(I didn't know WHERE to put this  post, folks.  Where should it go?)

Some of you younglings (by which I mean anyone under 45!) out there may not understand this post.  Just chill, lovely brilliant ones, and maybe grant me the honor of reading my old-lady ramblings.

As many of you know, I am an amateur genealogist.  Well, I just finished watching a show where LL Cool J's family tree was created - - using genetic testing.  His mother was adopted.  AMAZING!!!  And I wonder how anyone can even question evolution these days, when we can be tested to see how much Neanderthal DNA, or Denisovan, that we carry? There was no way to test DNA when I was a girl.  No way to determine "who the father was".  Scientific advancement, people.

But geez, that got me thinking. It's the internet, isn't it? Younglings, when I was 10, there was no internet. No home computers. TV's had three local channels and that was amazing. Hell, there weren't even any phone answering machines. It was a technological marvel to be able to speak to someone in another state. Consider that for a moment. No cellphones. No computers.

I remember being absolutely astounded . . . when I sent an e-mail to my Uncle, who was working in a science lab at the South Pole . . . and got an answer within a half hour!  Letters took more than a week just to get to him! Then my brother showed me a game site.  I played a game of Spades with a couple from Taiwan and a guy from Sweden.  Mind-boggling.

But my friends . . . that's just IT. When I was a little girl, my world was small. Basically, it was school and home and church. It was easy to dismiss the plights of people in other parts of the world. Basically, they didn't exist. We wouldn't ever meet any of them. Then I played a game of Spades with a couple from Taiwan and a guy from Sweden.  In real time. We could chat, and tell each other about our lives. And the world . . . opened. OMG, it makes me so . . . grateful.

It's the internet that has broken our insular tribal thinking. And the internet that has enabled us to see a global humanity.  And the internet that has enabled atheists to share their thoughts and reach out to others. Thoughts, folks? How do you think that global communications has helped atheism?  

The internet takes us out of the community of consequence. I'm sure that a good portion of Christians through history haven't really believed in it, but who would they tell? Now, you can hide behind the curtain in the corner and put forward an avatar, which ironically lets us be more truthful than we would be at church.

Good point fuzz.
I believe the effects are a lot more profound than they seem to be.

eg: the net has opened up world wide instant comms between anyone and everyone 24/7/365. (except Sundays - closed for maintenance).
The young ones are predominantly driving this change. Opening up (anonymously - something which was a huge catalyst) about everything and anything.
Injustices, abortion, sexual orientation, porn, suicide, religion, etc

I think an equilibrium with less extremes is the end result as people in general become more tolerant of the rest of the world which they can clearly see and realise where their thinking stands relative to the new norm. The internet is making us more tolerant, mature quicker, become smarter and MUCH better and faster gossipers! hehe

If an old bastard like me can learn so much from just one forum, for the world, amplify that by onety twoty twenty kabillion!

Internet has just sped up global communication. Even without it religion a.k.a ignorance would have dwindled as humankind gained more and more knowledge.

And if you ever feel that the internet has contributed anything towards our intelligence, spend a few moments in the youtube and facebook comment sections

It's massive amounts of information available to most everyone in the civilised world. That's a great thing. We may not be noticing it, really, but these are unique times. The rate at which we evolve as a civilisation increases exponentially. It's really strage to think about what insane leaps we've come to make in different spheres of knowledge every few years. It used to take thousands of years in some cases to make any significant discoveries in some of these.

If you ask me, it's not too long before we'll gain access to great amounts of information directly through our brains, and then stuff will get pretty weird fast.

(February 17, 2016 at 2:35 am)ignoramus Wrote:

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Good point fuzz.
I believe the effects are a lot more profound than they seem to be.

eg: the net has opened up world wide instant comms between anyone and everyone 24/7/365. (except Sundays - closed for maintenance).
The young ones are predominantly driving this change. Opening up (anonymously - something which was a huge catalyst) about everything and anything.
Injustices, abortion, sexual orientation, porn, suicide, religion, etc  

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Quote: I think an equilibrium with less extremes is the end result as people in general become more tolerant of the rest of the world which they can clearly see and realise where their thinking stands relative to the new norm. The internet is making us more tolerant, mature quicker, become smarter and MUCH better and faster gossipers!  hehe

If an old bastard like me can learn so much from just one forum, for the world, amplify that by onety twoty twenty kabillion!

Yes, Ig . . . you get how I feel, exactly.

(February 17, 2016 at 4:14 am)Aoi Magi Wrote:

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Internet has just sped up global communication. Even without it religion a.k.a ignorance would have dwindled as humankind gained more and more knowledge.

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Quote: And if you ever feel that the internet has contributed anything towards our intelligence, spend a few moments in the youtube and facebook comment sections :  

Yes, Aoi - we do a global   over stupid comments . . . but even that is a good thing. It's good because it's public. That kind of ignorance is probably going to be forced to diminish.  (And then what will we do for entertainment?      )

You know, giving kudos away like candy to anyone posting at all in your thread doesn't exactly make us feel valued for our opinions.

Just saying in case that's what you were doing. I know some OPs use this practice sometimes indiscriminately.

(February 17, 2016 at 2:35 am)ignoramus Wrote:

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Good point fuzz.
I believe the effects are a lot more profound than they seem to be.

eg: the net has opened up world wide instant comms between anyone and everyone 24/7/365. (except Sundays - closed for maintenance).
The young ones are predominantly driving this change. Opening up (anonymously - something which was a huge catalyst) about everything and anything.
Injustices, abortion, sexual orientation, porn, suicide, religion, etc  

I think an equilibrium with less extremes is the end result as people in general become more tolerant of the rest of the world which they can clearly see and realise where their thinking stands relative to the new norm. The internet is making us more tolerant, mature quicker, become smarter and MUCH better and faster gossipers!  hehe

If an old bastard like me can learn so much from just one forum, for the world, amplify that by onety twoty twenty kabillion!

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Sorry Ig . . . the "quote" button under your post won't go back to green!

(February 17, 2016 at 10:43 am)Excited Penguin Wrote: You know, giving kudos away like candy to anyone posting at all in your thread doesn't exactly make us feel valued for our opinions.

Just saying in case that's what you were doing it. I know some OPs use this practice sometimes indiscriminately.

Don't start with the old lady, cutie.  I happened to LIKE every post I have read.  I have created other threads and have not given kudos to every response.

I seriously doubt it that you would have gave kudos to every single post if it weren't your thread.

Not that you can't do that if you like, just be honest about it.

The problem is that the internet also allows people to segregate themselves into virtual communities, and never come across opinions which differ from their own in any radical way. I'm an example of this. Is pend a few hours reading the forum each day, but seldom go further than that. The 'base' of my internet experience consists of a largely closed community of a few dozen people. It's said that the internet allows you to spend a lot of time never once encountering a foreign view. In that sense then, I think the internet insulates as much as it broadens.