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?
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...read the books, and hopefully find an answer not too out of date.
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.
You'll probably get the biggest benefit by getting off social media.
Stop using social media. Yes. Good idea.
Stop using the internet entirely? No. Bad idea.
Depends on what you do when online.
Are you actively searching for knowledge so you learn how to do things (playing a game, an instument, learning how to fix something), reading (news) from various sources or asking questions out of interest? No, not worth stopping, never stop being curious and learning.
Are you passively consuming all that's being pushed/force fed to you? Yep, but don't quit, change how you use internet. Use it to your own good, not so companies can have you hooked.
Here, the phone is in the livingroom on a shelf when I'm at home and don't need it for 2fa. Also, default notification sound is None and I set a sound for things I want to be notified of like ring tone, sms, personal messages (no group), calendar and set a dnd period between 21:00 and 7:00. I use a tablet for gaming as alternative for TV. (Although I'd be better off to read the magazines that are piling up ;) )
Switching from Reddit to Lemmy helped me. Reddit is just a hose of brain rot. Refresh, click, refresh, click. Turned into a zombie.
Lemmy I actually post, comment and discuss things with people. Almost feels like I'm waking up from a long coma.
For me it was like remembering how the internet forums felt like in the 90s, before the corps ran the most popular sites. This is much more my vibe than Facebook and that shit.
I tried to switch from Reddit to Lemmy completely, but the communities for the games I play stayed there. I already wrote off Reddit for anything general, but for the games it's a nice source of info. (The subs I'm in are good in self regulating)
I use Lemmy more for general discussions, reading or when available, specific communities (like fountainpens, bass, ...) and when I feel like it, go back to Reddit for the very few subs I'm still interested in, mainly due to lack of info elsewhere. (Facebook account was deleted january 1st, so 2-3 more days and it's really gone) Next to that I'm on dedicated fora.
I have to say, being on Lemmy feels like how I started on internet in '94, more nerds then commoners to chat with, which is a huge pro (seeing people knowing they have brains and how to use them ;) ).
i've been trying this year to actively stop myself and get up and do a chore or play guitar or something if i've been rotting in bed scrolling thru tiktok for more than 10 minutes. i always feel way way better upon stopping and actually doing something --
but every single time it's so hard to work up the effort. or....courage, even? is somehow the word that comes to mind -- the algos lock you in and make you feel like the real world is too much effort, simply scroll up or down to see more videos, you're safe here. it's very very strange when you try to actively analyze what's happening
I started playing bass last year. As I work in IT I wanted a hobby that forced me to do something different with my hands. I started tinkering with cars, but space limitations put that on hold. (I really need to clean out the garage) I try to pick up the base and use it a bit after working from home and I have to say, even though I'm bad, I'm improving in small steps and I'm enjoying myself. A medical issue kept me away from the bass for 5 months, but that'll ge fixed tuesday.
The only way to survive the social media rat race is not to enter. Find something that challenges you.
It makes sense to spend some time away from it to reorient your life. And I guess some people live without it. But it brings a lot of positives if used in moderation.
I'd say no, the benefits vastly outweigh the drawbacks. But yeah, it's important to have enough discipline to get outside and do plenty of stuff that doesn't revolve around the internet
I think I disagree. The benefits of portable internet are negligable, but the harm is significant.
Opioids are popular, too, and have significant benefit as well. There are a lot of parallels than can reasonably be drawn between smart phones and opioids.
The internet, in general, is a net good; it's the accessability to that dopamine button controlled by corporate interests that tips the scales for smart phones. IMHO, of course.
I have to navigate my city's public transit system every day, so mobile internet has been a game changer for me personally. Thanks to that I'm able to check live arrivals and see which station it makes more sense to walk to in my neighborhood, or figure out exactly when where to switch lines (also based on live arrival times), etc.
Having access to streaming music doesn't hurt, either. IMO it really just comes down to not installing dopamine slot machines (e.g., basically any social media). Keep the thing simple and utilitarian
Why stop at internet, stop using keyboards as they're used to cause so much harm. And pen and paper, so much harm has been done by letters, books, messages. Slippery slope.
Internet is a tool. You can whitelist content to suit your needs rather than allow the floodgates of ad tech play with your mind. I remember the days before the internet. Bureaucracy galore, queuing for basic services, relying on the whims of some individual to get simple actions performed. It wasn't fun. With today's low attention span and low tolerance for boredom most people would have a mental breakdown.
I mean, "obviously causing damage to our health"
The issue with that is the question "And do what?"
Like what matters is that you do something that is actually healthy for your body. Internet is if anything probably a step up from the age of couch surfing on the TV, since you at least need to actively navigate it. Mostly meaning to say that you could easily just choose something that isn't any better.
But either way you'd be better off just choosing something healthy to do, like exercise.
As a web developer, I would rather not lose my entire industry. I was very poor until I started this work. And I still have a lot of catching up to do!
Nope. I'd have to go to banks, on office, and generally be around people. Ick. No thanks.
As someone who remembers a time without even answering machines, let alone computers at home: yes, absolutely. We are definitely worse off.
You're free to turn off your internet service and disable data on your phone.
Ah yes the time when everyone sat around the TV, force fed garbage chosen by a network exec. We are truly better off.
I’m with you!
I stopped carrying a cell phone in my pocket and over the past year or so I've gotten much better at talking to strangers and appreciating my surroundings. Pretty based if you ask me.
Try it for 1 day then report back to us. Curious how it will go.
If you're really going to try it, give it at least a week or two. You know you're going to be jonesing for it a little bit--give yourself more than a single day before saying it's hopeless.
Depends what issues you are trying to address.
Likely no issues turning it off most of the time.
There are retreats one can go on with time lock safes to put phones in.
I certainly recommend taking breaks from the internet every now and again. I didn't really have the internet until sometime in highschool (it depends if you consider AOL before the WWW addition "the internet", though I guess we had BBS and such before that). When out on my own, we couldn't afford a monthly dial-up subscription, so we didn't use it that much. Certainly, no internet in my pocket until I was into my 20s, and certainly not full browsers, etc. like today. Maybe that makes it easier for me, but I don't know.
Yes, but not long term.
You'll always wanna return to hang out with the Animal Crossing villagers aka Lemmy users sometime. Just say you're on holiday for a bit (for Muricans: on vacation).
Lol, Lemmy is like animal crossing except all the villagers have the cranky personality type
Lol
We spend half our lives online nowadays and it’s obviously causing damage to our health.
Any time an argument begins with "obviously" alarm bells ring. If it's obvious it must be easy to find a reference?
Anyway, if I stopped using the Internet I would be immediately out of a job and unable to communicate with most of my friends. So even if there is some kind of health damage it probably still wouldn't be worth it.
You can always try to find new meanings for yer life. Yes, it takes effort, but so does taking care of your other needs.
Try out some new stuff - hobbies, seeing new peeps. Ask yer friends to join you for new things, maybe it's more fun that way.I started spending less and less time on the computer. It gave me the chance to be more spontaneous, doing different things with my girlfriend I normally don't do.
:..except if you talk about ALL usage of any sort. That's gonna be difficult since digital is in our lives for a stay.
... they said, on the Internet.
The benefits are obviously very worthwhile, else you wouldn't be asking. Access to community, information, entertainment, communication that you wouldn't have otherwise.
We can also see a lot of damaging things like all the bad news happening in the world that has nothing to do with us but still hurts to read, lots of things to distract from our real lives, a need to always be present when someone sends us a message.
My suggestion would be moderation rather than abstinence. If you're feeling unhappy because of what you're seeing, put the phone down. I know it's harder for some than others, but there are apps that can disable your phone after a certain amount of time I believe. Turn off your electronic devices and put them away when you're not actively using them. Put on "do not disturb" mode on your phone if you don't want to be contacted. Realise that whenever your phone makes a noise, it is only asking permission for you to look at it - if you're busy then you can ignore whatever phonecall or message it is (unless you're a parent and it might be an emergency with your child or something)
I think it’s worth trying for a month or two
You can go 1-2 days but eventually you will get bored if you don't have anything to do in the meantime. Our brains nowadays are wired to consume content on demand and cutting them out could be hard.
You could identify what is causing your addiction, if it's social media, then i find it best to use the browser version, and not the app. This way you will spend much much less time on it and eventually you can cut it out if you wish.
No. I actually don't think it's a good idea to stop using social media at all. Maybe it can be, but overall social media is a net-positive thing (I hope i worded it correctly, am not a native speaker)
Instead moderate usage of social media. And filter out accounts or posts that aren't worth your time.
This sounds to me like going Vegan, while you would have almost all the same benefits when reducing meat eating to just Sundays or the weekend. It's not black and white.
Pretty black and white for the cow. Unless it's one of those brown cows. How now!
No lol. How am I supposed to get free books without LibGen and Anna's Archive? Those alone make the Internet worthwhile for me.
A library?
My local library doesn't have a collection of STEM books. My university library is over an hour away and takes a while to obtain new books. Also, for obvious reasons, libraries don't let me keep copies of the books I borrow.
I think the premise is questionable. After a quick google search it was easy to find studies showing that internet access is beneficial to health.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9218541/
"The results indicate that access to the Internet significantly improves the average health condition and alleviates health inequality."
https://www.fcc.gov/health/SDOH
"There is increasing evidence demonstrating a strong relationship between broadband access, Internet adoption, and health outcomes."
