Should I just leave the internet for good, and would I miss anything?

submitted by Polar64 from self.AskSaidIt

So I'm planning to install a blocker on my computer, since I feel like the internet isn't letting me do my best work. I would download a few Youtube videos and then use it only for school/work purposes. And probably read some comments before I go. What do you guys think?

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[–]tiny-brown-mug 10 insightful - 1 fun10 insightful - 0 fun11 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

I kind of tried something like this for a year. I just limited myself to work stuff, e-mail, and downloading mp3s. It worked out really well!

No news, few distractions, less anxiety. I came back here, but seriously limited the subs I follow, and try to just check in daily. It's going well.

I recommending having some resources in place to keep you entertained and happy off-line. Like a music player (instead of a smart phone) for music, books, and time out weekly for walks and stuff.

[–]Smalls 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I did that for a week and it was beneficial. It took a few days for my brain to get used to normal stimuli.

[–]tiny-brown-mug 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

One of the really interesting things I discovered, is that a week off of social media, I noticed that time seemed to be "slowing down". Like... the afternoon would just drag on. But in a good way.

I finally figured out that rapid-fire internet media (especially Twitter and YouTube binging) had kind of screwed up my nervous system and that time seemed to be racing. Off of that kind of content, my mind could slow down and process things at a normal rate. It was really weird, yet cool.

Oh, and nature was more enjoyable.

[–]Smalls 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yes! It is being told what to think about (of an external, non0important source) instead of allowing your mind deciding what to think about (of what really should affect you).

[–]magnora7 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (6 children)

I took a few months off from the internet and it was pretty good. I find when I'm reading forums too much, especially now with the large volumes of AI spam that can almost pass as human (that is often designed to anger users), it's hard to walk away with any sort of positive mood. And I don't learn things quite as often as I used to.

[–]RedditButt 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

I've found that most of my interactions now are negative.

If I post something well thought out, and useful, it usually gets ignored and buried.

But anybody responding to me 9 times out of 10 wants to argue over something trivial, defend some scummy company, or rant/flame/spam pejoratives without providing anything useful.

The people I've had positive interactions with over the years are slowly evaporating, with none to take their spot.

[–]Smalls 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Sometimes you have to think of it as planting a seed. Somebody may find it useful but never respond, so you don't know how impactful you were.

[–]magnora7 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Agreed. As the shills and AI bots become more common, they simultaneously drive away real people, which just concentrates the awful even more.

Right now I think video is where it's at on the internet, that's not easy to fake at the moment compared to text. So that's a good way to get information from real people instead of spam/shills/ads etc. But that will probably only be true for another 5-10 years until video faking tech gets really good and is common and cheap. So enjoy the last bit of the real internet while we still have it, I say

[–]RedditButt 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I think it's already gone for the most part. Most people don't seem to realize it, and don't remember what we used to have, and how important it is.

I remember the days before most people had mobile phones, and I would get online to chat with random people, and met tons of great people and had a lot of fun talking about random things, even if we didn't have all the same opinions about life/politics.

That was during the time it was considered proper to only use aliases, and keep personal info off online interactions like chat rooms. All of those people have now vanished, and with the death of so many IM platforms like MSN, AIM, Yahoo, Skype, many IRC networks, etc., may never find them again. Part of me wants to, but another part of me wants to remember them positively, and not risk learning they are completely different people decades later, and ruin the image I have.

The whole situation is depressing. The golden era of the Internet went by in the blip of an eye, all within a single generation. I feel lucky to have experienced it, but equally more painful to know, and see it swept away while the world seems unconscious of it all.

[–]magnora7 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I agree, the text forum is in a bad state compared to 20 years ago.

It is depressing knowing the golden window of the internet was so short. Saidit is an attempt to keep that window open just a bit longer.

But I also think there was a golden age for each new communcation technology. There was a golden age of the printing press, before propaganda books became common and overtook the early printed book market in the 1600-1700s. There was also a golden age of radio, golden age of tv (back when they actually showed vietnam on TV), golden age of internet.... there have been many communication golden ages, and I'm sure humanity will see one again soon. Maybe not in my lifetime, but it will likely come, given the historical pattern. So all is not lost. It comes in waves, and we just happened to ride a crest to a trough as we experienced the internet the last few decades. There will be other crests to climb in the future, we just have to be patient.

[–]In-the-clouds 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I would like for all the technology to be used only for good, but we live in the adversary's world. The truth is always under attack. Man's will determines how long the truth remains pure. Because men are typically greedy and do not have a strong desire for truth, the propaganda and shills take over regardless of which technology is used. Even before technology and the recorded word, when people spoke only face to face, people would lie and deceive one another using the spoken word.

One of the things I appreciate about Saidit is the option to mark people as "friends". We can limit what we see to some extent by marking those that we suspect share truth.... and are not shills, PSYOP soldiers, or even soulless AI bots. But again, there are few men who have a strong desire for truth.... most allow some untruths to reside in their heart, so there are few who can be trusted 100%, even among "friends".

There is one friend who sticks closer than a brother who is the Truth, and he can always be trusted. He gave his life as evidence that he would never deny the truth. He has been proclaiming his truth before all of man's technology.

[–]TheMaharishi 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Your life would probably improve. Spend more time with people you like. Work out. Learn useful skills. Get some sunlight instead of monitor radiation.

[–]Entropick 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

Get on the weights. Even if it's a light weight, move it repetitively as mamy times as you can, 10-15 reps. You want some strength for the situation developing.

[–]magnora7 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

One thing I learned is if you have back pain, you should be doing a lot of back exercises. Exercise the place that hurts, so the muscles can be stronger and support it more, then it hurts less!

[–]Entropick 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

movement is medicine

[–]magnora7 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

True. So is food.

[–]Smalls 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Core exercises. Everything starts from the core, unless you have some kind of degenerative disorder.

[–]magnora7 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

True. Posture is important too, especially sleeping posture.

[–]RedditButt 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

It would be hard to impose absolutism on yourself with respect to the Internet. Especially how it's being ingrained into everything more and more.

My thoughts would be to bend those guidelines a little bit to limiting the days, or sites you typically visit that haven't offered any good value.

[–]magnora7 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I think that's smart. Sometimes I have "no forum days" where I may only use the internet for youtube and wikipedia.

[–]SMCAB 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Yes, and no. Short and simple.

[–]Karce33 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

By the sounds of it, you just need to block certain places, like x, Reddit, YouTube/google, Facebook/IG, etc.

I run my own DNS server, but you could to the same with a blacklist on your router if it's a decent one. I've blocked all the social medias except for youtube (I don't do comments on there anyways). If a web search leads me to Reddit or something like that, I am looking for a solution to a particular problem, I'll use my mobile data briefly then go back to my wifi.

[–]YoMamma 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

no

yes

[–]one_of_those_days 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

just leave the internet for good

[–]hamudi 0 insightful - 1 fun0 insightful - 0 fun1 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The internet sucks now. If I got banned off it I wouldn't care. Maybe when china takes control and stops censoring everything interesting I'll get back on.

[–]In-the-clouds 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

After the EMP attack, the choice of whether you should use the internet or not will have been made for you.... as least for awhile. They might restart the internet with the mark of the beast required to access it. The real cost: your soul.