If the internet suddenly crashed today what would happen

The internet was originally developed by ARPA (which became DARPA) during the Cold War to maintain communications if there was a nuclear war. I doubt very much it can all be "crashed".

ARPANET

But there was life before the Internet:



Link

Also, before the internet, computers could still be used to create spreadsheets and stuff and also play games that didn't require a permanent internet connection to play.

originally posted by: uninfluenced

A total cut of electric is one thing, because yes itd be inconvenient if you are on a plane and it hapened, but for the vast majority of people on dry land, it would not be that bad if you arent in a vehicle.

But the internet, with so many people basing their lives/ livelihoods on it, if it crashed, and everything was just wiped out, every trace of everything, gone, (dont laugh it could happen)..
what would happen then

You need electricity before you have a functioning Internet. Loss of Internet for a while would be quite bad (generally, business and banking are quite dependent upon it), but a long-lasting electrical grid outage would be extremely bad, especially in America.

Sign up for Frontier "high speed" dsl and find out

I've only read the first post and really only about 1/3 of it because there is only one simple answer. Society would once again be a ton more productive than it's current state.

Kids would be outside once again. Obesity would not be a "growing" problem and porn would be allot more stale as we'd need to rip out those ole glories we used to keep under the bed.

originally posted by: Bearack
I've only read the first post and really only about 1/3 of it because there is only one simple answer. Society would once again be a ton more productive than it's current state.

Kids would be outside once again. Obesity would not be a "growing" problem and porn would be allot more stale as we'd need to rip out those ole glories we used to keep under the bed.

But what about the nature of computation and its tendency to make things more productive and efficient, that being further enhanced by the internet?

a reply to: uninfluenced

Nothing will happen if the internet burns up, fries and shuts down.

The internet is only a gateway for information. That information is on many computers and paper.

Back in the days of land line (home phone), everything still worked even if the phones did not. It was called manual labor swiping those credit cards.

On the other hand. If the electrical supply system shut down, broke, fries up. Then we will be in a mess.

At this point the Internet is an integral part of modern civilization.

It would be extremely jarring to most people on the planet if it went down. A lot of mini holocausts around the globe would go completely unnoticed for starters. People would withdraw into smaller family and community circles. Only the wealthy would really have the resources to know what is happening in the world with any real accuracy. The rest of us would be at the mercy of the elites who own the media, as we were in the 40s and 50s and earlier decades. The world agenda would be set aggressively by the elites to suit themselves, as they attempt to do now, but without informed opposition.

Being in my mid 60s, I remember quite well what it was like to live in a world of limited sources of information. The sense of "us" and "them" was much more pronounced. "They" were virtually unknown. "They" didn't have personalities. There was little that was appealing about "them". "They" could easily be dehumanized and caricatured and demonized. "We" could easily be stampeded against "them". (We still can be, but it was much worse before the internet.)

Many attributes of modernism existed before the internet, but the "modern age" that existed then, before the internet, is a "dark age" by comparison to what happened after the internet blossomed out.

If the internet were subtracted from the scene, by whatever means, it would be a disaster for the world.

It is interesting to note that in Turkey recently, the Supreme Court has refused the government's attempt to ban YouTube. That is a terrific thing. The Turkish court recognizes the importance of what we in our part of the world might think of as simply an entertainment outlet. I would guess that internet service is regulated to some extent in Turkey, but it is a sign of intelligence that the Turkish court has drawn a line in the sand on the issue. I hope that attempts to interfere with a completely free internet, net neutrality, etc. are resisted everywhere.

We could cope without the internet but not nearly to the extent that we do now. If simply coping were the standard, we could go back to the Stone Age and a few people could still cope.

a reply to: uninfluenced

Sorry but it's not possible, It is literally IMPOSSIBLE to crash the internet. You guys can talk conspiracy all you want about the internet kill switch but there is no such thing and never will be. The only way they can stop you from getting the internet is if the government shuts down every single ISP (Internet Service Provider). Just like Albert Einstein said...if everyone didn't think there was a moon would there still be a moon? LOL