The Internet versus “real life”? in Daydreaming on the Porch
- Jan. 16, 2022, 8:05 p.m.
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- Public
I often think about all the reading, learning, entertainment, and social awakening the Internet has brought me, this past year particularly with the pandemic, but every other year, too. The Internet, for better or worse, has become my life’s anchor. I never see anybody but my brother and his girl friend once a week, so being online is my connection to the world of other people. Nature is my connection to the spiritual realms of existence.
At my age, I can’t imagine too much change. When the pandemic eases and I move into my new, much smaller place, I have a feeling I’ll want to get on the road and see some of my good friends in other states. That’s the problem — they live far away. I don’t have any friends here that I have anything in common with.
It’s very true one may not “remember” anything too specific about the tons of stuff we read on the Internet, but I will continue my daily reading habits because what I read and learn in the moment is so fascinating and worth knowing. For the majority of my life there was no Internet, so it changed everything for me, literally. I don’t want to even contemplate what my life would be without it.
Like most of us, I seem to be always searching for some elixir of life, the pure essence of being, experienced in the present, and the hoped for contentment this brings. Many of us, myself included, depend on having constant stimuli. This, of course, can be a big impediment to enlightenment and the simple life, but basically, I think only a very few precepts are simple. Yet it’s those that really hold the key to happiness, or, one might even call it enlightenment.
If the Internet is the tool that enables me to discover more of the vital spiritual truths I seek, then it becomes as necessary to life as air and water. This is not something I say lightly. For The Internet, with all its perils, promise and benefits, has helped me transcend what might have been a very lonely life.
Last updated January 25, 2022
Telstar ⋅ January 16, 2022
Get a mask & get back out in the world.
Can't stay indoors forever.
Oswego Telstar ⋅ January 17, 2022
Oh I have box loads of KN95s. I’m out a lot. Just by myself. Rarely gave contact with people except on, you guessed it, the Internet! 😀
Telstar Oswego ⋅ January 17, 2022
I've actually even thought about getting a part time job.
But they would want me to work on their schedule & that probably wouldn't work out!
Oswego Telstar ⋅ January 17, 2022
Only if I started having to use the food bank. I don’t want to ever see another job or employer again. Thank God I retired 5 years ago.
Newzlady ⋅ January 17, 2022
I can’t imagine what my life would be like now without having had it over the past 20+ years.
Oswego Newzlady ⋅ January 17, 2022
Exactly. I don’t think there’s anyone except extreme Luddites and the very m, very old who rightfully see no point in it. They’ve figured out life without the Internet. Lol
Deleted user ⋅ January 17, 2022
True, and also for me and many others. the internet was a revelation. So much to learn, so much to discover and also to meet people to exchange ideas with. Those who don't know the internet, like my older sisters-in-law (they are all in their 80ies) they still think the internet is a game. Something to amuse you in lost time. It must be very boring to occupy you with it on a daily basis, they say.
Oswego Deleted user ⋅ January 17, 2022
Lol. I had to laugh at that last sentence. The very last thing one can call the Internet is a boring game. Such an endless fountain of information, knowledge, novel insights and unraveling mysteries. The main problem I have is deciding which sites, apps and sources are most worth my tome!
Greetings to you, my friend!
Deleted user ⋅ January 18, 2022
The internet is good for people who didn't grow up with it. I do think the amount of young people who have no social or conversational skills shows that it needs to be kept in its place in favor of real-time, in-person peer interaction among young people. When people in their 20s have not so much had a real conversation with their gender of preference nor been on one date because they lock themselves in a basement (and their parents let them), it just feeds into the social decay rampant these days.
Same for social media disinformation regarding vaccines, politics, science, and health. And cyberbullying. And doxxing. Not big on all the porn, either, given that it has crippled a lot of men who become addicted to it.
Not being a Negative Nelly, but there are a lot of issues that need to be addressed on a societal level. It has stunted emotional growth for a LOT of people.
Oswego Deleted user ⋅ January 19, 2022
You really made some excellent points here, well expressed. It’s true that the Internet has been a life-changing force for good, on balance, for those of us who did not grow up with it. I remember what it was like as a kid to be outside playing in the sunshine and fresh air for hours on end. Video games, social media and all the other enticements of the Internet were as far off in the future as some science fiction novel might daringly portray the it back then.
Lack of face-to-face communication in real life (meaning anything that did not include the Internet) has had serious consequences for the youth of today who don’t even want to talk to anyone on the phone.
I don’t know where all this will lead except to the societal decay that precedes a dystopian future. And global warming and the disastrous disruptions of climate change will only hasten the fortress mentality, the fear, polarization of society and misinformation.
The key to Internet use is being careful and skeptical, but open to the immense journey into the entire universe of knowledge, wisdom, and endless possibilities for good that the Internet has made possible for all of us.
I am immensely fortunate that Ilearned early on how to Navigate and evaluate the Web and all it had to offer.
ConnieK ⋅ January 18, 2022
Online friendships on sites like PB are not only a good remedy for loneliness but it opens new worlds to me: what life in other countries look like or satisfying my curiosity easily or stumbling across a subject that grabs my attention. What would I do if the internet didn't exist? Go to the library, book stores, read an encyclopedia...oh, and I used to write long letters. But I'm really glad they invented the innernet. :)
Oswego ConnieK ⋅ January 18, 2022 (edited January 18, 2022)
Edited
We have two excellent independent bookstores downtown, doing good business. I always considered bookstores and libraries havens of civilization in a rather barbaric world outside their doors! 😊🤔🥺
And yes, indeed it’s true that OD and PB have opened worlds to so many people and enabled amazing friendships to flourish for many years.