I just wonder if the main stream internet is making people dumb these days.
I see the primary search engines as shopping tools more than research tools.
I wonder if the long term use and hooks the main stream internet is offering by the mega corps is nothing more than their tool for international enslavement via mass consumer psycology.

Does anyone else have any thoughts on this and how to put an end to it?

I reason with data collection data marketing, data selling, agragation, mining, and analytics for the primary purpose of productivity gains in all avenues leading to consumer based society instead of information based.

Let me know what you think.
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On 08/09/17, Bbsing Bbs said the following...

I just wonder if the main stream internet is making people dumb these days. I see the primary search engines as shopping tools more than research tools. I wonder if the long term use and hooks the main stream internet is offering by the mega corps is nothing more than their tool
for international enslavement via mass consumer psycology.

I'll have to agree with you as well. The general public is certainly dumbed down by the internet, especially since it's at one's fingertips. Not all
people are addicted to it (and it is an addiction for many) but many can't go without it for a few hours without having some kind of withdrawal.

In my view, technology is supposed to "help" humans do their jobs faster and easier, NOT do their jobs for them. A computer is a tool, like a hammer or screwdriver. One should not depend on it for everything.

I reason with data collection data marketing, data selling, agragation, mining, and analytics for the primary purpose of productivity gains in
all avenues leading to consumer based society instead of information based.

Productivity is certainly affected to the negative...as most would rather be
on social media than working.

I'll relay this to you...it was funny to me. A couple months ago, an errant worker cut a fiber line about 65 miles east of where I live. This, of course, took down the internet for all cell providers and several ISP's that serve
this area. I walked out front of my workplace and saw a couple of people down the street holding that phone up in the air trying to get a signal. A little while later, I was headed to town and saw several more folks doing the same thing. I was laughing all the way :) Service was restored towards the end
of the workday.

Thanks!
Orbitman (Allen)
telnet://orbitbbs.ddns.net:7210
Opp, Alabama, USA

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On 2017 Aug 09 02:49:10, you wrote to All:

I just wonder if the main stream internet is making people dumb these

days.

i would have to say no to that... but it does allow many to display their ignorance quite visibly...

I see the primary search engines as shopping tools more than research tools.

who would do shopping from a search engine? that seems to be slightly off because the search engine is going the be targetting you based on your searches...

I wonder if the long term use and hooks the main stream internet is offering by the mega corps is nothing more than their tool for international enslavement via mass consumer psycology.

WTF is that shite???

Does anyone else have any thoughts on this and how to put an end to
it?

turn off your computer and don't use any connected devices...

I reason with data collection data marketing, data selling,
agragation, mining, and analytics for the primary purpose of
productivity gains in all avenues leading to consumer based society instead of information based.

i don't understand this statement/question...

Let me know what you think.

the first thing i think is that you should be using your real name here... in the FROM field or at least in your signature ;)

)\/(ark
a moderator, INTERNET

Always Mount a Scratch Monkey
Do you manage your own servers? If you are not running an IDS/IPS yer doin' it wrong...
... Never tow another car using pantyhose and duct tape.
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Re: is the main stream internet making people dumb
By: Bbsing Bbs to All on Wed Aug 09 2017 02:49 am

I agree with those who have responded. I find it odd coming from computing in the days where the internet wasn't much compared to today. I remember the cusp of what appeared to be the start of the information age. Then seeing the change slowing into comerce more and more and the web primary development for comerce. Information gathering and infomration and computer usage in most of the public space just became about comerce.

Now how does this dumb down the public. I suppose comerce is helping that for sure when I see the use of the internet for comcerce not providing a primary purpose for information sharing. yes there is informationsharing but where is it all. Look at the migration ofr publishing from a cost perspective. You would think the cost for publsihing dropping considerably but the price for information is still relativily high.

The very place this message is being read is free for us all. The information whtin isn't worht much outside our opinions being valued highly, or not.
Always interesting seeing responses and flames, most messages, forums, blogs, twits, ...etc flames flames flames and usually sping out of control into political correctness, or some perversion to denegrade and remove intellegent conversavtion and constructive cooperation. Its nuts.

So I look to examples of the Kardashian's youtube cookie organization videos, to countless other moderate entertainment cinnamon challenges (can't spell its getting worse for a computer guy), its just mind blowing to me the best of us can't be found and is hardly promotted on the internet but the worste and mediority is widely pervasive.

Information gathering and agregation for data analytics is the primary buzz, under data science. These things categorize negativily under privacy assaults and right to inforation death/deletion. Its impossibly for americans right now and also verification, but as noted google search often produces adds personal to the user searching. The results leads to distraction and poor habits towards shopping instead of contibuting content with meaning.

I and others can go on and on about this, but the other question is how to apply any force to steer the current momentum of the mega corps and primary surface web to something of eglaterian value for us all to move into a true information age.

As always more thoughts are welcome, all thoughts and perspectives.

I applogize for the grammer, and the spelling. I'm a compture guy not an english guy. I also am working this via live without spellcheck or stuff like that.
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Hi Bbsing!

09 Aug 2017 02:49, from Bbsing Bbs -> All:

I just wonder if the main stream internet is making people dumb these days.

I do not think so.
There are much more possibilities now.
And it is up to each person on HOW to use the Internet.
There is much more knowledge easily available now.
You just need to read it, and turn on your brain to check the plausibility of it, and to get the right and credible sources.

There was no time where so much incredibly good information was available. There is open access to many scientific papers, there are very good sources. But they require to use the brain, and it seems much easier for some to repeat things that incredibly dumb people say like parrots.

But I agree that people seem to get dumber.

Look at the incredibly stupid arguing of some politicians.
They do not cite any facts, and if questioned about how they come to their conclusions, they just yell fake news.

They claim that they will easily solve some very hard problems, but when asked how they show that they have not only no clue about HOW to solve the issue, but
they do not even understand the problem.

And nearly 50% voted for that person.

Then he said "who knew this is such a complex problem".
The answer: everybody with at least 5 intact brain cells.

But this is not the fault of the "Internet".
But of bad/lazy parenting and the school system.

There are countries that want to teach "Creationsim" instead of proven theories.
You do not need to search the Internet where todays stupidity comes from ...

People need to question their thoughts and beliefs.
Are they still in line with reality.
Do my peers talk bullshit? Is the media accurate.
If they cannot argue their way, just ignore them.
And TELL anybody you know that they are unreliable.

And please stop searching for scapegoats.

It is not the Internet, or "killer games" or immigrants.

It is US not preparing our kids with the required knowledge to fight back to such idiots.
EVERYTHING needs to be questioned.
Where does he come from, what does he want, does he get money from any side.
Is he credible, does hes arguments hold?
Is his work accepted by the scientific community?
If not expose that, and make people aware of it.

I wonder if the long term use and hooks the main
stream internet is offering by the mega corps is nothing more than
their tool for international enslavement via mass consumer psycology.

This is why we need to prepare our children with the knowledge and motivation to see through these things.

The Internet has million folds the useful information that it had a few years back.
You just need to look in the right direction!

Does anyone else have any thoughts on this and how to put an end to
it?

Education, education and more education!
Questioning the actions of authorities.
Requesting transparent decisions that are based on checkable facts.
And make those facts public.

The problem is that is hard and cumbersome to do.

It is much easier to parrot out bullshit that somebody tells.
But that is EXACTLY the cause for the problems we are in.

Let me know what you think.

CU, Ricsi

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Hi Orbitman!

09 Aug 2017 19:02, from Orbitman -> Bbsing Bbs:

The general public is certainly dumbed down by the internet,
especially since it's at one's fingertips.

Is it dumbed down by the Internet or by the general public?

I think you are looking at it from the wrong side.

Same with TV, if you constantly watch Big Brother or Fox News, it is your fault.
You could watch a documentary about Particle Physics instead.
If there is no market for Big Brother, they would not show it.

But that is NOT the fault of the TV, but of the general public.

Nobody forces the general public to look at Facebook.
They could as well download an EBook from Descartes, or some scientific paper and read that.
It is NOT the Internets fault that people do not do that very often.
They COULD do it, if they wanted to.

So the question we need to ask ourselves is why are they not motivated to do so?

In my view, technology is supposed to "help" humans do their jobs
faster and easier, NOT do their jobs for them. A computer is a tool,
like a hammer or screwdriver.

Exactly, and that tool was never better and more versatile than ever!
You just need to make use of it!

Productivity is certainly affected to the negative...as most would
rather be on social media than working.

Is that the fault of "the Internet" or the fault of the people?

CU, Ricsi

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Richard Menedetter wrote to Orbitman <=-

Richard, I do see your points for sure. I see things a little different because I am looking at this a little differently lately. Seeing content and hearing young people discuss what they see, when I view the internet as a tool for information the likes I've never had access to as a child. I see some of these young poeople wasting this access away due to content being provided to them that is far more stimulating than content they should be seeking. Cost to product content like those really interesting documentaries is so much more expensive than costs of many main stream media, and the return on investment is the primary driver. Some educational content just doesn't provide the same level of monetary return as sexually, and fashion, in-vogue products.

Hi Orbitman!

09 Aug 2017 19:02, from Orbitman -> Bbsing Bbs:

The general public is certainly dumbed down by the internet,
especially since it's at one's fingertips.

Is it dumbed down by the Internet or by the general public?

Its a bit of both. The mega corps are perverting it to make available mostly content that is dumbing down its users, to insure they continue to gain profits. Its like feeding your kids coolaid. You are feeding them water, and other components, they can if they want remove the other components from the water to purify it, if you showed them how, provided the tools, told them were to get them, or showed them many other things, but since you profit a bit from this coolaid action you don't have a desire to highlight how to provide just the water. If they want it you charge them the cost in profits you would have otherwise obtained if you sold them coolaid. Now you create a emerging markets and profit from water purification packets, starting with just info, not real tools, ...etc continuing to make a market for your next demographic you are actually in control of.

I think you are looking at it from the wrong side.

Same with TV, if you constantly watch Big Brother or Fox News, it is
your fault.
You could watch a documentary about Particle Physics instead.
If there is no market for Big Brother, they would not show it.

Some people have no idea there is other things out there. Documentaries are usually paid for by the viewer whereas Fox News is free for everyone and widely distributed.

But that is NOT the fault of the TV, but of the general public.

TV is not to blame, but if you remove it some symptoms resulting from its use also go away. Those who are allowed to broadcast on specific channels certainly don't force you to watch, but you can't broadcast on their channels without corps and govs coming at you, nor can you reshape their broadcast to be healthier.

Nobody forces the general public to look at Facebook.
They could as well download an EBook from Descartes, or some scientific paper and read that.

Think back to the time of Descartes, and how scientists had been subverted by mainstream media, so they would not publish or express scientific advancements for fear of death by the mainstream organizations of their time. This is similar to the kind of thing happening now, but it a way more sophisticated way.

It is NOT the Internets fault that people do not do that very often.
They COULD do it, if they wanted to.

Some can, and do, but others just don't know how to.

So the question we need to ask ourselves is why are they not motivated
to do so?

RM this is a great question and why in part I got this discussion started.

In my view, technology is supposed to "help" humans do their jobs
faster and easier, NOT do their jobs for them. A computer is a tool,
like a hammer or screwdriver.

Exactly, and that tool was never better and more versatile than ever!
You just need to make use of it!

Many tools are used in a way they shouldn't be used. There are many rules now preventing all of us from circumventing the current design of these tools we are using.

Productivity is certainly affected to the negative...as most would
rather be on social media than working.

Is that the fault of "the Internet" or the fault of the people?

Ultimately we should blame people, not the internet. The internet is not nature, its designed by people, groups of people, and redesigned, as well as the tools used to design it. When we talk about the internet and people we are talking about them together combined as creators of it and users of it. There is a dominate group with far greater ability to create and control the internet, tools, and flow of information right now compared with the mass of people using it. This is similarly being echoed from current governments and corps, how they desire to control the very thing that people want for good. They don't care about it the way we users do because they see it as a profit machine and they can afford all aspects of its output.

CU, Ricsi

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To RM, NA, and everyone else.

Richard Menedetter wrote to Nick Andre <=-

Hi Nick!

Sorry for the late reply ...

14 Aug 2017 04:38, from Nick Andre -> Richard Menedetter:

While that may be true, the information available is in most cases no different than one can (and have) obtained from libraries.

I think the quality has dropped considerably even over the past few years. I've looked at some news .. what they claim is news, and its a single short paragraph with large font surrounded by tones of add space. Libraries have books with lots of pages.

But on the other side there is really good information out there but I don't see that information being desiged as a general rule, and for the masses. The primary interface for users today is their cell phone and althought the screen sizes are decent they content delievery is short bites. However people now claim they have understanding, where they mean they've heard of it. They see these short bites of info and don't know that isn't understanding, and hardly clasifies as knowledge, but to the ignorant, you don't know what you don't know and the less you do know the more you think you know.

You have much easier access to geographically diverse information.

This is true.

Etc.

Remember the early to mid 90's... The world did not suddenly morph
into some magical utopia when the Internet became popular, nor would
the "information superhighway" bring us together or improve our social standings with eachother by removing those geographical limits.

I wish this was the case. That was my hope and dream and still is, the information age! We could have it, but corps ... they've stolen the dream! data became a traded commodity vs its real use information, not money. It could be a lot cheaper, but ... its just being monetized.. like that is what drives people, .. usually no, but due the collective consciousness of corps about the all gains and growth vs all good and sustained, everyone has to play their game or fall behind financially and literacy (must keep working). The information age should have set many free, and make us more freer people!

It depends on how technology is used.
But the fact remains that it is now much quicker and easier to
communicate with people from other continents, etc.

This is what allows the dumbing down, while it could also allow global education and understanding, but .. what is going on? Separation, ignorance, misunderstanding, misinformation at a rapid pace on a global scale.

In fact, I think the opposite happened. People by and large just stare
off into their smartphones, or are addicted to Facebook, or seem
compelled to share pictures of what theyre about to have for supper. Cybercrime is more advanced and prevailent than ever nowadays.

Agree! I've asked people why, why take a picture of your food, how many times have you looked at those pictures going back ... say 7 years. They don't really have good answers, not answers for reasons that would be logical, but more so about feelings or emotional based reasons.

There we are again, that it depends on how technology is used.
And it also requires more education on the user side.
Eg. checking the crowd sizes for inauguration and to fact check "fake news"

Its nutty how fake news is spreading. At one point people were able to shed light on major media corps with simple small cameras and posting them on the internet, even some of the older smart phones, but now.. now you can be put in place of another and it can be almost undetectable. This was all before major censorship over the past 1.5 years.

I realise its not all doom and gloom and there are a few good websites
out there, but IMO western society's social skillset and intelligence level did not improve whatsoever by the Internet.

Not all doom and gloom is true. Think about how we (us on this board use the nets vs, basic smart phoners).

That is why education is important.
People need to LEARN to use the tools that are already widely
available.

Yes they do, but the tools are being produced and changes so fast, they have to be simplified and dummied down for users to understand them, and this is creating quality problems as well.

The Internet is just a tool for communication.
You need to select with WHOM you communicate.

I really wish I could share the same sentiments, truth is, the
Internet is by and large powered by companies who by and large earn profits by tracking and manipulating individual's on-line activity. Google, Microsoft, Amazon, etc.

I agree with both of you. Turn on encryption and start communicating with each other without allowing the giants to take and your comms and use them to turn us all into the product.

education

Learn to use Privacy Badger, Adaware and other useful tools.

I'll have to look this up.

EFF is usually a good read on those topics.
One interesting part is browser fingerprinting. https://panopticlick.eff.org/

Hi everyone, I'm back and its been a long long time but I was off working on some project that took my attention and I wasn't able to get back to this really interesting topic.

I've really liked to confirm the internet is in-part dumbing down people. I've looked up a lot of information and although I use the internet for the research its been interesting to see the change in available general indexed internet search results. Since the last posts I've made we've seen several changes like censorship, and straight out psyops, or behavior control. Now many of us older computer users, knew of the warning signs delivered from the olden day underground aka hackers, but for the masses.. they have no clue, and will never have a clue and will never care.

So the other day I was watching netflix ... The Great Hack .. and watching it knowing that other companies are performing psyops on the masses, but they are getting better and better at it.

I've also had the opportunity to work with people and talk to people about today's younger workers, and while I've observed the zombie like almost unbreakable attention to their smart phone, and they stroke the phone like Golem loves the precious, ... but they have a real real hard time dealing with others when having to focus or remember what they are being told.


Hey sorry no name in sig, .. still way to scared to do so. The internet has also made very vindictive people these days, OSI.. is getting toooo easy.

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