My colleague, TJ Martinell, put out one hell of a podcast where he discusses, in detail, how "internet technology" has become so advanced and so invasive into your personal life that it no longer becomes useful or practical. I particularly like how he wants to buy ONE single item from Amazon over a VPN which results in him wasting 45 minutes of his life with verification codes, logging in and out of e-mail accounts, etc. He then goes on to regale you with a story of how he was trying to chat up a cute girl and all she did was look at her phone.
The larger point is that as everybody rushes onto the internet for...well...everything, to protect your privacy the measures you need to take make it easier to live an analog life where you buy things at a physical store and meet people in meat space. Unfortunately, even when you do, the technology has become so pervasive and so addictive, it's rendered most people unsociable, even impolite that only a few luddites will remain who insist their human interaction be human and free of a Demolition Man sex interface.
Anyway, one heck of a podcast if you're interested in listening.
You should see the sh!t I've bought on Amazon...
ReplyDeleteI reach for my phone precisely because I don't want to talk to people. I have an IQ of 130, I have nothing in common with the people who surround me and I don't care to rot my brain with idle meaningless chatter about the latest distraction on the idiot box. I can't talk about current events with them either since they either talk about things in terms of their "feelings", try to compare it to pop culture media (isn't it fucking sad how most of the plebs try to appraise the real world around them through the lens of man made fiction and fantasy? Is it any wonder they're so easily brainwashed?), parrot whatever the talking heads on the TV tell them to think or just give you a blank stare.
ReplyDeleteThe sad irony is that I feel more lonely talking to real people than I do being antisocial.
"..and free of a Demolition Man sex interface."
ReplyDeleteThat movie was on a cable channel (comes with the lease, I would cancel outright if I could) over the weekend which I had playing in the background. That scene reminded me of what basically internet pron has become.
He then goes on to regale you with a story of how he was trying to chat up a cute girl and all she did was look at her phone.
ReplyDeleteMeans she's not interested. Move on. I've cut short more than one date at the 5 minute mark when the bint wouldn't put the phone away.
That movie was on a cable channel
ReplyDeleteWired magazine used to run a "what SF movie has most accurately predicted the future" contest but they stopped because Demoliton Man kept winning it year after year.
Blaming Internet tech for ruining society and people is like blaming guns for killing people. It's how people use the tech, as it is about how people use guns.
ReplyDeleteThe reason one has to go through so many passwords and "verification" rituals is that, like with any other great invention, high tech has been bastardized and subverted so frequently it's intended purposes have been essentially neutered and nearly defeated.
ReplyDeleteThere is a poorly written book that contains several golden nuggets to make up for the rest titled "Life after Google".
ReplyDeleteIt details the author's view on blockchains and how in the future, Google and the rest of the gatekeepers of the internet and privacy will fall by the wayside as much better solutions are used by people who become the owners of their data rather than these companies.
I think it will be a long way off, but it's a very optimistic view which I hope wins out.