Re: The internet: has it become a wasteland?



"Straydog" <asd@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:Pine.NEB.4.63.0607162115590.3657@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


On Sun, 16 Jul 2006, Phil Scott wrote:



"Straydog" <asd@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:Pine.NEB.4.63.0607161156320.25144@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


On Sun, 16 Jul 2006, minnesotti wrote:

Don't forget to take laptop with wireless connection with
you in your
last trip.



I am slowly gettting rid of all my computers and spending
less time on the net. I am slowly spending more time and
effort meeting new people, in person, and developing real
relationships with nearby people. For communication, I am
going back to writing letters, postcards, and spending
more
time with people using ham radio.

And, I'm feeling better all along.

The internet is becoming one vast junkyard. Or, maybe it
already has. Maybe give it to the Indians and they can
become lost, too.


You have failed to notice a few things Dog...

for every reply you get to one of your posts there were
several hundred who have like to reply but didnt for
various
reasons.. your readership is vastly broader than you think.

I read all of what you wrote below, but I think I only need
to put my one response just here. For many years now, I've
been reading books (mostly history but some economics and
banking) and newspapers (mostly WSJ and more recently
Financial Times and The Economist) and when I think what
that reading does for me and then think what I get out of
newsgroups posts and reading newsgroup posts, here is my
conclusion: i) I learn much more from my own reading of
printed material than from reading newsgroup posts, and ii)
reading which stimulates me to respond to posts is mostly
entertaining to me and slightly educational (in the sense
that by writing up my ideas and thoughts, this helps clarify
them for me).

correct..and thats valuable.... you do spend a lot of time
talking to morons though.. Kamal for instance..each of us have
our reasons. sometimes we need the drill... myself I kill
filed him months ago.

I found that by using the killfile I end up with fruitful
conversations...I kill file anyone who responds abusively or
demonstrates confusion or idiocy to anyone...I give em about 2
days trial...then kill file them... I dont think I miss much.

I then have time to converse with a lot of very bright people
on the NG's..with no upset.



If anything, newsgroups are a place more for entertainment
and finding out who has ideas that overlap with mine, or
not. Out of some 15 years of reading endless flamewars on a
wide variety of topics on a number of newsgroups, I can very
easily see where the "Godwin's Law" FAQ comes from.

Using NG's for entertainment is a fatal mistake imho. that
approach pipes you into idiots..thats painful...it is
destructive.




Kamal Prasad's posts, over the last more than one year
(mostly starting off
on how damned good globalization is for the USA [but let's
not acknowledge that its even better for India] and more
recently involving with a wide diversity of ideas of his
that I think are mostly bunk) have stimulated me
to read in the printed media more about the various subjects
(including
some economics, contemporary issues in India society [eg.
Naxalite revolt, Dalits, the Indian lobby, the caste system,
and much economic weakness in


Well see you learned something... you just spent too much time
with Kamal doing it... a week should have been
sufficient...but then each of us has our own lessons to
learn... there are no shortcuts.



India especially when compared to the China threat]). And,
reading the interchange between rrc and KP has been
educational, too. I don't know how many people remember
Pratap Tambay's (he's a Dalit) exchange with KP but I saved
a lot of those posts and its interesting to see how PT's
perception of justice in India is so different from KP's.
Yet, KP considers himself a "voice of India" and definitely
propagandizes his message.


You gained a lot of insight. and thats a very good thing
especially as you explain these on the NG...you just wasted
too much time with these guys in the process is all ... imo.
ymmv.



How many lurkers are out there? I think greatly diminished
from 10-15 years ago. When SRC was mostly about sci careers,
I got quite a few private emails from people and they were
mostly favorable and thankful that I was "telling it like it
is" compared to the likes of Rich Lemert, 3D ("look at me,
I'm doing great"), and a few others who can't see the ***
or refuse to see it,

The idiot class is growing as it is easier to get on the net
these days... just use your killfile early and often.. you
get to skip all that.




or force themselves to look someplace else
(fantasy land & the tooth fairy). Today, and for the last
5-7 years, I've gotten maybe three private emails relevant
to what we discuss here. The rest is overwhelmingly spam and
I have to hit the delete key maybe 20 times everytime I log
on.

I reply only on the NG's keeping it all public..others can
see..a private converstation is a waste of brains... you can
post to these publicly..all benefit that way... if you kill
file the rest.



The lobbying and PR efforts of the big corporations, with
megabuck budgets (all tax deductable to them) are pretty
hard to fight. The presence of the AAAS (Am Assn Advancement
of Science, otherwise known to me as the American Assn for
the Advancement of itSelf, can draw people to its controled
and censored forum without anyone knowing how censored it is
(all in the "free" USA, right?).

Thats why I stay to the NG's...dissemination is broad and
google logs it forever... if you dont post to idiots the body
of your insightful posts accumulates.

There is a limitless amount of idiots in the world...and only
a few bright people. Einsteins said "Intelligence is limited,
but ignorance knows no bottom" or some such... following those
as their logic goes south does limitless damage even if you
are in disagreement... the association itself is destructive.
I dont even see those posts... again..the abusive, ignorant,
confused. idiot class or biased drum beaters...all killfiled.



Most of the media are controlled by "big buck interests" and
there is so much confusion out there, in a society that has
become vastly more complex (because of the net, and blogs),
that its pretty hard to get an important and significant
message into the ears and brains of enough people.

Correct. If you understand that at least 99% will never ever
get a cloo...and do not try to influence these at all... that
leaves you with a 1% audience that will appreciate the
insight...good things spread that way... even as the culture
goes into collapse... you must understand imo...that collapse
is inevitable..

so why carry on as I do for instance? I understand by
probing, and getting feed back from smart people, and proofing
my thoughts as you had mentioned you do...thats valuable..
It can be very pleasant and rewarding, but not if you talk to
tweekers ..kamal etc..those are deliberately destructive you
understand.. thats the nature of idiocy...it is self
destructive...it damages anything it contacts. If you dont
see that, you will pay a heavy price.

If you see that and use your killfile on the NG and so to
speak in life... things get better at warp speed.




One article said there are 22 million blogs on the net. Who
can
follow even a tiny fraction of that?

Don't try...post yer screeds..as a gift to mankind..or
whatever... do not attempt to cope with replies...if you
screen the jerks... a few smart people will reply..you will
see those and that will be fruitful for you.




Think of the subjects that are being
discussed: better sex, breast enlargement, viagara, drug
deals, Elvis sightings, movie media life, Paris Hilton,
Kamal Prasad telling us nothing in the USA is worth anything
and nothing of importance has been invented
or developed here, etc.

Stay off of the dingbat calibre news groups...kill file the
type, dont wait...do it instantly, if they look like there
might be some promise, give em two or three more posts...if
they are still idiots or useless...kill file them.




How else is my postings helping me? Ah... helps keep my
brain alive, wards off Alzheimers, feeds my curiosity, makes
me think for myself.

That is exactly and crucially correct...in spades. If
you talk to idiots though there can be destructive effects
offsetting the gains...if you kill file the idiots, then its
all gains..a very good deal.


Phil Scott


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