RANT: The Downturn of Society

[Mark]

The dawn of the technological age brought with it innovation, creativity, and the ability for humans to interact and be entertained like never before. We've connected people across oceans, sent man to outer space, and have the world at our fingertips on a 24/7 basis. But with this digital age comes a dark passenger that threatens our ability to move forward as people, and will only continue to worsen.

It is my fear that we as a species reached our peak long ago, before the widespread use of computers and television robbed us of our vision, our iPod earphones devastated our hearing, the internet and video games replaced books and thus our vocabularies, and our mobile phones made face-to-face communication an awkward practice in futility. And if you haven't noticed yet the negative consequences of this digital world, you eventually will.

This is not progression, this is regression.

It struck me at a recent supper rendezvous with friends that people simply don't talk to each other anymore. Just one glance around the table returned a scene of people with their heads down, their fingers dancing across their phone screens while they texted and tweeted. The only rescue from the dead silence deafening the table was the sound of vibrations and beeps, which came at an nauseatingly frequent pace. When people actually mustered the courage to produce audible conversation, the replies consisted of shortly-held eye contact and seemingly hurried and stunted responses, most likely so they could return to creeping their ex-landlord's vacation pictures.

These are just the people I'm familiar with. The Internet has opened up a portal to an assortment of mouth-breathing, lowest-common-denominator John Does who are unaccountable for their actions and clueless as to what constitutes being a decent person.

Example: I recently played a game of hockey on Xbox Live against a stranger I had never met. He built up a lead and then proceeded to play keep-away for the rest of the game, circling around his own zone while I pursued him without luck. It didn't anger me so much as it just irritated me that someone could go out of their way to waste the time of a complete stranger by employing cheap tactics. I messaged him after the game asking "why did you do that?" and he proceeded to shower me with racist, homophobic epithets whilst calling me a "n00b" and taunting me for the "pwnage" I had just received. Pressing him further, he revealed that he just wanted to piss me off and make me quit. "Why" again, I ask?

In recent years The Internet has devolved into a culture of trolls, bullies and taunters, whose sole mandate is to make themselves feel better by putting down other people. But to what endgame? What possible reward exists for knowingly hurting the feelings of a complete stranger in a far away place? I thought we were a civilized and sophisticated culture, but it seems that the cloak of anonymity has turned many into cowardly and sad individuals. One needs to look no further than the comments page of your typical YouTube video to see a collection of hateful posts being thrown back and forth by people driven by the irrational need to harm one another.

I feel we are letting the world pass us by while our heads are buried in our screens. We are letting our common decency towards one another slip away from us. I honestly don't see things getting any better. The sad thing is we're approaching a point where it can't get worse.

So are we losing a part of ourselves to the digital world? Are we too connected? Discuss.

[Vriska]

There is certainly a yin and a yang to this.

With information so widespread, people have the ability to educate themselves from information collected from all over the globe. The lonely can find people or a lover with their own interests that they would have never been able to find before. People aren't stuck getting news from the small amount of biased local news stations. People in Egypt managed to revolt with the power of the internet. It is definitely empowering: one could teach themselves art or music or programming and become productive all on the power of their own perseverance. On the other hand, they could waste that potential playing MMORPG's instead of building upon themselves.


Ultimately, it's what people choose to do with the power they obtain. There are always people who misuse power. This is an ageless fact. If my mother were here and she saw people on their smartphones while on the table, she'd beat the unholy shmeege out of them. She would have never given them that choice. Without the technology, would those people have much to say to each other anyway? Where is the family's responsibility in this?

[Mark]

Excellent point, Kathy! You always have a way of expressing yourself well!

This entire concept has been something that has fascinated me for a while, and tonight I just felt like typing away and trying to come out with something cohesive.

Technology has helped accomplish an innumerable amount of good things in our time. It has brought accountability to authority, become a new source of information, and created the ability for people to make a difference in a globalized world.

I guess the point I'm making is that it has come at the cost of our interpersonal communication skills. Our immersion in technology has made us miss things right in front of our eyes. I make a special effort to put my phone away when I'm with my girlfriend because I don't want my attention to divert away from her. I feel it's the right thing to do.

Some corners of the internet have turned into a dark corners where you're more likely to find a troll than an objective rational person, and that scares and confounds me. I suppose this could be interpreted as the "vocal minority", but it sure as hell doesn't feel like a minority at times.

[minuteforce]

Some corners of the internet have turned into a dark corners where you're more likely to find a troll than an objective rational person, and that scares and confounds me.
That's something you could find in the 'real world' as well, though :*

[travz21]

The internet just helps people let out their true colors. And a lot of them seem to be incoherent trolls. But that's nothing new. We knew that before the internet.

This new technological world exponentially increases our intellectual potential as a race. A lot of people will misuse it and waste their lives with meaningless entertainment (I'm guilty), but the cream of the crop will use it to bring our world to new, previously unthinkable heights.


Just thinking back 10 years ago and how drastic a change it's been baffles me. Makes me wish I was born about 100 years from now.

[minuteforce]

The internet just helps people let out their true colors. And a lot of them seem to be incoherent trolls. But that's nothing new. We knew that before the internet.
^ Yeah, this. :)

[Agent O]

I see what you're saying Mark. The thought has crossed my mind as well. But if you weigh the good the internet has brought to humanity (and continues to bring) against the bad, the good wins out. A powerful tool like the internet, and modern technology in general, will have its share of side effects and we can't avoid that.

I just wish more people would realize the negative impacts of technology and re-evaluate their lifestyle.

[Mr. Vahn]

True, modern technology has both good and bad traits, such as helping develop different aspects of the scientific world (helping HUMANITY develop and mature), and turning people into mindless trolls that spend all their time spamming in all kinds of ways ( In Youtube, like Mark said, different games (Mark again) ) just because of their endless need to cause verbal harm to other people. Worst of all, you can't do anything about that, except lowering yourselves to their level and start spamming them back. Youtube just got a margin sadder for me, its one of the biggest troll nests I've ever seen.

[Timothy]

I think it's important to put all of this technology in its proper context. Mobile phones have only become widespread in the past 10-12 years, high-speed internet in the last ten years, and smart phones in the last 4-5. This is all still so new to us.

Is technology taking us down a dark path? I can't say for sure. But I do know we need to expect some growing pains. It may take a few years (decades even) for people to strike a healthy balance between everyday human contact and complete technological immersion.

[Dean]

It's just something I've came to expect from the internet and I take it with a pinch of salt, fortunately I still don't tend to encounter it that often in everyday life.

That and given a choice I would much rather talk to someone face to face than on the phone, and I grew up in the midst of all this.

[Derek The Infamous]

As many of my elders and older relatives would say, you're always going to find a couple of rotten apples with worms in them. It's a fact of human nature, and even before the internet gained popularity, these people existed in the real world. The internet has just made it easier for these trolls and bullies to co-exist and the only way to defeat a troll is to ignore a troll. If you engage these people, they're getting the response they desired and in reality it's only you who have lost. That's why it was probably best to not engage that jerk over Xbox Live because you gave him a response to brag about to his buddies and simply just wasted your time.

As for technology killing our society, I can't say I 100% agree with that. While I will agree that cell phones/computers have ruined our ability to communicate and that we as a generation have become less active or healthy...I feel that technology if harnessed in the right way can have great benefits. The best example I can think of is this website. When I first began the LPA at age 15 I was a socially awkward teenager with little to no confidence, an extreme lack of social skills and not really much pride in myself. However; as this site has grew larger I've found that I've gained and learned many new things from the experiences I've had in operating the LPA for the last ten years.

I've made friendships with certain members of staff that have lasted the better part of the decade, several of whom I've met in person. I had a incredible (and rewarding) 4 year online/IRL relationship with Andrea on staff that changed my life, and that I'll never forget. And finally, being recognized on the LPU/LPMB and by Linkin Park just for running a website has done wonders for my self esteem.

In short, while the internet may have it's faults...without it, I would've never become the person that I am or met the friends/woman that changed my life for the better.

[Blackee Dammet]

People were always stupid, petty shits. You're just able to see way more of it at once than you used to.

By the same logic, maybe there are people you identify more with that aren't always in your general vicinity. While I've never seen the point of having 5000 Facebook friends, talking to people you can't always hang with isn't a problem.

[Benjamin]

I just wish more people would realize the negative impacts of technology and re-evaluate their lifestyle.

Yeah, that's about all I have to say. The internet is a great thing. People just need to learn not to be on it 24/7.

[DaMU]

The Internet makes news instantaneously available. This alone makes it one of the best things in the history of humanity. The Internet has also become a source of knowledge, a force for revolution, a waste-saving method of communication, an eraser of boundaries, a parent of dynamic new art forms, and a voluminous repository of beautiful, wonderful pornography.

If anything, the Internet is one of the signs that humanity isn't doing as poorly as doomsayers like yourself (on the basis of two anecdotes) would have us believe.

[Mark]

I think a lot of people are taking my rant as an anti-Internet/anti-Technology one, which it isn't.

DaMu, you make it seem like I connected two situations together and wrote a rant on the downfalls of technology based solely on those criteria. I would appreciate more credit than that!

Truthfully, this is something I've taken notice of over the years as we've become more immersed in the 24-hour-a-day digital cycle. I'd just prefer to keep it to a few paragraphs rather than write a novel about it which no one would read.

My main point is that while technology is innovative and has brought a lot of good to humanity, it has changed our real-life interactions/behaviours/skills for the worse.

When people choose to boot up Facebook to see what other people are doing, instead of talking with the close friends right in front of them, it makes me think about how much our ability to interact with one another in-person has regressed. The art of communication has been lost in the vortex of over-communication.

Also, I'd wager a bet you're far less likely to find an eloquent conversationalist today than you were 10 years ago. From being the appointed editor for nearly every group paper co-written by my undergraduate and graduate-level classmates over the last 6 years, it astounds me how poorly people can convey themselves nowadays. It's amazing how limited peoples' vocabularies are. I honestly think that we as a collective species are becoming less intelligent, and it is largely the result of technological substitutes. We're more informed, but less intellectually stimulated.

[travz21]

it makes me think about how much our ability to interact with one another in-person has regressed.

I think the big question is does this even matter?

[Mark]

I think the big question is does this even matter?

Absolutely! The ability to interact with one another in-person affects how people work within organizations and the friendships/relationships we form!

[travz21]

Have you seen the movie Surrogates?

[Dean]

I think that we're in a period where we are learning what the internet is good for and what the internet is bad for more or less through trial and error, and for better or for worse we probably won't be through it for another generation or two, when the children of people who first grew up with it have grown up themselves and maybe even raised their own children.

As it is I think I'll go with it being another scientific development that we integrate properly after that initial period.

[ThaHandyman]

I think I pretty much agree with everything Mark said, you make some good points.

[Benjamin]

I think the big question is does this even matter?

I don't really find that to be a question that doesn't have an obvious answer (which is yes).

Mark is absolutely right.

[Vriska]

I think what is really the case is that the Internet is new enough to not have an established set of manners yet.

Movie theaters managed to beat into our heads that having your cell phone on in the theater is rude. SOME people are aware that using your cell phone when you are with friends is rude, but not everyone. But that's something that didn't come from our parents. We're dealing with issues that didn't exist in our parents' time, so our generation has to set these rules. To do that, these people have to realize it's rude to begin with.

So, take the movie theater approach: drill those norms into your friends and children along with the normal stuff.




Something else missed here was the Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory. Proposed by Penny Arcade but then actually inspired real psychological studies.

Normal Person + anonymity + audience = Fuckwad.
Though lately, after seeing an Internet troll I encountered once appear in the news after committing a murder-suicide, I think there's more to this story. The Fuckwads were always fuckwads, but the internet just allows them to bring it out.

What the Internet does at least for me is provide an easy way to communicate (easy enough to allow people to speak on their impulses), but without the faces of those I'm speaking to. End result = I'm a lot less self-censored on the Internet than in real life. Without even intending to be.

[Blackee Dammet]

I'm still not seeing it. People trolling obituaries online today were out probably vandalizing cemeteries yesterday, the kid grieving you on Xbox could just have well been that ugly freak shooting small, domesticated animals with a bebe gun a decade ago, and while I'm not going to argue that this generation is a particularly articulate one, I'd say that started a bit before our shiny new computers and text messages.

[Benjamin]

I'm still not seeing it. People trolling obituaries online today were out probably vandalizing cemeteries yesterday, the kid grieving you on Xbox could just have well been that ugly freak shooting small, domesticated animals with a bebe gun a decade ago, and while I'm not going to argue that this generation is a particularly articulate one, I'd say that started a bit before our shiny new computers and text messages.

So instead of vandalism we have trolling/cyber bullying? Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay

[Blackee Dammet]

So instead of vandalism we have trolling/cyber bullying? Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay

I can tell that's sarcasm, but it's really coming across as unusually petty. Mean words over a screen is not only on the same par as real life destruction of property, but considerably worse than it? Which of course says nothing about the rest of my post, mostly being about how youths in the past weren't exactly renown for their exquisite social etiquette (up to and including real life, sometimes violent face-to-face bullying...), but sure. Internet trolling, that's humanity downward spiral right there...

[Benjamin]

Mean words over a screen is not only on the same par as real life destruction of property, but considerably worse than it?

I'd say they're about equal, actually. And cyber bullying can be much more than "words on a screen." It can ruin people's lives unlike a little property damage. And the more I think about it, I don't think the internet is really replacing any kind of violence in real life. It's more like an additional outlet for people who like to troll/cyber bully. For instance, a kid can get picked on at school and come home and get picked on the same kid online.

[Mark]

And the more I think about it, I don't think the internet is really replacing any kind of violence in real life. It's more like an additional outlet for people who like to troll/cyber bully.

Bingo.

I would go as far to say people are shittier to each other online than they are in real life. That's a major issue.

[travz21]

Cyber bullying isn't anywhere near as bad as real bullying.

[Ryo Hazuki]

This isn't about bullying, but there's been a couple times where I felt like just punching a wall and then instead relieved myself by making a rant online, which might have transferred into a bit of a angry tone with someone if they had bothered me offline... So I'm just saying, online is good to relieve stress sometimes.

[Mark]

Cyber bullying isn't anywhere near as bad as real bullying.

Tell that to the friends and family of Tyler Clementi, Ryan Halligan, Phoebe Prince and Megan Meier.

[Dean]

Past a certain point yeah, I would probably have taken "real bullying" over cyber bullying when I was a kid. People underestimate what verbal abuse can do to younger people sometimes.

[Xero21]

I'm still not seeing it. People trolling obituaries online today were out probably vandalizing cemeteries yesterday, the kid grieving you on Xbox could just have well been that ugly freak shooting small, domesticated animals with a bebe gun a decade ago, and while I'm not going to argue that this generation is a particularly articulate one, I'd say that started a bit before our shiny new computers and text messages.

I'm going to have to agree with this. I don't think society is regressing at all. We've elected an african-american president in the U.S. Gay rights is becoming more widely supported. As someone mentioned earlier, Egypt helped take back control of their country. When you look at the big picture, society is definitely not regressing.

That's the thing though. Technology has helped magnify the small details (as opposed to the big picture) about society that were already there to begin with. Many studies have been done, and it is a psychological fact that when a person is either a) in a large crowd or b) unable to be identified (like wearing a mask), they are much more likely to act cruelly and without inhibition. The internet acts as both. It is a huge, wide open community, and you do not have to identify yourself. So naturally, it brings out the worst in weak minded people.

But those people without the internet would find their own ways to act like idiots. Whether it's being the bully at school, rioting after your favorite sports team loses or writing hateful messages on bathroom stalls, some people are just assholes.

Someone earlier also mentioned we could be going through "growing pains" as a part of so much technology so fast. That makes sense. I completely agree that some people use the internet as a crutch so they don't have to interact with people in person. It drives me nuts when I see people getting all buddy-buddy with people they've never really met on a website like Tumblr. It's sad; you have real friends that give a crap about you, how about spending your time talking with them? That is one aspect of things that the internet has had a negative effect on. But overall, with the amount of information we can access, and how quickly we can access it, the internet has to be considered a plus overall.

[travz21]

Tell that to the friends and family of Tyler Clementi, Ryan Halligan, Phoebe Prince and Megan Meier.

Because that proves I'm wrong how?

[Vriska]

I'm going to have to agree with this. I don't think society is regressing at all. We've elected an african-american president in the U.S. Gay rights is becoming more widely supported. As someone mentioned earlier, Egypt helped take back control of their country. When you look at the big picture, society is definitely not regressing.

That's the thing though. Technology has helped magnify the small details (as opposed to the big picture) about society that were already there to begin with. Many studies have been done, and it is a psychological fact that when a person is either a) in a large crowd or b) unable to be identified (like wearing a mask), they are much more likely to act cruelly and without inhibition. The internet acts as both. It is a huge, wide open community, and you do not have to identify yourself. So naturally, it brings out the worst in weak minded people.

But those people without the internet would find their own ways to act like idiots. Whether it's being the bully at school, rioting after your favorite sports team loses or writing hateful messages on bathroom stalls, some people are just assholes.

Someone earlier also mentioned we could be going through "growing pains" as a part of so much technology so fast. That makes sense. I completely agree that some people use the internet as a crutch so they don't have to interact with people in person.

I agree with this, except


It drives me nuts when I see people getting all buddy-buddy with people they've never really met on a website like Tumblr. It's sad; you have real friends that give a crap about you, how about spending your time talking with them? That is one aspect of things that the internet has had a negative effect on. But overall, with the amount of information we can access, and how quickly we can access it, the internet has to be considered a plus overall.

Not all people are lucky to live in a world where they're loved or understood. One of my favorite aspects of the internet is that you can join a community with some theme that its members have in common. You know, like this forum. Or a forum for cancer pateints, or abuse victims, or gay people, or some other really rare thing that IRL friends just don't understand.

[MKH]

Past a certain point yeah, I would probably have taken "real bullying" over cyber bullying when I was a kid. People underestimate what verbal abuse can do to younger people sometimes.

Agreed. Wounds and bruises heal, but words stick to your mind, especially those that can be seen through stuff like e-mails and instant message logs and the sort.

[ThaHandyman]

Kathy's first post is good. I find myself on both sides of the stor here, sometimes i'll just be eating with my dad at a restaurant and be bored, so i'll pull out my phone and text or read something. Then other times it pisses me off when I'm at dinner with my girl and she's on FB or Twitter half the time.

[SuperDude526]

I'm going to have to agree with this. I don't think society is regressing at all. We've elected an african-american president in the U.S. Gay rights is becoming more widely supported. As someone mentioned earlier, Egypt helped take back control of their country. When you look at the big picture, society is definitely not regressing.

That's the thing though. Technology has helped magnify the small details (as opposed to the big picture) about society that were already there to begin with. Many studies have been done, and it is a psychological fact that when a person is either a) in a large crowd or b) unable to be identified (like wearing a mask), they are much more likely to act cruelly and without inhibition. The internet acts as both. It is a huge, wide open community, and you do not have to identify yourself. So naturally, it brings out the worst in weak minded people.

But those people without the internet would find their own ways to act like idiots. Whether it's being the bully at school, rioting after your favorite sports team loses or writing hateful messages on bathroom stalls, some people are just assholes.

Someone earlier also mentioned we could be going through "growing pains" as a part of so much technology so fast. That makes sense. I completely agree that some people use the internet as a crutch so they don't have to interact with people in person. It drives me nuts when I see people getting all buddy-buddy with people they've never really met on a website like Tumblr. It's sad; you have real friends that give a crap about you, how about spending your time talking with them? That is one aspect of things that the internet has had a negative effect on. But overall, with the amount of information we can access, and how quickly we can access it, the internet has to be considered a plus overall.

While I'd hate to instantly turn this thread political, this isn't the first time in history or even in the 20th century when the Muslim world was swept by revolutions and the toppling of tyrannical regimes. For instance it's already happened for Iran twice in the last 50 years.

And to steer this mother back on topic, I agree but honestly there's nothing you can do. Also what Xero21 said.

[DaMU]

DaMu, you make it seem like I connected two situations together and wrote a rant on the downfalls of technology based solely on those criteria. I would appreciate more credit than that!

That's how it comes off in your original post. (a) The two largest paragraphs in your post are devoted to specific personal experiences with people being socially awkward in the present of online communication. The remainder acts as a support structure of apocalyptic preamble, melodramatic transitions, insubstantial supporting evidence (Youtube comments), and fears you admit to having for a long time. This last point especially puts your whole method of inquiry into question, since it implies you're searching for support for a long-predetermined conclusion (the regression of humanity). (b) Your writing implicitly condemns the Internet. You use phrases like "the negative consequences of this digital world, "the Internet has devolved," and "the Internet has opened a portal," all of which emphasize the "digital world" as the subject. Perhaps it's unwise to personify the Internet this way if your intent is not to devalue the Internet.

Stay frosty.

[Mark]

That's how it comes off in your original post. (a) The two largest paragraphs in your post are devoted to specific personal experiences with people being socially awkward in the present of online communication. The remainder acts as a support structure of apocalyptic preamble, melodramatic transitions, insubstantial supporting evidence (Youtube comments), and fears you admit to having for a long time. This last point especially puts your whole method of inquiry into question, since it implies you're searching for support for a long-predetermined conclusion (the regression of humanity). (b) Your writing implicitly condemns the Internet. You use phrases like "the negative consequences of this digital world, "the Internet has devolved," and "the Internet has opened a portal," all of which emphasize the "digital world" as the subject. Perhaps it's unwise to personify the Internet this way if your intent is not to devalue the Internet.

Stay frosty.

I'm sorry you could not grasp the point I was trying to make like almost everyone else did.

I already further explained what I meant in the exact post you quoted. Thanks for glazing over the other 90% of it. I do not feel like repeating myself.

You've completely missed the point in an attempt to pick apart my sentences and quote them incompletely and out of context.

Stay fastidious. ;)

[DaMU]

I'm sorry you could not grasp the point I was trying to make like almost everyone else did.

The way you word this, I'm not sure if you mean that (a) almost everyone else could grasp the point or (b) almost everyone else couldn't grasp the point. This is the kind of unclear writing to which I'm referring. Regardless, it seems that quite a few posters took your focus to be the Internet itself, among them Agent 0, Raymond, Dean, Benjamin, and Xero.


I already further explained what I meant in the exact post you quoted. Thanks for glazing over the other 90% of it. I do not feel like repeating myself.

People don't "glaze over" text. Their eyes "glaze over" while reading text. Nitpick. Sorry. I read your full post, tacitly agreed with your better-wrought, more specific line on language devolution, and I chose to focus on our point of disagreement, which was your defense that your original post isn't misleading. It is.


You've completely missed the point in an attempt to pick apart my sentences and quote them incompletely and out of context.

No, I highlight examples to explain how a reader might be led to misconstrue your original points.

Love the avatar!

http://i37.tinypic.com/1tofuh.jpg

[Mark]

The way you word this, I'm not sure if you mean that (a) almost everyone else could grasp the point or (b) almost everyone else couldn't grasp the point. This is the kind of unclear writing to which I'm referring. Regardless, it seems that quite a few posters took your focus to be the Internet itself, among them Agent 0, Raymond, Dean, Benjamin, and Xero.

The former.

It's funny how you bring up all those people, because the points they made demonstrated an understanding of what I was saying. They didn't even have to agree with me to demonstrate their comprehension of the main point of my original post.

Agent O: "I see what you're saying Mark. The thought has crossed my mind as well." & "I just wish more people would realize the negative impacts of technology and re-evaluate their lifestyle."
Raymond: "Is technology taking us down a dark path? I can't say for sure. But I do know we need to expect some growing pains. It may take a few years (decades even) for people to strike a healthy balance between everyday human contact and complete technological immersion."
Dean: "It's just something I've came to expect from the internet and I take it with a pinch of salt, fortunately I still don't tend to encounter it that often in everyday life."
Benjamin: [Referring to the second Agent O quote] "Yeah, that's about all I have to say. The internet is a great thing. People just need to learn not to be on it 24/7."
Xero: "I don't think society is regressing at all.", "Someone earlier also mentioned we could be going through "growing pains" as a part of so much technology so fast. That makes sense. I completely agree that some people use the internet as a crutch so they don't have to interact with people in person."

But then you came in defending the Internet and listing off all of the positives about it, without making any comment about how peoples' ability to communicate and be civil with each other online has regressed, which was the main point. I even talked about all the positives the Internet has brought to humanity in my initial post, which made your defensive first paragraph pretty much unnecessary.

My entire problem with your post wasn't the fact you disagreed with me, it's that you insinuated I observed two examples of technology's effect on our communication skills and decided to write an entire rant about it. To me, that's you being patronizing and suggesting I haphazardly threw together a few paragraphs, without much forethought, because I linked two anecdotes together. It's insulting, and that's why I asked you give me a little more credit than that. I spoke to the fact that this topic was something I had taken notice of in recent years. The personal experiences were included to support my argument, not the other way around.


People don't "glaze over" text. Their eyes "glaze over" while reading text. Nitpick. Sorry. I read your full post, tacitly agreed with your better-wrought, more specific line on language devolution, and I chose to focus on our point of disagreement, which was your defense that your original post isn't misleading. It is.

It's an expression. Jesus. How technical are you willing to get? You got the gist of what I was saying, didn't you?

P.S: it's "wrote". Nitpick. Sorry. ;)


No, I highlight examples to explain how a reader might be led to misconstrue your original points.

No, you highlighted examples to explain how YOU were led to misconstrue my original points.

I'm honestly tired of continuing a conversation that is getting further and further away from the topic. If you wish to continue explaining yourself and picking apart my words for reinterpretation, I encourage you to do so via private message. Thanks.

[Iain]

I would like to point out that with every new piece of technology since time immemorial, people have claimed that it will be the downfall of society. Radio would force us to stay indoors, television would further force us to stay indoors and avoid contact with others, and color television would again FURTHER enforce that idea. The Industrial Revolution was seen by many as a sign of the end of the world as we knew it. It's really all a matter of how you look at it, and to be honest, I see a brighter future with the aid of technology than without. Sure, certain things will give us more hassle than they're worth. Sure, certain pieces of technology will claim to solve problems, when in fact we would never have had that problem if said piece of technology wasn't invented. The technology we have now allows us to communicate in ways we've never been able to communicate before. I don't think it's necessarily the fault of the internet, or any piece of technology available to us that people are less inclined to talk to others, or treat them with respect/caring/whatever. I think that's the fault of the people. There have always been people like that, and there will always be people like that. It's just a fact of life.
On top of that, this technology is still relatively new. We're all getting used to balancing use of the internet and text messaging and whatnot with face-to-face interaction. Plus, there are millions of people who do balance the two, on a daily basis. It's all a matter of where you look. Just like with trolls on message boards and such. They are just the loud and annoying minority, but if you go to a board where a lot of trolls gather, they feel like they're the overwhelming majority.


Example: I recently played a game of hockey on Xbox Live against a stranger I had never met. He built up a lead and then proceeded to play keep-away for the rest of the game, circling around his own zone while I pursued him without luck. It didn't anger me so much as it just irritated me that someone could go out of their way to waste the time of a complete stranger by employing cheap tactics. I messaged him after the game asking "why did you do that?" and he proceeded to shower me with racist, homophobic epithets whilst calling me a "n00b" and taunting me for the "pwnage" I had just received. Pressing him further, he revealed that he just wanted to piss me off and make me quit. "Why" again, I ask?


Aside from his racist and homophobic comments, and subsequent taunts, I can't see how what he did was "wrong", as such. The object of a game like that is to get a higher score than your opponent, and then attempt to keep them from passing you. It's simple, and unfortunately some people take it a step further and subject their opponent to ridicule, rather than accepting that they played a good game, and congratulating them on their effort. That's where he went wrong, not when he tried to win the game.

[Dean]

Aside from his racist and homophobic comments, and subsequent taunts, I can't see how what he did was "wrong", as such. The object of a game like that is to get a higher score than your opponent, and then attempt to keep them from passing you. It's simple, and unfortunately some people take it a step further and subject their opponent to ridicule, rather than accepting that they played a good game, and congratulating them on their effort. That's where he went wrong, not when he tried to win the game.
The answer is there within what you've quoted. That sort of play is looked down on as cheap and unsporting, and as far as I know when playing most team sports in real life you can potentially be penalised for it.