The internet is ruining EVERYTHING!!!!!

[TougeLove]

So I was playing Call of Duty the other day and every time you log in, it shows how many people are online. On an average weekday anywhere from 10am-5pm (PST) I have seen 350k-450k. On a weekend it jumps up to 500k+.

My concern is that all of these people are not doing ANYTHING to promote education, athleticism, etc. This is just one game on one platform. Imagine how many people are on other games, facebook, blogging, posting random shit on forums (:rolleyes:), etc.

If you have seen the movie Idiocracy you know where this is all leading too, if you haven't, I suggest watching it.

The internet seems to be creating so many useless achievements such as facebook likes, blog subscribers, game kills, that it will only be a matter of time until the majority of society is genuinely stupid and lacks the intelligence needed to continue living.

Does anyone else feel this way or am I crazy? Or both? I see kids from other countries thriving in math and science and american kids would rather watch tv or play video games.

[DJZ]

So I was playing Call of Duty the other day and every time you log in, it shows how many people are online. On an average weekday anywhere from 10am-5pm (PST) I have seen 350k-450k. On a weekend it jumps up to 500k+.

My concern is that all of these people are not doing ANYTHING to promote education, athleticism, etc. This is just one game on one platform. Imagine how many people are on other games, facebook, blogging, posting random shit on forums (:rolleyes:), etc.

If you have seen the movie Idiocracy you know where this is all leading too, if you haven't, I suggest watching it.

The internet seems to be creating so many useless achievements such as facebook likes, blog subscribers, game kills, that it will only be a matter of time until the majority of society is genuinely stupid and lacks the intelligence needed to continue living.

Does anyone else feel this way or am I crazy? Or both? I see kids from other countries thriving in math and science and american kids would rather watch tv or play video games.

agreed. Welcome to america

[SharkMan]

agreed. Welcome to america

Exactly... just check out our test scores all the way from k thru college just horrible. Because we are too busy eating mc donalds, playing ps3/xbox or posting on zilvia...

Some say, so we are free here. Apparently free means obese, low test scores but still happy. LoL

[TougeLove]

The last part was directed at americans, but I assume there are a bit of kids/youth from other countries who will follow down this path of nothingness.

I am thinking maybe 2-3 generations before we will see a great impact of laziness?

I started thinking about this when I was hanging out with some guys from Germany who never really go online unless they're researching random things. Their jokes about americans were exactly correct.

Just think about what you do in a week that is not positively contributing to a skill, health, or intelligence. What could be done in that time that changes your life or others in a positive way?

[ilikeboost]

Damn military technology. Ruins everything.

[EsChassisLove]

I have an Xbox and PS3 and I don't even play any games.

I have everything to be lazy. I'm just not. Lol.

Parenting and how you're brought up in life has a big role in this also.

[ilikeboost]

I used to never play games even though I had them. Then college came... And as for parenting. I don't think that really has the biggest effect as other factors. After all most kids find some way to rebel against their parents. If it is now or later is the question.

[ghoti]

There's that f*g talk we talked about
http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/6721/idiocracy4.jpg

[Felipe]

If you have seen the movie Idiocracy you know where this is all leading too, if you haven't, I suggest watching it.



Or like the fat people from wall-e :picardfp:

[TougeLove]

I havent seen it yet, but I plan to now.

[OrangeVirus1]

Don't give up hope yet man, according to statistics, only 73% of all americans are obese.


http://geography.about.com/b/2009/01/10/73-of-us-population-overwieght-or-obese.htm

[SimpleS14]

You're not going crazy. It's just that there are so many options out there for most people and usually the "easy life" is what most people desire. Just so happens that this "easy life" can also mean extreme laziness and finding joy in mere gimmicks.

[Matej]

Visit the science/math departments at any US university. Chances are about 50-80% of the graduate students there are foreigners.
Meanwhile, Americans are preoccupied with marijuana legalization and guns.
It is depressing.

[One_love_silvia]

I have an Xbox and PS3 and I don't even play any games.

I have everything to be lazy. I'm just not. Lol.

Parenting and how you're brought up in life has a big role in this also.

or you know...the fact that you're in the navy lmao.


i just picked up archery though to help me get outside. pretty fun.

[LEG1T]

I've also noticed the social awkwardness of people is on the rise, there web hero's... However once you meet them in person they have little to no social skills and seem quite uncomfortable with general human interaction.

Quite sad really.

[OrangeVirus1]

You all just need to get out of America, travel. Come to Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, it's different, and awesome

America sucks.

[zerodameaon]

I havent seen it yet, but I plan to now.

Watch it, it is a direct stab at our current way of life, pretty much like a kids Idiocrocy.

"Rita: You think Einstein walked around thinkin' everyone was a bunch of dumb shits?
Pvt. Joe Bauers: Yeah... Hadn't thought of that.
Rita: Now you know why he built that bomb."

[OrangeVirus1]

I thought the movie was actually pretty good and funny, and it makes perfect sense that American's would want to water their crops with Mountain Dew lmfao

[AFSil80]

If you think this is bad, then I suggest you not read "Behold, A Pale Horse" by Milton William Cooper.

I find his claims about being targeted by the IRS to be a little disturbing, since the IRS has just publicly apologized for harassing Tea Party groups with their audits.

[uraznfriend]

I used to never play games even though I had them. Then college came... And as for parenting. I don't think that really has the biggest effect as other factors. After all most kids find some way to rebel against their parents. If it is now or later is the question.



parenting has a huge effect, rebelling or not most people grow up and realize that their parents are right. all the people I know in college are really grateful that their parents were smart enough to push them to college and shit its the kids that have really dumb parents that mess up shit, imagine Ferrah Abraham's kid when she grows up :duh:

[ilikeboost]

parenting has a huge effect, rebelling or not most people grow up and realize that their parents are right. all the people I know in college are really grateful that their parents were smart enough to push them to college and shit its the kids that have really dumb parents that mess up shit, imagine Ferrah Abraham's kid when she grows up :duh:


Her kid is doomed. Since this thread is pretty much becoming about American society rather than just the internet in American society I figure I'll throw the media under the bus while I'm at it. People are more obsessed with reading about some movie star and who they are dating than they are about their own elections. Whatever on the internet or tv is always right. Don't argue with the news either. They are always right. On the parent subject I find that the overbearing parents fuck their kids up more than the ones that just tell their kids "do whatever you want. But if you go to jail, I'm not bailing you out." A balance seems to work out best from what I saw growing up (not that I'm old) Hey, just blame the hippies. The 60's are largely why we are who we are today anyway.

[EnemyS15]

I like starbucks...

[Matej]

The internet in 2013:
60% content
40% memes

[collegekid]

Don't blame the Internet for problems that people create for themselves. IIRC, the internet was created so that scientists from around the world could interact with each other. Looks what it's turned into.

My take is that on every piece of technology or any kind of development, there will be good intentions at first and then it ends with greedy people using that technology/development to make money.

An example of this are new refrigerators that have a little screen where you can sign onto facebook/twitter. Seriously, people intend on tweeting from their fucking fridge. Instead of using that internet convenience on their fridge to maybe find some recipes or something relevant to food/cooking, people are going to tweet, or just use it once and never touch it (essentially just overpaying for a fridge)

Parenting is a big part if not THE biggest part in childhood development. Every time you hear someone talk about "disciplining their kids" most people just assume that means beating the shit out of them. While that is true to a certain extent, there are other ways parents can discipline their kids. I am very grateful that my parents straight up whooped my ass as a child.


There are countless factors as to why society sucks donkey balls right now, but I'll list what I think are the most important (in no particular order)

- Discipline your kids, beat their asses if you have to. This requires being on the same page with your spouse about what discipline is, where you can be lenient, where you should be strict etc etc

-Teach your kids that America (I assume everywhere else too) is all about Capitalism. Someone is always trying to sell you something. This includes putting an idea in your head so later, you will go out and by something.

-Guide your kids so that they understand the importance of developing a good, moral conscience. There are many gray areas in life, rarely are things easy to distinguish from being right or wrong. Teach them to make good decisions that they can be proud of.

This is all I can think of right now, I am still very aggravated because someone stole my dads phone while he was working his ass off at our Beer store.

I am glad this thread exists. My own friends are too..."distracted" with alcohol and trying to fuck dumb girls ( they are in college, it's the hip thing to do right now) that they completely ignore discussions that require more than 3 brain cells to function at the same time.
Sorry for the long post guys

[ilikeboost]

I never said parenting wasn't a big part of child development. I merely said I don't believe it to be the biggest. Don't forget about culture, gender roles, ect.

Sorry to hear about your dad's phone.

I agree kids should be taught about capitalism. Schools should also stop lying. It's sad to think that all that most people care about is what the new fad is and how they need to smoke weed because "everyone is doing it"
Are there really kitchen appliances to check your facebook? Could it get any worse? Don't answer that...

[TougeLove]

Don't blame the Internet for problems that people create for themselves. IIRC, the internet was created so that scientists from around the world could interact with each other. Looks what it's turned into.

My take is that on every piece of technology or any kind of development, there will be good intentions at first and then it ends with greedy people using that technology/development to make money.

An example of this are new refrigerators that have a little screen where you can sign onto facebook/twitter. Seriously, people intend on tweeting from their fucking fridge. Instead of using that internet convenience on their fridge to maybe find some recipes or something relevant to food/cooking, people are going to tweet, or just use it once and never touch it (essentially just overpaying for a fridge)

Parenting is a big part if not THE biggest part in childhood development. Every time you hear someone talk about "disciplining their kids" most people just assume that means beating the shit out of them. While that is true to a certain extent, there are other ways parents can discipline their kids. I am very grateful that my parents straight up whooped my ass as a child.


There are countless factors as to why society sucks donkey balls right now, but I'll list what I think are the most important (in no particular order)

- Discipline your kids, beat their asses if you have to. This requires being on the same page with your spouse about what discipline is, where you can be lenient, where you should be strict etc etc

-Teach your kids that America (I assume everywhere else too) is all about Capitalism. Someone is always trying to sell you something. This includes putting an idea in your head so later, you will go out and by something.

-Guide your kids so that they understand the importance of developing a good, moral conscience. There are many gray areas in life, rarely are things easy to distinguish from being right or wrong. Teach them to make good decisions that they can be proud of.

This is all I can think of right now, I am still very aggravated because someone stole my dads phone while he was working his ass off at our Beer store.

I am glad this thread exists. My own friends are too..."distracted" with alcohol and trying to fuck dumb girls ( they are in college, it's the hip thing to do right now) that they completely ignore discussions that require more than 3 brain cells to function at the same time.
Sorry for the long post guys

Thank you for your input. You made a lot of good points but i especially liked the one about your friends "ignoring discussions that require more than 3 brain cells". I have the benefit of working for a university and having a lot of friends with masters, j.d., phd, etc and the conversations we get into promote thought and further intellect where as now (without sounding like a educated douchebag which i am the furthest thing from) seems as if people do not care about advancing their minds with a great discussion or debate.

I LOVE FAMILY GUY, but the other people i talk to are slowly becoming one big family guy episode with fart, gay, and sex jokes. its fun sometimes but i can almost see the demise of social interactions happen right in front of me lol

I was the first person on both sides of my family as far back as we can trace to ever go to college, which is why i didnt attend a university until i was 23. There was no importance stressed to me about the need for a degree. My parents are great people, but they lacked the structure needed to raise good kids. Of course "good" is relative and in my case meaning I was not introduced to college or any formal education outside high school. I love them to death, but i needed more structure growing up and a better understanding of how the world really is. I believe some if not most parents do not understand as well so they do not pass on this information not out of laziness, but simply because they do not understand it themselves.

Good discussion so far guys! keep it up. I enjoy reading every post.

oh and read a book. lol. I think this is a contributing factor on all ends. If we read, we want to read more and it would take up time spent playing video games and facebook'ing.

[drift freaq]

Don't blame the Internet for problems that people create for themselves. IIRC, the internet was created so that scientists . ..... lots of stuff deleted...

Woah hold on second here. The Internet was created by the U.S. Government and Nato for defense. It was originally called DARPA Net. It was designed to connect all our defense systems and Nato together. They outgrew it and it effectively got turned over to civilian use. At which point scientists at Universities saw the benefit of linking up the schools so information could be exchanged. The web as we know it did not exist before the mid 90's . Things were connected but in a lot more primitive way. Mailing lists and usenet groups.
Even after the web came about it was still not overly commercialized that started happening in the late 90's but did not hit real hard to till after the first dot com boom and bubble burst. Now its what can I sell you, what game do you want to play and how can I mine your data i.e. personal info so I can sell it someone.

Yup I am going to call out the two biggest offenders here GOOGLE and FACEBOOK. All you Android heads can revel in Android being free and open. Just the way Google wants it so they can collect your data and sell your shit while also selling ads.
FACEBOOK well we all know they just love to circumvent privacy however they can to collect data on you.

Call it tinfoil hat its damn true. Nothing is private anymore.

[zerodameaon]

Yup Google.
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/password_reuse.png

[bc.]

i just picked up archery though to help me get outside. pretty fun.
How is this more beneficial than sitting inside and doing nothing on Xbox? Just the fact that you are outside?

OP you are crazy, people have been wasting time since the beginning of time, the way they waste it is constantly changing though.

Low test scores and participation in math and science is a problem though, but not the same animal.

[zeitgeist]

i agree with bc.

In every country Ive been in (1st, 2nd, 3rd) there are lifestyles that we consider lazy. But alot are the same lifestyles lived throughout hundreds or thousands of years. Where Im at right now, people farm a portion of the day and bullshit the majority of it. I don't consider it lazy it's just how they were brought up. Like bc said we just find new ways to waste time

The majority of the population has been and always will be unintelligent. I don't believe there was ever a point in the history of the United States that the intelligence rate was higher than it is now. I could be wrong, but I'd have a hard time believing it

I do agree with the lack of social skills because of the time spent on computer though. Especially in college. It seems most people aren't comfortable unless there is alcohol involved to lubricate the atmosphere

[Otto347]

This.....................

VLuBA66xc0c

[VNG704]

How is this more beneficial than sitting inside and doing nothing on Xbox? Just the fact that you are outside?

OP you are crazy, people have been wasting time since the beginning of time, the way they waste it is constantly changing though.

Low test scores and participation in math and science is a problem though, but not the same animal.
Participating in outside activities will usually promote athleticism and demotes sitting on the couch eating chips or playing video games all day getting skinny from not eating enough. Neither healthy.
i agree with bc.

In every country Ive been in (1st, 2nd, 3rd) there are lifestyles that we consider lazy. But alot are the same lifestyles lived throughout hundreds or thousands of years. Where Im at right now, people farm a portion of the day and bullshit the majority of it. I don't consider it lazy it's just how they were brought up. Like bc said we just find new ways to waste time

The majority of the population has been and always will be unintelligent. I don't believe there was ever a point in the history of the United States that the intelligence rate was higher than it is now. I could be wrong, but I'd have a hard time believing it

I do agree with the lack of social skills because of the time spent on computer though. Especially in college. It seems most people aren't comfortable unless there is alcohol involved to lubricate the atmosphereSo then it's not getting any worse? You can't deny the ease to get entertainment, from video games or the internet, isn't a huge factor in making Americans(or any other) fatter, dumber, or lazier than before.

[Chuki_KA24e]

How is this more beneficial than sitting inside and doing nothing on Xbox? Just the fact that you are outside?

OP you are crazy, people have been wasting time since the beginning of time, the way they waste it is constantly changing though.

Low test scores and participation in math and science is a problem though, but not the same animal.

You Sir, are a complete fucking moron. How is it more beneficial? Lets think about this one for a quick second here. Real world skills you can actually use to feed yourself with should your government ever attempt total gun control, vs sitting on your lazy ass getting fat and learning to shoot using a video game controller. Last time I checked, no guns I have ever seen have ever had a firing system resembling anything similar to a video game controller. The only thing I can think of being similar are unmanned drones...

Piss poor attitude towards the schooling of today's youth is what's leading to low test scores. The school systems are severely flawed and over crowded to boot. Too many kids with too few teachers who hate their life of teaching is part of the problem. Parents who use absolutely no discipline in the upbringing of their children is another big one. I wouldn't want to do anything either if my parents always gave me everything I wanted and never said no.

Here's a prime example of a teacher who has Zero fucks left to give about the future of tomorrow...

High School Student, Jeff Bliss gives a lesson to his teacher at Duncanville, TX - YouTube (http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3bYv2AKPZOk)

[zeitgeist]

Participating in outside activities will usually promote athleticism and demotes sitting on the couch eating chips or playing video games all day getting skinny from not eating enough. Neither healthy.

yes you are correct. However there are many intelligent people whom see outside activities as a waste of their time and prefer to plant their faces in books or computers trying to learn or solve problems. I wouldnt call these people lazy


So then it's not getting any worse? You can't deny the ease to get entertainment, from video games or the internet, isn't a huge factor in making Americans(or any other) fatter, dumber, or lazier than before.

Absolutely obesity is an epidemic in America. In my opinion dumber and lazier not so much. With a lack of entertainment people tend to sleep or socialize with others more, they don't automatically devote that time to work. Education sadly has never been a priority in this nation reasoning why the majority of students and teachers arent motivated. There always seems to be someone trying to cut funding for it. Parents are the largest culprit imo why most students show minimal interest in education though. Look at Japan or Germany. They have all the same access to technology but their standards and emphasis on education are far above ours. So saying technology makes us fatter, dumber, and lazier doesn't really work. It seems that this is a scapegoat to say why we are sucking instead of looking deeper at ourselves as a nation

You Sir, are a complete fucking moron. How is it more beneficial? Lets think about this one for a quick second here. Real world skills you can actually use to feed yourself with should your government ever attempt total gun control, vs sitting on your lazy ass getting fat and learning to shoot using a video game controller. Last time I checked, no guns I have ever seen have ever had a firing system resembling anything similar to a video game controller. The only thing I can think of being similar are unmanned drones...

Piss poor attitude towards the schooling of today's youth is what's leading to low test scores. The school systems are severely flawed and over crowded to boot. Too many kids with too few teachers who hate their life of teaching is part of the problem. Parents who use absolutely no discipline in the upbringing of their children is another big one. I wouldn't want to do anything either if my parents always gave me everything I wanted and never said no.

Here's a prime example of a teacher who has Zero fucks left to give about the future of tomorrow...

High School Student, Jeff Bliss gives a lesson to his teacher at Duncanville, TX - YouTube (http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3bYv2AKPZOk)

Let's try and stay civil. No he's not a moron. Picking up archery instead of Xbox really serves our society no better except in health terms(saving the country money of health care costs because of exercise) Reading a book inside and becoming more intelligent would do a better job of what you are explaining.

[VNG704]

yes you are correct. However there are many intelligent people whom see outside activities as a waste of their time and prefer to plant their faces in books or computers trying to learn or solve problems. I wouldnt call these people lazy
Obviously. This is a do something outside/productive vs get on the net to check FB status or game thread so I assumed that goes without saying.

[SharkMan]

Yah exactly, who needs to go out and socialize to meet people and be active when you can do that on the world devouring Facebook? I mean the life sucking structure of fb is pure genius, I've seen it take over and replicate peoples lives with the quickness. They even got it down to the drama factor, I mean to find out what your doing all your x's have to do is read your wall :picardfp:

And a little off topic but ya wall-e is making fun of our current ways of life, but who cares? Wall-e blows Jonny 5 would whoop his ass with the quickness.

I digress though to point out the fact that Im addressing the fact that people are living their lives more virtually then actually living but the asinine part is I'm posting this on an internet forum...

[Akito86]

You all just need to get out of America, travel. Come to Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, it's different, and awesome

American ways sadly suck.

I've also noticed the social awkwardness of people is on the rise, there web hero's... However once you meet them in person they have little to no social skills and seem quite uncomfortable with general human interaction.

Quite sad really.

This thread it's Great! You gentleman above hit the nail perfectly, thank you!

[bc.]

Participating in outside activities will usually promote athleticism and demotes sitting on the couch eating chips or playing video games all day getting skinny from not eating enough. Neither healthy.
Very true, but I don''t think that is the internets' fault, that is just lazy people being lazy. The benefits of the web have far outweighed the drawbacks, imo. As for people being more socially awkward, that's just more girls for me to talk to at the bar since the guys are in playing CoD on Friday nights.

You Sir, are a complete fucking moron. How is it more beneficial? Lets think about this one for a quick second here. Real world skills you can actually use to feed yourself with should your government ever attempt total gun control, vs sitting on your lazy ass getting fat and learning to shoot using a video game controller. Last time I checked, no guns I have ever seen have ever had a firing system resembling anything similar to a video game controller. The only thing I can think of being similar are unmanned drones...
Says the guy from "Floriduh", who is arguing over the internet about how the internet is ruining everything so he can get his jollies off. I don't know what, if anything, you said has to do with this conversation. Learning archery is a betterment to mankind??? Too bad there wasn't internet back when you were a baby, or your daddy would have known not to poke your soft spot.:blah::blah::blah::blah::blah::blah:

[singlecamslam]

If you dont like the direction the country is going, than its up to YOU to educate your kids. Dont rely on school systems, parents should be involved too. Kids these days are raised to be pussies its sad, wheres the grit?

[Thaiboy]

On the other hand, the internet is a pretty useful tool whether it be for finding more information (i.e. DIY's on how to install parts or diagnosis of issues), getting items from far away(overnight parts from Japan :P), or even making more real world contacts (car buddies that can help you work on your car, job hook-ups, recommended shops, etc...).

One could even say the internet is like a 240sx. There is a lot of potential, but only a few will utilize some of the many features it has to offer. Just as there are many people that are cheap and rice out 240's, there are many people that are lazy and don't take advantage of the many features that the internet brings.

[Chuki_KA24e]

Very true, but I don''t think that is the internets' fault, that is just lazy people being lazy. The benefits of the web have far outweighed the drawbacks, imo. As for people being more socially awkward, that's just more girls for me to talk to at the bar since the guys are in playing CoD on Friday nights.


Says the guy from "Floriduh", who is arguing over the internet about how the internet is ruining everything so he can get his jollies off. I don't know what, if anything, you said has to do with this conversation. Learning archery is a betterment to mankind??? Too bad there wasn't internet back when you were a baby, or your daddy would have known not to poke your soft spot.:blah::blah::blah::blah::blah::blah:

Says the guy who apparently can't read. I never said archery was a betterment to mankind, I said it was more useful than playing video games as far as skills and life experience are concerned.

You should really think about what you say before trying to make yourself look smarter than everyone else, it just makes you look like a tool...

My dad was killed by a drunk driver 2 months before I was born, thanks for the nice comment about him though.

[Moncef]

Internet is simply a tool. Ever see a child jam a fork into an electrical socket? Forks aren't ruining our children, our education, our future, America. No, you eat with the fucking things.

It's all in how you use it, people are free to do what they want with their time.

Schools won't raise our kids for us. The point of procreation is to instill some kind of progress or improvement over your generation and previous generations, so you should raise your children as such.

[bc.]

My dad was killed by a drunk driver 2 months before I was born, thanks for the nice comment about him though.
Shitty if true, shameless if not...

You know what the last thing that was ruining society? TV. Before that, radio. I think society can handle the internet just fine.

[deolio]

the internet is just like anything. use it in moderation. but people become addicted to the escape they find in video games, memeing, and trying to be e-famous similar to how people are addicted to drugs or alcohol (minus the chemical side effects).

america's downfall is not due to the internet, it's just the effect of hegemony.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c400/mexfoodisgood/heg_zps4e4327d0.png (http://s31.photobucket.com/user/mexfoodisgood/media/heg_zps4e4327d0.png.html)

you can only be a world power for so long before your population gets greedy and cocky and starts spending money they don't have on shit they don't need. the debt catches up and no one finds your shit cute anymore.

basically, this
http://chezstu.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/fight-club.jpg?w=640

funny how everyone references film...

[singlecamslam]

This will happen
http://mimg.ugo.com/201104/0/9/1/187190/cuts/overlogging_480_poster.jpg

[J3123MY]

lol everyone on here wasted time on the internet posting meaningless posts. I waste some time but a lot less than the average american. Don't want to spend my life glued to a screen.

[Maikeru5]

There are over 315 Million people in this country, and you're worried that the couple million (mostly children) playing video games on the weekend is destroying the country?


Right.

[Corbic]

Exactly... just check out our test scores all the way from k thru college just horrible. Because we are too busy eating mc donalds, playing ps3/xbox or posting on zilvia...

Some say, so we are free here. Apparently free means obese, low test scores but still happy. LoL

Is it Video games, or our overpaid unionized teachers that don't give a shit and teach kids irrelevant garbage?

[sleepyS14se]

So I was playing Call of Duty the other day and every time you log in, it shows how many people are online. On an average weekday anywhere from 10am-5pm (PST) I have seen 350k-450k. On a weekend it jumps up to 500k+.

My concern is that all of these people are not doing ANYTHING to promote education, athleticism, etc. This is just one game on one platform. Imagine how many people are on other games, facebook, blogging, posting random shit on forums (:rolleyes:), etc.

If you have seen the movie Idiocracy you know where this is all leading too, if you haven't, I suggest watching it.

The internet seems to be creating so many useless achievements such as facebook likes, blog subscribers, game kills, that it will only be a matter of time until the majority of society is genuinely stupid and lacks the intelligence needed to continue living.

Does anyone else feel this way or am I crazy? Or both? I see kids from other countries thriving in math and science and american kids would rather watch tv or play video games.



i am one of those 350-450k people lol... I only use my xbox at night time because it is my way of relaxing. I do not go clubbin or drinkin/partying so my way of calm down time/personal relaxation time is on my xbox especially call of duty BO2.

And i am a father of a 6 month old son and he is taken care of and is 1st priority for me and my wife

[tiggertsi]

Does anyone else feel this way or am I crazy? Or both? I see kids from other countries thriving in math and science and american kids would rather watch tv or play video games.

i realize i am coming into this one late BUT ..............

in response to the OP I would suggest a read of the book 'Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business' by Neil Postman written in 1985. Neil Postman is a true prophet.

from the wiki article here.......
Amusing Ourselves to Death - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amusing_Ourselves_to_Death)

"The essential premise of the book, which Postman extends to the rest of his argument(s), is that "form excludes the content," that is, a particular medium can only sustain a particular level of ideas. Thus Rational argument, integral to print typography, is militated against by the medium of television for the aforesaid reason. Owing to this shortcoming, politics and religion are diluted, and "news of the day" becomes a packaged commodity. Television de-emphasises the quality of information in favour of satisfying the far-reaching needs of entertainment, by which information is encumbered and to which it is subordinate."


apply that reasoning and the other concepts he lays down in this short but difficult read to other "social" technologies such as cellphones or social media sites and the train of thought is disheartening and eerie to say the least. i've read this book more than a dozen times very slowly and thoughtfully and am always amazed at how much this man saw exactly the 'idiocracy' that has come and has yet to blossom into it's true fruition. In fact I would say this book completely changed my worldview. And after every fresh reread of this book I always find a new concept or something else not noticed before.