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How is the internet changing our perceptions of reality (including each other)?
tmottes
Veteran
The day I confronted my troll
Is the internet making it easier for people to disregard the humanity of others? Seems there are a lot of people that are willing to say things online they wouldn't in person. Does this lead to the creation of a very warped world (mental fermentations) in the mind of those that allow it? Without ever being "forced" to see the extra information that contradicts their mental world (contact that isn't completely moderated by electronics), could their mental world become so real to them that it could prompt mental world actions beyond the internet? Does the internet promote a lack of accountability?
(There was somebody out there that was exploring ideas about this, but I can't find it for the life of me. Perhaps somebody knows of whom I am speaking.)
Is the internet making it easier for people to disregard the humanity of others? Seems there are a lot of people that are willing to say things online they wouldn't in person. Does this lead to the creation of a very warped world (mental fermentations) in the mind of those that allow it? Without ever being "forced" to see the extra information that contradicts their mental world (contact that isn't completely moderated by electronics), could their mental world become so real to them that it could prompt mental world actions beyond the internet? Does the internet promote a lack of accountability?
(There was somebody out there that was exploring ideas about this, but I can't find it for the life of me. Perhaps somebody knows of whom I am speaking.)
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Comments
Many people are isolating themselves within their own little bubbles nowadays and these types of things such as internet make it much easier to do so.
Some people barely have to leave their house. They can order whatever they want off the internet and have it brought to their door.
Everything in the United States, not so sure about elsewhere, is not set up for human interaction.
You go to the store and now they have electronic checkouts, the lanes that have people bagging your stuff offer very little in way of communication, it is hi how are you, have a good day.
Back in the day, communication/interaction was necessary for survival.. still is but we have just gotten to a point where very little interaction is happening.
It is very lonely society here in the US.
The internet is simply the internet.
Anything can be taken to an extreme.
My old teacher back in early highschool lost her job because she was so addicted to World of Warcraft.
People have died sitting at their computers.
There was that one guy in Asia who hopped from e-cafe to e-cafe playing WoW or some similar game, not sleeping, not eating, consuming energy drinks and eventually died in the last cafe he made it to.
The internet is still relatively new to the human population. More will be revealed as we are exposed to it longer.
It is not the internet's "fault" though. Such actions are mere symptoms of a deeper problem which comprises the three poisons.
In Internet land, they can do and say whatever they like, they don't have to deal with people they don't want to deal with, they can surround themselves with people who only think well of them...
Why give that up to spend more time in a world where they don't get to do whatever they want?
The world is hard sometimes. We have to deal with people we don't like, we have to be polite to people, we have to recognize that people don't really care about our endless opinions. There is weather
None of it is healthy, but it's easy to understand that perspective.
What we're looking at with people who spend their whole lives online is the effect of a deeper problem, and it's that cause that we have to deal with, not the effect of it.
And the cause at the end of the day is their perspective of the world as being a place where they aren't welcome, where they don't matter.
When I was still working as a principal, one of my teachers brought up at a faculty meeting the website ratemyteachers.com. The "ratings" on this site can be from kids or parents, and it's all anonymous...so you can imagine what the comments are like. Some are pretty cruel. But guess what -- every teacher ought to read the comments about them. They'd learn a lot. They might become much better teachers. Because, even after you filter out the crackpot comments, there's an awfully lot of honesty and accuracy there. There were a wide range of comments about me, some wonderful, some nasty, but I took a number of the comments to heart and adjusted my behavior in my job appropriately.
Even outside of the site, when I got criticized -- and principals often do -- I'd always try to consider if the criticism was accurate or not. Sometimes it was, and that's when it was time to change.
I think it is also a big reason that the younger generation is embracing diversity with such a passion. It isn't just because diversity is more common but because racial and stereotypical myths are brought to light of day.
I remember needing to hassle my folks for an Encyclopedea Brittanica if I wanted any information about different cultures and such. Now, you just Google it and source check.
If more people source checked their sources there would be less people believing lies and helping to spread misinformation. That is a big problem... Yeah sure, it's the age of information but often times the truth is like a needle in a haystack of conspiracy theories. I could see it, sure. I'm not so sure about mental world actions beyond the internet though. People can get addicted to interactive games like warcrack and such where they can live a life more acceptable than the one they actually live. Where we as Buddhists and friends mostly chose to examine that which we identify with, someone lost in a virtual world simply re-identifies.
I appologise if I'm going too far off track here but I'm not sure I get what you're going for in the last half of the O/P. I'm not so sure. Without the internet we would be ignorant to a lot of what we would like to see held to accountability.
Like anything the middle of the extremes is the best spot I think. The internet lets us come together and share ideas as a global community but we also need each other physically.
Everybody is good at something the rest of us can benefit from. I'd bet my last dollar on it. I honestly believe the age of information and the internet (as a bi-product of such) is helping more and more people see their own potential.
The internet, as you say, is just a tool.
I suppose we promote skillful use of the internet in the same way as we promote skillful life.
i think kids are notoriously capable of behaving in this destructive way, independent of the
internet but they do grow into responsible (mostly) adults. That poor man and his wife, bravo to them for coming up with a solution . . .
I do believe that the internet can terrorise, kill, heal etc and the important thing is finding skilful means, as already stated . . .
. . . Virtual sangha. Online conference with great teachings. Tablet computers as shrines. Engaged Buddhism organised online and so on.
Om mani Ipad me Hum :clap:
Saying this it makes me question humanity as the majority of the internet is porn and adverts ??? And i always wondered if ye olde Shakyanumi was alive today would he use facebook to spread his Dharma teachings lol
Much Love