Would it be worth it to stop using the Internet?
Would it be worth it to stop using the Internet?
We spend half our lives online nowadays and it's obviously causing damage to our health. Do you think it would be worth the benefits to stop carrying a smartphone and to disable the WiFi at home?
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Of course not. Internet, even with the issues of social media, is a huge net good. Remember before the internet? If you and your acquaintances didn't know something and it wasn't in an encyclopedia, you just didn't get to know that thing. Maybe a teacher at a uni you could call, maybe.
The ability to communicate information before that was limited to things like telephone, fax, and the mail. Vastly slower and much less bandwidth. This would impact our ability to get life-saving information to people through means other than radio.
you just didn't get to know that thing
Just visit the public library...
and it wasn't in an encyclopedia
The implication if this line was that it wasn't commonly found in books.
That would ve far more complex than you make it sound.
Once you have the question, you need to...
...write down the question so you don't forget.
...remember to bring the note with you.
...remember to check the open hours of the library.
...get to the library.
...look at the note to remember the topic of the question.
...ask a librarian about where to find relevant books.
...read the books, and hopefully find an answer not too out of date.
Believe it or not, that was how it worked. The advantage of this was that it guaranteed that you only invested time in things you were really passionate about.
You'd just ring the company. Remember that? If you didn't remember when coca cola was founded or what their weird limited edition flavor from a few years back was called, you'd just find their phone number, call up and ask them directly on the phone, and some customer service representative with super niche (but not unlimited) knowledge would be there to answer any relevant question you could have.
Exactly. And if they didn't know or didn't want to tell you, you'd never know. Imagine how many secrets corporations could keep without any way to spread knowledge that wasn't one-to-one. Nightly news, phone calls to regulators, etc only do so much. People got away with a LOT more before the internet and online video.