America's View of the Internet 285
Alien54 writes "It won't make you dinner or rub your feet, but nearly one in four Americans say that the Internet can serve as a substitute for a significant other for some period of time, according to a new poll released today by 463 Communications and Zogby International. The poll examined views of what role the Internet plays in people's lives and whether government should play a greater role in regulating it. The online survey was conducted Oct. 4-8, 2007, included 9,743 adult respondents nationwide, and carries a margin of error of +/- 1.0 percentage point. From the results blog post: 'More than half of Americans believe that Internet content such as video should be controlled in some way by the government. Only 33% of 18 to 24 year-olds supported government stepping in on content, while 72% of those over 70 years of age support government regulation and ratings. More than one in four Americans has a social networking profile such as MySpace or Facebook. Among 18-24 year-olds, it's almost mandatory - 78% of them report having a social networking profile. Americans may love the Internet, but most are not prepared to implant it into their brain, even if it was safe. Only 11% of respondents said they be willing to safely implant a device that enabled them to use their mind to access the Internet.'"
Rather misleading.... (Score:5, Interesting)
Now, ask the same question, but instead substitute "TV programs" for "Internet content". I'll bet you the percentage breakdown doesn't change much.
This isn't about "internet content", it's about what standards a work of art is judged by.
"Only" 11% want Internet wetware? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Brain implants? (Score:5, Interesting)
Especially simulated reality hooked directly into the brain. We know from dreams that the brain can process things quicker where our sense of time passing is not "real time" (ie, a dream that seems to go on for 30 minutes might take place in a MUCH shorter ammount of real time).
How cool would it be to go on a simulated 2 week vacation to the Bahamas, but only really spend 1 hour running the simulation? Or perhaps it could even be reduced further in time. Why get upset over death when we could live an entire lifetime of extra activites in a single evening (think of that old Star Trek TNG episode where Picard lived an alt life where he was an old man with grandchildren and then upon death reawoke on the bridge, with only 2-3 minutes having passed). Of course, the addiction possibility here would be high. Imagine how much work place productivity would suffer if every time an employee came back to work each morning they've spent a virtual 6-months away in paradise.
More than half of americans want gov parenting! (Score:3, Interesting)
Let me guess.. "for the children"?
I mean it has to be, otherwise they would be condoning censorship of political speech or complete corporate takeover of the internet.
I want to know what happened to parents actually, you know, parenting?!
apparently that only happens in my family.
Brain Hacking (Score:2, Interesting)
old people (Score:2, Interesting)
Old people in general should not be in high up places (ie. congress, supreme court, company execs.) Just because you are old doesn't make you wiser....it just makes you old with old ways of thinking.
Re:Why is it always the old folks? (Score:3, Interesting)
WTF?? (Score:3, Interesting)
Neither would my ex-wife.
Well, the internet and Rosie Palm.
More than half of Americans believe that Internet content such as video should be controlled in some way by the government.
Well, I'll agree that government should have web sites and portals. They should control their own sites, as I control my own site. So yeah, that's reasonable (depending on how the question was phrased).
Only 33% of 18 to 24 year-olds supported government stepping in on content
Which supports my previous observation, although again they should control their OWN content
while 72% of those over 70 years of age support government regulation and ratings.
That's not unreasonable, either. My dad doesn't even have a computer, has never been on the internet, and considering that, it would not be unreasonable of him to think it reasonable. Even a lot of younger people think the internet is like a TV set, and even the twentysomethings forget that most of the internet is beyond their government's reach.
More than one in four Americans has a social networking profile such as MySpace or Facebook.
Hell, I have a myspace page (that I haven't logged into in a year or two), a web site (that I haven't updated oin almost two years), a K5 account (that I haven't logged into for over 2 years), and a slashdot account and I'm 55. But I don't look my age. Or act it.
Americans may love the Internet, but most are not prepared to implant it into their brain, even if it was safe. Only 11% of respondents said they be willing to safely implant a device that enabled them to use their mind to access the Internet.
Only a total complete idiotic fuckwit moron would have ANYTHING implanted in their brain without an overriding medical reason. If you would have an internet connection implanted in your brain, WTF ARE YOU THINKING? Go ahead, dumbass, and when I crack your connection I'll control you like a meatware robot.
Holy fuck! If brains were dynamite, most people wouldn't have enough to blow their noses.
Note that a far higher percentage than 11% are mentally handicapped. Even retarded people have more sense than that!
-mcgrew
polls, democracy and republics (Score:3, Interesting)
I read stories like this and have to, with a wry grin, shake my head and roll my eyes.
The idea that groups determine with a democratic vote how a society functions is both absurd and an essential part of the American dream. By dream I mean just that - a mythical non-reality created to give hope to people who otherwise would not accept the reality they have.
Repeat after me:
America is not a democracy!
America is not a democracy!
America is not a democracy!
America is a CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC. Learn the difference. This means the country has laws first (a Constitution), and the US has a democratic process to elect the people respnsible for upholding and execting the rules of the republic. At no time, and in no way were the opinions of the masses asked for, expected, or accepted in figuring out how the system works - and with good reason: their beliefs were/are easily swayed, grossly under-informed, and as anyone who has tried to decide anything by committee or group: group opinion taking is non-functional.
However, most American dwell in the dream that things in the US are "democratic" - that the way a group, the world, the Internet, or the USA "should" function is that we ask everyone, take a vote, and the highest count wins. Bzzzzt. WRONG. Bad Idea. I see this mentality driving the idea that Zogby should do some poll of the population for what "the people" think the government should do about Internet content. This mentality is extremely wrong, and will get people into a lot of trouble. In America, the answer you get from the masses is directly proportional to what rich, powerful white men craft as messages for the masses to believe.
Strangly, increased capacity for communication will and has made such polling much easier than ever before. It does not make it more valid or more useful in creating policy or a smoothly functioning, successful society.
Aside from the bonehead mentality that we should all vote to determine policy - there is an even simpler issue here. Once one understands how and why this country was formed, and the principles behind it - it becomes obvious that regulating content on huge ditributed computer networks is NOT EVEN CLOSE, not even in the ballpark to what the original intention of the US government was. It is off beyond the outfield, over the green monter, and somewhere off in the bay. It is, in fact, criminal, by all definitions of the term, to distort the function of government so far outside the legal bounds of it's creation.
Re:Brain implants? (Score:5, Interesting)
Right now, our brains only last for about 80-100 years.....
I wonder if there would be any strange side effects from giving it 1000 years worth of experience?
If we really did accomplish this, imagine how much faster we could progress technologically......allow devs to drop into one of these things and we could have software that would normally take months to build developed in mere minutes!
Re:This American's view of the internet? (Score:4, Interesting)
Why not? It'd make http://xkcd.com/333/ [xkcd.com] a lot less awkward..
Total Recall (Score:3, Interesting)
If they mean online games (or pr0n), then a neural interface would be absolutely awesome.
I'd rather have a female R. Jander Panell [wikipedia.org] than a porn implant. "Jandra" wouldn't need a positronic brain, conventional modern robotics (heated and lubricated of course) would do, controlled by a conventional computer like the one you have in front of you.
As to games, I'd rather have a dedicated building with holographs. You have the advantage of getting a little exersise, too, like with the fuckbot.
However, I am a cyborg, and have been since 2006. I have an implant in my left eyeball, my friend Tom calls me "the six thousand dollar man" because of my bionic eye; click my sig for details. But again, I didn't let them stick a needle in my eye without a damned good reason.
-mcgrew
Re:Well, it is communication. (Score:2, Interesting)
I'll admit its best to get to know the people in your neighbourhood, and if you're not doing that, you should. However, in the increasingly globalized world that we live in, where lots of people and families are travelling, its nice for it to not take 3 weeks to 6 months for communication to arrive (via snail mail) nor be hugely expensive (via long distance charges).
> impassioned debates
I'll disagree that this is a negative. I actually think its great that people are actively seeking out debates and conversing. It may not be formal, nor highly intellectual, but its amazing to hear peoples views on things. One of the nicest things about the comments on, for example, Slashdot, is that the article will state one thing, but I learn a lot more by reading peoples' comments (that may or may not be correct, but I can take the time to research them if I really care to confirm it). Further, the fact that we can interact with people on the other side of the planet is incredible, as it allows the potential for increasing contributions for discussions.
pr0n, fps and pretending you're someone you're not (which is actually akin to acting...) aren't so bad. If you want to see some potential issues with face-to-face communication, see how Japan is handling keeping seniors entertained (via dolls). Maybe if the marketplace wasn't so geared towards single-serving sales, and media so fear-oriented, we'd have more face-to-face community. On the flip side, dumb people exist on the internet no differently than down the street. And at least with the internet, you can pick and choose which people to interact with...
Biased "survey" (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Brain implants? (Score:5, Interesting)
Personally during this state before I learned to control it I had episodes where I saw chains holding me down, heard grows coming from the hallway, heard footsteps walking around in the house, felt invisible hands clawing into my stomach, and have seen a zombie like face playing peeka-boo at with me at the foot of my bed. This all looks VERY real, because you can look around the actual room, hear everything that's going on, etc. When the brain needn't render the whole environment it seems to be able to do a great job and rendering "spot detail". Luckily, given that it IS a dream, all rules of lucid dreaming apply, and you can control the environment and keep it non-scary if your are aware of it. It's a nice experience if you know to remain calm and unafraid (if your mind starts drifting you can scare the shit out of yourself if you're not careful, especially if you realize the situation and start thinking "Wouldn't it be really scary if . . . ").
This is actually a very good candidate for explaining lots of supposedly paranormal phenomenon that has been experienced throughout the ages. Look back at so many of the alien abduction reports, ghost sightings/reports, etc, and then look at how many occur with the person in bed and unable to move. A lot of them have that trait in common.
Wiki entry on the subject: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis [wikipedia.org]
Re:polls, democracy and republics (Score:1, Interesting)
-- Thomas Jefferson
Turns out the republic wasn't such a bright idea either: we are now living under the rule of the most expensive, most powerful government and world empire (military bases in some 150 countries around the world) in the history of organized coercion. What could possibly have went wrong with the idea of some men having power over other men?
At least, it's not such a bright idea if you value your natural human right (god-given if you prefer) to freedom and self-ownership. Considering the exponential growth of the US government over the past 200 years, and the consolidation of power and revenue in the hands of the few at the expense of liberty, I dare say it can't even be argued that the republic is a lesser evil.
Hell, at least in a monarchy the king is financially accountable for his actions, and suffers personally from spending unwisely.
Re:Well, it is communication. (Score:3, Interesting)
Of course, face to face communication does have its plusses too (hell, the things I just listed could be viewed as positives in their own way). But the thing is that face to face communication is a fixed target: there's only so much that you can modify "two people flapping their meat at each other," but the Internet can be improved indefinitely.