I just read this article:
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"The United States could be rife with Internet addicts as clinically ill as alcoholics...telephone survey indicated more than one of every eight US residents showed at least one sign of "problematic Internet use." "In a sense, they're using the Internet to self-medicate," Aboujaoude said. "And obviously something is wrong when people go out of their way to hide their Internet activity." "The typical Internet addict was a single, college-educated, white male in his 30s, who spends approximately 30 hours a week on non-essential computer use." _____
What is non-essential??? I spent two hours yesterday reading articles about North Korea and Kim Jong-Il on Wikipedia. Is this considered essential or non-essential? Who the fuck is deciding what is "essential" computer use. We've only been on the internet for what, about 10 years now? Before 1990 NONE of it was essential.
And to equate internet use with alcoholism is completely moronic. I worry about being killed by a drunk driver not people sitting home cruising for stories about Kim Jong-Il. I confess, I'm addicted to information, staying in touch with friends and expressing myself. Oh you damned internet, you're ruining my life! Curse you Al Gore for ever inventing this monster. Life was so much better when information was in the hands of a select few and communication could only happen in person, on the phone, or via snail mail. Oh yes, those were the days!
1 comment:
Lately the news is full of this "internet addiction" stuff and I too don't get it. Before the internet it was newspapers & books. It's an information addiction, and is that really such a bad thing? There are TV addicts too, but there are people that are just as addicted to the discovery channel as to sports. I remember as a kid reading the encyclopedias, cover to cover, for fun! Honestly, who is being hurt here? Self-medicating with a desire for knowledge? A fear of people thinking too much?
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