Internet Access More Important Than Sex, Alcohol: BCG Study

Internet Access More Important Than Sex, Alcohol: BCG Study

finance.yahoo.com

Asked what they would give up for a year in order to maintain access to the Internet, 77 percent of Americans said they'd forgo chocolate, 73 percent alcohol, 69 percent coffee and 21 percent said they would go a whole year without sex.

...In the past, amenities like alcohol, chocolate and (certainly) sex were considered 'recession-proof' -- but none of them had the power to boost the economy like the Internet. It really is a 'new era', after all.

(visit the link for the full news article)

The internet has a pernicious hold on our minds, ATS. If you are a net addict like me, you probably don't even need to be told this.

If somebody had told me 20 years ago that I'd be spending most of my waking hours peering at a little screen not only willingly but joyfully, I'd never have believed it. And yet for many of us, the Internet really has subsumed "real life". The rise of phenomena like Facebook and smartphones only makes the iron grip stronger.

These are not necessarily new ideas, but we should stop and consider them carefully when we get the chance. There has been almost no debate on the negative aspects of widespread internet use. Are there any? Or should we all welcome our (often self-constructed) frontal-lobe-and-eyeball prisons?

finance.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

We live in the internet era. You either have to adapt to it, or it'll leave you behind. I like the concept of "Keep it Simple Stupid" personally, but yeah... the internet has become a massive part of my life.

I'm not scared to admit it.

More important than sex? Yeah, I don't think so.

Originally posted by MrUncreated
More important than sex? Yeah, I don't think so.

It's the source of all sexuality for millions, don't forget.

Lots of lonely people out there.

I have to have both.

Alcohol and Internet.

I can do without the loving.

The only thing I would trade for the internet is church. But I don't go to church anyhow... I'll keeps my booze, sex and other stuff thank you very much.

Americans spend about thirty billion hours a week watching television, as disgusting as that statistic is, can you imagine the number of hours in a week we probably spend on the internet? 30 billion hours a week of television, and god knows how many on the internet... I wonder what we could have accomplished with all those 'manhours' if we weren't sitting on our collective butts, a couple hundred Great Pyramids and Panama Canals.
I don't why I recall this just now, but I remember watching an episode of Scooby Doo with a friend when I was kid, something about controlling young folks with rays from the television and I looked at my friend and said 'That's creepy.' My friend looked up and said, "Huh?"

I think about this, because I qualify.

www.scientificamerican.com...

Here is what I wonder about this disorder - what would I be doing otherwise? What is it feeding in my personality? What is it taking away?

I suspect, I'd be bored out of my skull. When I was young and pre-internet (gasp!) and pre-BBS, I'd spend my time at the library, the book store. Later I'd go to those, have the Internet and do social stuff.

Now, I have to be around but my brain is really not required for everything. I'd be BORED. Desperately, horribly, throw myself out of the window for excitement kind of bored.

Then I think about distributed tribes and human archtypes. The Geek of Minutia for example. What did the poor geek of minutia do when they were one of a kind and had no way to meet up with their "tribe?"

The geeks took over the World once they had a way of finding each other.

I'm not trying to minimize what is a problem in the population. Recognition of what it is that people are getting out of it that isn't a shame method is probably the key to gating or redirecting some of it.

Of course you can give up sex. Think about the world wide web of porn out there. Who needs sex when there is porn!

i'm pretty sure I could manage a life without any of those things.

I don't think women need sex as much as men do. If at all.

Originally posted by GlisteningSac

Originally posted by MrUncreated
More important than sex? Yeah, I don't think so.

It's the source of all sexuality for millions, don't forget.

Lots of lonely people out there.

Yep. There's Mother Theresa, and then there's Gianna Michaels. Who is the true Sister of Mercy?

We report, you decide.

reply to post by silent thunder


It's not surprising at all.
After all, what addictions mask is a craving for communication, a feeling of void in life.
Not that the internet is necessarily very effective in filling that particular void, certainly not with high quality communication.

Originally posted by MrUncreated
I don't think women need sex as much as men do. If at all.

*Currently sporting a WTF face*

Without the internet I might actually have a tan...
MIGHT I said..Don't get too excited now.

HUMAN INTERACTION IS MORE IMPORTANT

In today's world, every hour, every day, every month and every year the weight of so called "social media" is placing a strain on every single person regardless if he or she is connected to the internet or is a casual user of the internet.

We have a seen a transition of so called social media that only five years ago was holding up the flag and pounding the drums as advocates of privacy and now, what has been achieved is a full blown assault on social media users that were tricked into applying that intelligent gathering information under the disguise of " its fun, connect with old friends " . Far to many are not aware of the implication's of social networking and real life applications. We all seen and slowly some have figured out that every single byte that has been collected has been forwarded to conglomerate giants that do influence, trends, consumption, ideology, religion, global events. Study's such as these pointing out that the internet is more important than sex, alcohol, human interaction and is what all of need to look at and take a very serious note of.

As person who earns a living through social media and its application i will point out one thing. Yes it is possible to earn a living and if one chooses to earn a living through social media applications then that also includes influencing peoples opinion and psychological state of mind. Before you or anyone begins to round up the town so as to burn me in the public square i would like to point out one simple thing. Social media application and methods has simply digitized the real world but the difference ins that one can alter the digital world in comparison to real life. This is one of the core reasons why social media and new instruments of hi-tech are all geared to handle all social media applications and lets not forget to allow further reach of those who require to reach you without your knowledge.

In closing people, do what i do, Sunday's i simply disconnect from the internet, battery and phone become two items i leave on the kitchen table and i simply go about my Sundays as i did before the cell phone invasion into everyone's back pocket was upon us. Oh i remember the day's that someone would phone me at home and since i would be out walking the dogs or simply having dinner they couldn't find me. Nowadays's, if the cell phone rings and you don't big up, some people get offended or grumpy, sigh.... i am considering extending my Sunday ritual to Saturday, the only thing that is left, is to find a way to automate my Saturday's without me needing to be there.

I'd have a hard time giving up the chocolate or coffee....I can do without alcohol and sex just fine. I never take chocolate or good coffee for granted. These are more than mere commodities to me, they are an integral part of my being...but so is the internet....

reply to post by totemcrocodile


Chocolate and Sex...is what my diet consists of, well i dont eat the chocolate, not all of it, but i guess that's another topic for another web site.

I'm not surprised by this.
Internet "addiction," is a new type. I recently heard from a friend who works at a rehab, he said they just added two new members of their staff. One deals only with texting addiction, one deals with Facebook addiction.
As humerus as someone checking into rehab for a facebook or texting addiction may seem, these are simply other addictions with a different face. Facebook allows a constant connection with anyone in your social "sphere." You can control your image and impressions on facebook much more easily than you can in real life. If gives the user a certain level of control that the real world does not afford. You can be the more favorable version of you without hiding behind an avatar or anonymous post. This can be addicting, especially for people prone to codependent behavior.
What about those of us who are far more addicted to other websites and internet communities? Well, the same principle applies. Except for sites like ATS, Reddit, ect there is a slightly different appeal. Being members of this site makes us feel like we are connected to issues beyond our normal daily experience. We matter in issues of politics, religion, international occurrences, ect.
In a Interpersonal Communications class, my professor said that computer mediated communication has rendered us people who are "loosely tethered" together. I couldn't agree more.
On a personal note, I broke my laptop charger yesterday and had a small conniption fit. Am I an addict? hmm...

If you get to the point of having a domestic violence episode with your modem, we may need to talk.

I suspect that it is more in some cases (like mine) than just an addiction. You asked for it so here it is. If I have tendency towards greater plasticity for some reason, I might not enjoy the homoestatic state that others fall into in their adult brain.

If I have a physical wiring or a psychological retention for child like qualities, then seeking ways to rewire might be a necessity. Rewiring the brain in response to a constantly dynamic feed become a method of rewiring. More, if you look at the Internet as a communal brain and a storage center, it becomes apparent that some people are using the Internet as an extension of various prefrontal cortex functions. A working memory extension for example.

For example, I have this image in my head of what a working memory in a person with a good working memory looks like, and then a comparison of someone using a Google-Extension for working memory might have pathways that look open-ended. Like they connect with nothing.