Lately I've been hearing how the Internet is making people ignorant. Nothing to support that statement, just that it's making everyone stupid. If anything, I think the Internet empowers us because it puts a lot of information resources at our fingertips. I think the choices that people are making online are what's killing their brain cells.
If I wanted to find out about the Amazon's average rainfall for 2007, a fix for what's causing the thumping sound in a car, or a software program that will remove a specific virus on a computer, I can find it via the Internet. In addition, I can read about and learn from various related experiences just in case the original solutions didn't help.
With the good, however, comes the bad. Even with all the enlightening data at our fingertips that can better our lives and broaden our knowledge, people choose to get involved in the latest "American Idol" selections, find out about upcoming episodes of "Big Brother," share lost teenage experiences with the foul-mouthed youth of Myspace, or read about the latest celebrity whoopsie shots on TMZ.
So, I don't think the Internet is making people more stupid, it's the choices those people make while online that's doing it. If someone would rather see Brittany Spears' vagina on Perez Hilton's site and share spam e-mails about what Obama believes in instead of educating themselves then they're the perpetrators of their ignorance.
On a side note, I've never understood illogical statements like this. Why blame things and not the people committing the acts? I have yet to see a gun load itself and shoot some random child in the face, the Internet open a skull to perform some back alley lobotomy, throngs of satanists birthed from speakers blaring Ozzy Osbourne songs, or video game zombies fighting over mystical armor in the Shenendoahs. What I have seen are people who are in dire need of mental help or parental skills.
Going to the movies was a great experience when I was growing up. Whether it was going with my teenage brother, or going as a family unit, the outcome was always the same: discussing our expectations on the way to the movie, getting the sacred refreshments, actually watching the movie, and the post-movie discussion.
I don’t know what’s happened since then, but I would rather fall into a pit of HIV-infected inmates who haven’t even breathed the scent of a woman in over 25 years than go to the theater today. Ironically, it’s now just a social gathering of immature minds swimming in jackassery, mixed with poor theater monitoring, which negatively affects the enjoyment of others. Why would I want to go to the theater today when I can get the same experience on Myspace?
I remember on a few occasions when I came close to acting like that during my childhood, but my brother or mother put me in check way before the movie even started. The funny thing about it all is I still had a good time. Now you have to deal with teenagers with poor social skills, the grown-up wannabe hip hopper with the pseudo chip on his shoulder who constantly answers his cell phone as if he’s someone important, the staff that does nothing because they don’t want to piss off their friends, and the rednecks fueled up by shitty beer who talk loud and throw shit - that’s just a quick list off the top of my head. To alleviate most of these frustrations the choices we have are: 1. getting up at the crack of dawn and catch an extremely early matinee, 2. wait for the DVD to be released in 6 months, or 3. pirate the movie off of the internet.
The problem with getting up early is the fact that I’m getting the fuck up on a day when I can finally sleep in. Seriously, after a week of putting in 40+ hours, and maybe a celebratory after work function, who wants to get up early to see a 9:30 showing? On the one hand, I totally appreciate a theater opening that early to give people that option, and I’m happy teenagers don’t leave their crypts before noon. I know I like having the feeling that I still have a near complete day before me to do stuff. However, my energy levels are usually down after watching a movie, which makes putting it at the end of a day more sensible to me.
I invested in a nice HDTV and decent sound system to watch movies and play video games on. Some of the video game benefits are not having to wait from 6 months to over a year to get it after it has been released, and movie related game releases coincide with the movie release. But who wants to be a “Johnny Come Lately” and rehash discussions that already took place? It would be great if a DVD release could hit when a movie debuts. Hell, I don’t mind if the price is double the standard price while the movie is in theaters and then drops to normal prices after the theater cycle. I would even wager that movie profits would go up if this happened.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, we’re a societal creature. Because of that fact there are some people who don’t want to endure the crap theater experience or wait forever to see it on DVD. Sprinkle the social emphasis on everything from shopping to online activity to cell phones, and pirating seems to become more palatable - it allows us to remain in the social game. I don’t partake in pirating movies, or condone it, but it would be ludicrous to deny some of the underlying reasons that primarily drive the practice.
I have a lot of interests. When I say I have a lot, I don’t mean a smattering that will keep me busy when I retire; I mean I have so many that I feel like a dog constantly chasing his tail, and the agony of frustration doesn’t even end there because it seems like I constantly find something new and exciting that catches my interest.
To combat my frustration, I’ve been toning down the deluge of exciting new interests and refocusing on the interests I’ve had for years by joining Internet forums, subscribing to video podcasts (audio podcasts are retarded now that everything plays video), and taking more classes. In addition to all that, I have a lukewarm desire to be sociable and join related user groups. That lukewarm desire stems from: 1. I hate people outside the scope of my family and a few friends, 2. lack of focus, and 3. personality issues.
To say I hate everyone is a melodramatic overstatement because I can generally get along with anyone. Hell, I’ve started vanpooling 2 weeks ago, and, as far as I know, no one wants to kill me yet. The main problems I have with socializing stem from my passionate personality and dealing with conceited jackasses. I know I can come across as an arrogant person at times, so I can understand the whole pot-kettle thing. However, even when I feel like I’m right on some things, I initially try not to dismiss the other person. It’s during moments where I feel like I’m being ridiculed for my beliefs that my passionate personality kicks in and my jackassery comes out.
The lack of focus is evident from the non-related discussions to the lecture type atmosphere. I expect tangents to arise due to the mix of people, and I can understand showcasing new techniques and products. What I don’t understand is when that tangent takes over and affects the common ground everyone had, and lectures remove the social purpose groups are to have. I think a good flow for a 1 hour meeting would be to have someone from the group (which should be rotated among members) show off something new and related for the first 15 minutes, then facilitate a follow-on discussion - which can easily kill 20-30 minutes. After that, the meeting should shift to time for coffee and donuts so people can socialize, which provides a great opportunity for people who didn’t get in on the discussion to talk one-on-one with people who did.
Regardless of how I feel about a person, I won’t stop interacting with them on a common interest level. Some people do, however, which mucks up the atmosphere of the group. Why would anyone join a group that will eventually splinter and then dissolve because people forgot why they were there in the first place?
For these reasons alone I’ve canned recent interest in groups, although I’ve found myself thinking about starting groups in hopes to finally plug in to a good social atmosphere that could grow. Part of me thinks I can do it, but then my pitiful self-doubt kicks in and I become a little girl who feels like she can’t beat her Bratz game.
While watching NBC's Nightly News I realized how ironic it is to hear “grammar loyalists” who are anti-texting defend their slaughtering of vocabulary. If you're going to defend your ignorance of a word because “language evolves” then you either need to afford others the same leniency that you allow for your stupidity, or shut the hell up; I don't want to hear talk about people using texting abbreviations in everyday communication, especially from someone who looks like a hypocritical jackass for speaking ignorantly.
For what it's worth, I acknowledge a need for brevity when messaging via small devices, just as much as trying to understand someone's point when they aren't speaking correctly. However, texting and a shitty vocabulary have no use in regular communication.
Where’s the incentive to enrich our lives? I consider myself a successful entrepreneur, but I know I have a ways to go to expand my horizons on many levels. So far I’ve made attempts to better my grammar and vocabulary, tried different mediums of artistic expression (india ink & calligraphy), and learn more about history, but what’s the point when stuff is just going to be dumbed down? For example, someone in a writing position used the term “acronym” incorrectly. I posted a comment stating so, and their reply to me basically said language evolves. I think it’s a valid point, but an ignorant one nonetheless. Based on everything I’ve read, I’m of the opinion that it’s the context that changes, not the actual definition – a word that describes something huge in a specific genre might “jump the fence” to mean the same thing in another. So I ask, what’s the point in even having something to describe words like “NASA,” “SONAR,” “RADAR,” et al, if they are ignorantly used interchangeably with another, more accurate word? As inane as it might be to some, it doesn’t just affect language; there are many other examples from beverages to politics, but it seems like people don’t care. Two other examples off the top of my head include “war” and “conflict,” and “insurgent” and “terrorist.”
What’s fostering the dumbing down of our society is laziness and excess equality. The lazy view is based on my interaction online, with family members, and acquaintances who allow other people to shape their values and opinions. I’ve participated in many discussions where, if people actually took the time to research, watch interviews and speeches, read transcripts, or visited snopes.com, they wouldn’t regurgitate the same ignorant arguments. Any fool can select a snippet of a speech and redefine the context - it’s done on on political shows all the time. It’s because of those shows, and the ignorant subscribers who regurgitate their spin, that I want to listen to a speech or read a transcript for myself … plus, it’s good practice.
I’m sure the phrase “excess equality” set off a few flags for some, but I currently don’t have a better way to describe my point, and I refuse to be a defeatist and butcher my language just so I can “fit in.” I think we all have the same inalienable rights, and I think we should all have equal chances at life. However, if a person chooses not to do something necessary for the next level in their life (higher level position, scholarships, etc.) then they shouldn’t be able to compete with, or surpass, me. I believe there are exceptions to this rule, but the application should warrant the exception, I.e. competence. Anyway, the excess comes in when we engage everyone on an equal level instead of encouraging or guiding them to the level we’re at - like mentoring.
In conclusion: I’m frustrated. I’m putting forth effort to better myself, but when I encounter people who subscribe to the level of stupidity described above, I lose all motivation to continue interacting with them and others of a similar mindset. I refuse to engage people who have displayed the fortitude equivalent to the Viagra deals I come across online. I’m trying to bring myself up, not drag everyone down to the same level I’m on.
