantageous, like evo debates, because I learn from the those. But other topics, like feminism, is a waste of time for me.
[off topic]you like photoshop too! cool. do you have any online galleries of your stuff?
[on topic]anything can become an addiction, whether an activity, a tangible object, or an ideal, a desire, or something else ephemeral.[/on topic]
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They gave us cable television and internet so that we can can keep are minds occupied and not doze off.
