What are the philosophical implications of the internet?

[Ivan Seeking]

I was just curious about your philosophical perspectives here.

 

[NateTG]

That's a bizarre question

Do you think the internet is green?

 

[chroot]

The internet is a just a communication technology; it is neither inherently good nor bad. It can be used for good purposes, and it can be used for bad purposes, but it has no inherent "goodness" or "badness" any more than does a steak knife.

- Warren

 

[chroot]

Do you think the internet is green?

Yes. Green feathers, to be exact.

- Warren

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I meant the over all impact on society; unless it becomes conscious I guess! The internet has, and related future technologies will change the human condition fundamentally.

you know, it wasn't really that hard to figure out what I meant.

 

[TENYEARS]

Ivan, reality is the path of the water. Where do you think the water will flow and with what power. Human kind is 4 million years old relatively speaking. In a short period what has human kind come to relative to it's genetic and structural purpose? It has been warped beyond comprehension. The american indian elders knew and understood the path of this water. I have not even read much of them and know this without question. They kept the old ways because they understood the balance of life along witht he balance of the human being. Where do you think the internet, TV, computers, technology will take them? Does it coinside with our genetic and structural purpose? Does it cause imbalance? What does it do to the family unit? What does it do to learning? The world would tremble if it knew what I know.

 

[dekoi]

Is the internet itself good?

No, it is neither good nor bad.


Is people's use of the internet good ?

Obvious answer. Similar question would be, "Is people's use of television good?" . Only depends what you use it for.

I wouldn't call this a very deep philosophical topic. Simple reason produces the answer.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I don't think you understand the impact that it has and will have.

 

[arildno]

I think the Internet is an extremely fascinating social phenomenon, but I am at a loss to predict how it might affect us in non-obvious ways.
I do however think, that since, we have through Internet instant access to all the world's information and humans (a slight exaggeration), Internet cannot but affect us deeply.
This "immediacy" by which the whole world reaches us (and perhaps more importantly, how we may reach the world) is a completely new feature in the information exchange&communication among humans.
How this might translate into revised attitudes/behaviours, I don't know; possibly, it might speed the growth of a sense of belonging to a common humanity (in contrast to belonging to a particular nation)

 

[Artorius]

I agree that the internet itself is neither inherently good nor bad. It is simply a tool, but a very powerful one at that. The motivations behind its use is what can be classified as good or bad. The study of such motivations would belong to the realm of ethics and would generate some interesting debate. For example:

Using the internet to learn about how solar cells work for a possible home rennovation is good. Using the internet to learn how to build explosive devices for terrorist purposes is bad. (Q: Should such knowledge as the construction of explosive devices be available on the internet regardless of its possible uses?)

Promoting accurate knowledge and understanding of science and technology is good. Promoting pseudoscience, racism, or religious bigotry is bad. (Q: Should a person or a group be permitted to express views on the internet with no limitation or restriction?)

Sharing family photos from the last summer vacation is good. Sharing child pornography is bad. (Q: Is the private sharing of information between two parties protected under privacy law, regardless of the content of that information?)

Using e-mail to keep in touch with college friends from a long time ago is good. Using e-mail to spam others is utterly evil and vile and deserves severe punishment.

 

[wuliheron]

The question reminds me of one of the oldest cuniform tablets ever discovered. It was written perhaps a hundred years after the invention of writing, and was an argument against the new invention. The author claimed writing made people lazy, they would no longer bother to memorize everthing.

 

[XMLT]

I don't know if it goes off the topic. But my question is "What do you think about chatting in the Internet? Can you trust people on chat?" If you really have feelings with someone on chatline then...Feel free to express your opinions to all of these things.

XMLT

 

[TENYEARS]

It is easy to decieve people on a chat or the internet or anywhere else. When you speak of feelings you speak of a human attempting to self actualize through someone else. This alone many times in itself distorts one vison of the world. We will tend to see the world, words, actions, etc... differently and bend any view towards something which is pleasing to oneself. Be wary of any internet or chat interactions. There are those who are honest and there are those who are not and there is the grey of which much of the world fits. Walk away from this internet chat disociate yourself from this chatter and forget them. Would the feelings be there anyway. Walk into the woods and look at what surrounds you, can you see it. Go deeper, what do you see? There is a level beyond your normal vision of that which connects us all. It is that and that alone for which you search to be free. It is not another that will set you free, but to know the truth and experience it. When you do this you will really know what feelings are what love is and you will express it.

I will tell you this - Real love will stop time itself and I do not mean figuratively but as the world perceives time in it's normal usage. There is only one way I can make this statement, so now like you chatter you must either discard my words, take them as truth or call me a liar. Which do you think it is? What do your instincts tell you?

 

[olde drunk]

Inherently, the internet is neither good nor bad.

Has education and information caused the decline or rise of humanity? Putting aside all the deliberate misinformation (as pranks or to promote an agenda), an educated society will make better choices in their lives and improve the quality of life for all of society.

IMHO, we have reached a phase in our evolution where we can properly utilize the techno-age to our advantage. Do you think we would have been able to discover/invent these tools without the intelligence - ethics - etc for their proper use??

time to move on to a new age, comparable to the industrial revolution? I believe so.

love&peace,
olde drunk

 

[XMLT]

There is a level beyond your normal vision of that which connects us all. It is that and that alone for which you search to be free. It is not another that will set you free, but to know the truth and experience it. When you do this you will really know what feelings are what love is and you will express it.

I like the idea. Thanks, TENYEARS.

XMLT

 

[omin]

The internet is decentralization of human communication and education in general.

The oil is what can be called a centralized power source. Hydrogen will decentralize power, because it can be created by any city with a windmill, solar panels and water. The massive infrastructure you look upon across the developed world was power built by oil. Oil. Hydrogen will decentralized the power, because it won't be able to be controlled by Terrorists like Bush.

The internet will help decentralized those the mainstream information sources. The Holy Bible, The Torah is now your local newspaper and the Fox News Network, all promoting the murder of innocence once again.

Because informaton on the web opens up the entire world, we do not have our minds shaped by the content of the America state owned media promotes.

 

[Philocrat]

I was just curious about your philosophical perspectives here.

Internet is the BEST thing to hit the human race...but my only concern is that it may become 'SELF-AWARE', such that it outfoxes its creators - the humans. Even if we wanted this to be the case, we must do so with utmost care, that is, with proper built-in safety devices or safeguards.

---------------------------------
NEVER SHOULD THE INTERNET BE ACCIDENTALLY SELF-AWARE!
---------------------------------

 

[hypnagogue]

Internet is the BEST thing to hit the human race...but my only concern is that it may become 'SELF-AWARE', such that it outfoxes its creators - the humans. Even if we wanted this to be the case, we must do so with utmost care, that is, with proper built-in safety devices or safeguards.

I wouldn't worry about that, unless by some cosmic comedy we happen to be inhabiting the plot of a Terminator movie. (I wouldn't worry about Pod People terrorizing the Earth either, by the way, though I suppose it could happen.)