Its both fascinating and frightening. o_o

I would have to agree.
One of the things that frightens me the most is the internet. The way we are all so plugged in already. I don't have a facebook, but it seems to me that there may be a day soon where we can't function without sites like it...

My 'business' is web-based, so I kind of have to be plugged in for it to gain the amount of success that I would like it to. Its the most effective way for me to advertise and keep track of how many people are reading my comics. There aren't any real places in town for me to print my books without costing an arm and a leg, so I have my stuff available as print-on-demand through a web printer. Though, I never substitute web-critique for a good tête à tête.

What concerns me is how the Internet affects a growing person's mind. I don't think that the Internet makes you stupid, but I do believe that it changes what people perceive to be acceptable behaviors. For example, there are a lot of people lacking in social skills because that's something that chat forums are not good at teaching. You're interacting, but you're not using your skills to the full extent. Most communication is non-verbal. I don't know if that means that there is a severe drop in empathy, but to me it seems that way. (Mind you, I work at Walmart. Empathy is already at a low point. My worldview is pretty skewed.)

However, I do believe that some of the responsibility belongs to the parents. My parents occasionally forced me to go to things that did not require me to sit in a chair and talk to strangers via a series of tubes.

I'm glad you brought up a lack of empathy as a concern, if not an noticeable or actual reality.
I was talking to someone the other day about the concept of nobility/noble gestures. I think that in this internet age, where we are fragmented and interact in a mainly superficial way, we face the risk of losing the implementation of noble gestures. I'm not sure how relevant it all is. But as someone whose favourite cultural movement was romanticism, it means something to me. It's something that serves to make humanity great, or as great as it can be, while it wallows in things that are also base.

I'm thinking that its brought people up with a sense of entitlement, so that they don't notice a noble gesture when they see one. Something I've been struggling with in the past few days is my roommate Joel, who is a half-decade younger than I am. Where I missed out on being effectively raised by the Internet by about two years, he was pretty much brought up by Google (due to his parental figures being, according to himself, neglectful and incompetent.) As a household, we've been sharing the grocery bill evenly for three years, but Joel has only been living with me for about a year as a subleaser for another roommate. Well, things got a little shifty in the past few months and I told him the other day that he would have to pay for his own groceries because he hasn't been paying his share and now owes me $1000. He threw a fit because he felt that he was entitled to being included in the groceries. So instead of it being a gesture of trust from me to allow him to be a part of the groceries for a year, it was a punishment of his right to partake of our food.

Something delightfully primal about it, really. If a member of the tribe fails to provide for the rest, and in fact causes more trouble (alerting other tribes of their presence... -cough-COPS-cough-) then said member of the tribe is ostracized. Simple social laws apply, as far as we've come as a race...

One day I'll do an anthropological study on people at Walmart. Of course, I'll never be able to publish it. I would get sued.

I think that the Internet is a double-edged sword: on the one hand its much better at engaging the mind than television (studies have shown that surfing the internet activates more of the brain) and allows for information to be out for everyone. But on the other hand, it makes people feel that everything should be instant and free: TV, movies, information, education, music. Its harder for someone whose life was spent in chat rooms to accept that some things need to be earned.

Yes, it's all too easy now-a-days. The things we were meant to do become an effort. How is that we have been so far removed from our ancestors?

I'd read that study. Maybe you could publish it anonymously. Perhaps through the website peopleofwalmart? Oh, I do love a bit of anthropology.

Its kind of interesting. Joel is the same age as the girl that he was subleasing for, and you can see the similarities just in a five-year difference between people who were raised with Google and people who were raised otherwise. I mean, I'm not saying I'm a saint. I have bouts where I'm horribly lazy and just don't want to do anything. But I still do things required of me: I cook, clean, work, take out the trash. (And when I work, I work HARD. My back is killing me from a few nights ago and I'm very much ready for a day off.) But those two are so introverted that its become an uphill battle to get them to do anything that isn't sitting at their computer. Or smoking pot. Or drinking. Escapism has become so readily available that it prevents people from being inspired by it.

I was thinking that if I write it, it'll be anonymous and I would have to call it something other than Walmart. Probably Really Really Bigmart.

Speaking of which, now is a good time to get ready for work. Last day before I have three days off. Somewhere in the middle of that... I'm going to pop the question. xD

I don't suppose we will see you much, then. Best of luck, once again!

Information being freely available for the public is GREAT for everyone. The downside is that it creates a sense of entitlement. >_____>



OMG TODAY IS THE DAY!
o_O

I want to look my best. Is my mustache on right?

You look dashing -brushes lint off your shoulder and sends you on your way-
thanks for reviving the thread for me, btw.

----------

So, I find it interesting in and of itself that I am reading a history of the popes at the same time I an watching (or rather, rewatching) a mini series on the history of atheism.

SHE SAID YES! =OOOOOOO


I'm a firm believer that the pope encourages atheism.

YAY

Congrats :hug:

It almost seems like the current pope would, things are getting so chaotic.

For those who are interested:
Atheism: Jonathan Miller's Brief History of Disbelief - Shadows of Doubt
I feel like I'm not paying it as close attention as I did the first time I watched it. There is a fear in me that I am not able to digest lofty works the way I once was.

I seem to recall a time when he was pushing for masturbation to be considered a sin in its own name, not just filed under "lust."

Every single one of my friends was horrified. o_o

Haha. He just seems to be... all over the place. He needs better handlers.

Congratulations, Hyena!

That video looks interesting, Biggles. I'll need to watch that sometime when I'm not about to go to bed... Wait, why is it that I'm always about to go to bed when I see a link you posted? I swear that isn't a phony excuse. :lol:

It's best to be fully awake for it, so I will let it slide. I hope you find yourself more focused than I was. It really is worth it.

Oh, hurrah. Something on opera is on.

-complains-

Of? Is your lumbago acting up again? Bursitis? Arthritis? Elephantitis? Christopher Titus?

I put something for my mum on my account because she doesn't have paypal, and, thinking it went through, paid my bills. But it hadn't yet gone through, and now I am overdrawn.

Oh, LAME. o_o

I've done that before. >_>

Yeah, she's going to front me some money, but I am still a bit unnerved.

My bank charges $40 for overdraft per transaction. I made the mistake of learning that when I didn't have access to my bank account for a few days. >___>

Yes, they charged me a fee as well. Gah.

Oh man, that sucks, I'm sorry. :gonk: