An Internet Experiment

Didn't know where else to put this, so if it's in the wrong area.....my apologies to staff.

A couple of weeks ago, closer to a month actually, I was faced with a decision; do some repairs to one of my vehicles or pay the cable bill. The result was that I didn't have cable TV or the internet for close to a month. I could just as easily have told people that I was cunducting an internet experiment because the outcome of not having those luxuries was a little eye-opening.

I found out that life slows down a bit when you don't have the internet. Life goes on of course, but since the rest of the world is on "internet time" so to speak, you feel like you're moving at a different pace than everyone else. I found that the lack of news was a bit refreshing. I can't say that it makes me feel better or worse, just......different. I found out how much I missed sitting down with my LP records and a good book and just relaxing with those after a good days worth of work. I re-discovered the best song Elton John and Bernie Taupin ever made. (See link) I was actually able to write a lyric too during my "down time". Something I haven't done for about a year. After I get done editing it I'll share it here.

From what I can remember, this internet time that we're living in right now didn't really exist 25 years ago. The whole world wasn't connected to itself to the extent that it is now. That, in and of itself, is a self-made change, and one that we seem to not be able to live without anymore. For better or worse, we're all connected at a higher rate of speed than ever before. I remember when I was a young boy I had a pen pal from Argentina. I was connected with someone else who, at the time, I thought was a world away. (Even the world seems smaller somehow with all the technology we have.) But it would take a week or two to have communications that now would take a matter of minutes. Does this higher rate of communication make us better off ? I personally don't see how. The same things are being said, they're just being said and responded to quicker.

This younger generation doesn't have examples like that to draw on, so they don't know from experience how communicating with people can be any different from how it is now. My 12 year old daughter knows more about how to program a cell phone than I do. And that does help me. The reverse side of that coin is that if something ever happens to the electrical grid or all the satellites we have floating around, the younger generation may have to turn to older people to learn how to get by without what really is just a luxury. They may have to turn to us so they can find that the reality of the situation that we're in right now is, again, a luxury that we don't neccesarily need to survive.

That last sentence is only true though in a SHTF scenario. As it stands right now, as I type these words, this luxury really is a necessity. While I admit that life was a bit slower and more relaxing when I wasn't "plugged in", it was rather annoying to try to keep up with my finances at the same pace that everyone else was keeping up with my finances. Like my job and my bank. Out of the 7 necessary bills that I have to pay, 5 of them, when you get on the phone to make a payment, will kindly remind you that you can do the same thing online. You can't help but get the inpression that they're a little annoyed that you're going the phone route. Maybe I'll REALLY piss 'em of and mail them a check.

I'm obviously connected again, but I see things a little differently now. If I'm watching the news, it doesn't last as long as it used to. I'll either change the channel or turn it off. I'm finding that I just don't care that much anymore. In the 3 weeks I was down nothing has really changed. Politicians are still stupid, the rich are still greedy, religions are still controlling and the common man seems to have no direction. The details of all of those facts are kind of redundant to me because the details aren't there to help things change and make things better. They're there simply to inform us that they're......still there?

I don't spend as much time on the internet either. I've noticed that, for me at least, the images from television and the computer have one thing in common. They're short, fast and choppy. The TV especially. For some reason I'm more in tune with how shows and commercials are edited. Whether it's intentional or not, they seem to be edited so the viewer doesn't have to spend so much time thinking about one particular subject, or scene, at a time. As if a long attention span is something that will get in the way of the consumer spending money. This is someting else the younger generation will have to acclimate to if the SHTF. Without all those short, choppy images bombarding them everyday, they'll have to deal with doing things that require a longer attention span. Like reading a book, tending to a garden, riding a bicycle, listening to "The Dark Side Of The Moon" in it's entirety witout a break. I'm not saying that all things like that are a lost art form to the younger generation, I'm just saying that they will be as prevelant again as they once were, and that will take some getting used to for the people who never knew that way of life.

So when I get bored with the TV or the computer, which happens faster now than it used to, ( How ironic, right? )I just turn on some music and keep plugging away at the Keith Richards autobiography that the local library so kindly let me borrow. What's going on in the world? I have a good idea. I may not know the specifics, but I know enough to know that I don't need the specifics. I can't make the world a better place by sitting back watching how bad it is. What I can do is make my own little corner of it as peaceful and prosperous as it can be, and maybe people will pick up on that and acclimate it into their on lives in a way that works for them.

Just thought I'd share this little part of my life with everyone here because I never thought that not having what everyone else has would effect me the way it did.



youtu.be...

This was a very good read. Thank you for sharing your experience.
You seem to have hit the nail right on the head.

S+F from me.

reply to post by Taupin Desciple

See, you "woke up" by tuning out. I relate. I was "outdoors" for 7 years and I found that for the most part the world just continued without me. When I eventually tuned back in it was like picking up right where I left off. By that I mean I didn't miss a thing. Literally. NO-thing had changed. All the expectations, hustle and bustle, self centered, goal oriented rat race was right where I left it. Ewww, I said in disgust.
And all that glitter on the news and in stores, all that temptation to be more and have more, had fled from me. I am no longer duped by a news broadcast or a commercial to believe or buy, buy, buy!
It's wonderful huh?

Every one should tune out periodically so as to stay in touch with their inner voice.

What people did 25 years ago was spend their leisure time on other things.

Because you freed yourself from the tethers of the net, does not mean you found the old freedom... It means you freed yourself from a leisurely activity.

Like, say 25 years ago you tell an avid fisherman to stop fishing. He'll find he has more time on his hands than he knows what to do with.

Times change.

I do agree we are spending an inordinate amount of time online, but think.. Social Media used to be meeting at a coffee shop.. or the pub.. chit chat, gossip, slander, tirades... you unfriend someone then by stop going.

Now it's just easier to do, but it's still the same.

25 years ago, it was the same... just different.

Even then people decided to just go bush or stop going to the local... stop dancing and no disco..

they didn't invent it, nor did you... time outs are what people find intriguing, if not, illuminating.

Why does a hermit who lives in a cave do it, if not to get away from it all - and he's as old as time itself.

Originally posted by intrptr
reply to post by Taupin Desciple

 

See, you "woke up" by tuning out. I relate. I was "outdoors" for 7 years and I found that for the most part the world just continued without me. When I eventually tuned back in it was like picking up right where I left off. By that I mean I didn't miss a thing. Literally. NO-thing had changed. All the expectations, hustle and bustle, self centered, goal oriented rat race was right where I left it. Ewww, I said in disgust.
And all that glitter on the news and in stores, all that temptation to be more and have more, had fled from me. I am no longer duped by a news broadcast or a commercial to believe or buy, buy, buy!
It's wonderful huh?

Every one should tune out periodically so as to stay in touch with their inner voice.

Well said !!

Ahh the glitter and temptation has never been big for me, so I've watched the world pass on without me. And it is sad t see so many people merit the worth of what they have, over who they are.

I have little, I want little, and I need little.

I'll never understand someone who has everything and still complains...

reply to post by Ghost375


Thank you. I also found out that when I don't write for quite a while, when I start back up again I can be more articulate and make my thoughts a bit clearer.

reply to post by intrptr


It is wonderful actually, thanks. It turns out that there actually is something to this Matrix thing people keep talking about. One of those unseen forces that you don't recognize until you're away from it.

S&F! I may have to tryiout this Internet Experiment out.

I am currently in an experiment of my own: the cell phone experiment. 6 months with no cell phone. As an 18 year old, who has had a cell phone since 10 years old, being disconnected from the main form of communication of my peers (texting) is extremely hard. One thing I have noticed though is how much focus my friends put on their phones, even when we are in a group setting. It gets kind of annoying when no one will hold a conversation with you because they are so zoned into their 5 other textversations. It is hard, but I can see daily how it allows me to connect with people in a way my generation has seldom experienced. But man, sometimes I really wish I had myself one of those new Iphone 4S, just so I could tinker around with what exactly Siri is capable of (great tech there btw, although nothing new in itself, Apples implementation is revolutionary).

Great read, great experiment. Again, I might just have to try this.

Originally posted by Ha`la`tha
What people did 25 years ago was spend their leisure time on other things.

Because you freed yourself from the tethers of the net, does not mean you found the old freedom... It means you freed yourself from a leisurely activity.

That's true. I've replaced one activity with another for the most part. In a way it's like getting back to my roots. The way I was before the internet changed the way the world essentially is. The way everyone of my generation was. It's this up and coming generation that concerns me a little. This is the main form of communication they know. Sure they have cell phones, but a lot of kids do far more texting than talking. And because the need for speed is there, abbreviations and shorter variations on words are becoming far more commonplace. The English language is changing to conform with the technology. If the technology no longer existed, how well could they acclimate to that change?

I know the English language has constanly changed through the years, but to see it happening before your very eyes is........interesting.

reply to post by Taupin Desciple


Ahh we agree mate

Various websites that carry a far less strict rule on the language, wow it's insane.

While I may not be 100% proper, I do try.. but when I see someone blatantly u no rite, lyk dey r jus rtards...

ARGHHHHH!!!! makes me want to beat their parents..

I do not want to live in a world where that is acceptable. and unless it is considered 'FAIL' it will be.. we're doomed brother... doomed..

I just thank god I'm here only for a limited time, and not for eternity.. Who could stand a grumpy old 6000 year old dude...

ATS kill the button after the first post.

Lag makes your server fuller!!!

Originally posted by Taupin Desciple
reply to post by intrptr

 

It is wonderful actually, thanks. It turns out that there actually is something to this Matrix thing people keep talking about. One of those unseen forces that you don't recognize until you're away from it.

It's that distance and time that provides that objective view? Or is there also a subliminal quality that keeps us hypnotized to the giles of the system? Maybe its simply our pleasure centers being invoked too much? We all have a sweet tooth, an ear for musical sound and our longing for touch, etc. They just use our senses against us or is it something deeper contained within the broadcasts that lures us in and keeps us hooked? Like a sound or light frequency maybe? Something that gets past our reason and drives right into our emotions? Dunno...

www.abovetopsecret.com...
www.abovetopsecret.com...
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Some examples of the sublime...
Many more search ATS, "subliminal ads" or "messages"

Very cool, been there too, last school holidays and camping...
It's deffinately healthy (mentally) to have a break every now and then.

S&F for you sir.

Its funny how cutting out something so routine in our lives changes our whole perception on life as we know it. The other day I listened to the album I Robot by Alan Parsons Project with some decent speakers. The whole thing, in the dark, fully awake. I didn't think you can achieve dissociation without the use of drugs until then.

When I Backpacked around the world a few years ago, I had zero tv and very little internet for almost 2 years.
I found that during this time, I became more aware of the world around me, I noticed things i never would normally notice especially regarding the nature and the beauty of our planet.. Also my interaction with other people was greatly increased as you have no choice in that sort of life..

Since i returned to western society, i got back into this world and I stopped noticing those things in nature, I live in a city where you may not even know your next door neighbor, and i sit checking for news daily on the internet.. (tv is still almost still zero)

Whilst technology has been fantastic for human society there is a part of it that is not so good..

Good post op... S n F....

I agree, good post. Every few months I de-activate Facebook for a few weeks because it's refreshing, it's great to go out into the world and not have a clue what any of my friends have been up to and have to ask them about their recent goings on. I strongly recommend it.

A recent family dinner I was talking to family members who say they use Twitter and stuff. I've personally never had a smartphone (iPhone etc) and in part I'm glad, because it seems everyones life then becomes obsessed with updating, tweeting, posting updates and stuff I just don't really see as a necessity in life. My cousin was telling me how he'll watch a football game - well, not watch, he'll watch the twitter updates on his phone and not look at the TV. I found that a bit sad, moreso the fact he's not alone with that kind of thing.

There was a good article not so long ago about a concert or something, and the artist was annoyed at people taking photos the whole time, saying - just watch the show and enjoy it, stop trying to capture it to show your mates. I totally agree. I'm not saying ban photos or anything, and of course I would probably want to take a pic or two myself, but I'm not going to stand there and constantly update my facebook at an actual event - it just seems really sad.

But you're right that is the age we live in, where everyone is obsessed with what everyone else is doing, and we've almost become obsessed with telling the world what we're up to ourselves. But yes, turning off the internet/facebook can feel good. But admitedly, it does become quite hard after a while - so it's an addiction. If there is a SHTF situation and the internet is broken worldwide for a month or two, I think we'd probably see an increase in crime, agression and such. Which is kind of worrying. S&F

Thank you for your words, you refreshed me.

I have to admit, I do spend way too much time on the internet. A few weeks ago the power went out in my apartment for a couple days and let me tell you, I had a very hard time getting by without electricity.

Nice read, thanks for sharing )

reply to post by Ha`la`tha


Connecting on the internet is still the same as sitting outside in the sun with a friend?
If you really think so, then am sorry mate. Hope not many people think like that.
Peace

P.S. Kudos to OP for posting the original post.