Kids and the internetKids and the internet
Demi Lune
"The what now?"
Posts: 909
07/27/2009 10:35 | So, recently I've been thinking about how different the world must be for kids now. I got on the internet in, hmm, 1999. We got some ridiculous Millenium Edition deal from Dell, and it was ridiculously cheap. Lol. Thank you, Y2k Bug! But yeah, we got our computer and they set up the internet for us, and it was super speedy. I could download Ragnarok Online, weighing in at several gbs, in half an hour. The only limit was the site's built in limit, and Filefront's was like 500 kb/s or so, so I would download the ~30-40 pieces of it all at once. All at 500 kb/s. And it was glorious.
I was already starting to mature and whatnot at that point, but going on the internet fast tracked that. I saw and learned about things I might not have seen without it, which isn't entirely a positive thing... But, I still learned things. The biggest influence it had was when I had to interact with other people. The only way to NOT be called 12 was to be intelligent, well-read, eloquent, mature, thoughtful, etc. Despite the fact that I wasn't 12, I still didn't want them knowing I was young, so I had to act grown up. The end result? I've been "wise beyond my years" for a very long time.
The thing is, I didn't grow up with facebook or myspace or 4chan or any of these things. There was porn out there, and other assorted things kids my age shouldn't have been seeing, but it wasn't quite the same as it is today. I could easily find anything I wanted to see, but it wasn't expected that I'd watch my first porno by the age of 12. Which, with the way kids are and how common the internet is, is probably the norm by now.
I remember in, hmm, middle school or so... A friend of mine found out about hentai, and was looking at it on my computer. I just wanted to play Soul Calibur II, but no, he had to load the family computer's history with questionable things. The thing is, this was like Laura Croft nude and stuff like that. None of the shit you'll find if you google hentai now. I'm sure it all existed back then, but it hadn't really proliferated to the point it has now.
When I look at kids a few years younger than I am, and I consider pretty much everyone still in high school a kid  Even looking at kids graduating from high school, or just going into it, it's so obvious to me they've grown up alongside the internet. Not just the fact that they spend all their time on facebook or texting eachother, people of all ages do that. But the way they interact with eachother, the dynamics of their relationships, the things they find acceptable, their morals, etc. etc... Those are all radically shifted because of the role the internet has played in their adolescence, which is undeniably an important part of your life. Essentially, they've grown up with the internet, and it's changed them in different little ways.
Then there's people of my generation, who grew up through the internet. My life didn't revolve around the internet, and it wasn't on display for the internet, and my friendships, relationships, socializing, etc. etc. didn't all depend on the internet. The internet was just something I used, as opposed to playing a huge role in my life. I acted the same way on the internet as I did in real life, instead of using it as a way to act out or take out my frustration on faceless people halfway across the globe. And that's why it matured me and forced me to grow up - I couldn't go around trolling people without repercussions, because it wasn't really considered acceptable behaviour back then. There were no communities made up of trolls that feed upon themselves endlessly for entertainment.
Today, people don't really try to hide their age or anything. Everyone's cool with the fact that you're 10, or 12, or 16, or 78. Once upon a time, that would drastically affect the way people reacted to you. I remember one community I started getting active in, discussing all kinds of interesting things, then I told them I was 15. After that, nobody took me seriously, because obviously kids know nothing. Either you were ~20-35 or you just didn't mention it. As long as you could fit in regardless of your age, it was cool. Too young or too old, and you just pretended.
In that sense, it was a big equalizer. The same went with gender - it didn't really matter whether you were male or female, but if a girl were to post a picture of herself everyone instantly treated her differently. That hasn't changed a whole lot, everyone still wants to see more of the rare woman who ventures onto the internet.
I'm running out of steam here, and I can't think of anything to tie it all together. Oh well. I just wanted to think out loud. Does this make any sense at all? Growing up with the internet vs growing up through the internet? What are your thoughts?
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But when that call never comes, it's time to face what you've become - there's no point doing all of this, unless you know you're having fun. |
Vael Victus 
"See you, fantasy monster game."
Posts: 2200
07/27/2009 12:26 | Every generation after the other has been worse than the other. 1950's they were shocked by elvis, 2009 we are shocked by very little. Some people, maybe gore, maybe gay sex, maybe transgender people. Mostly we are immune to these things. In a way we have grown stronger, but only in that we've become more like robots. Like your monkeysphere article, people just don't care, and it appears we are not coded to care.
It is not surprising to me to find the shitty kids of the 80's having kids and they themselves being even shittier. With proper raising, you can overcome the shit, but as long as you have parents grounding kids and restricting them in general, you will have kids who are just pushed into little forms being all shitty, and they are likely to continue that cycle.
The Internet is not the problem, our instinct is. It's hard to overcome instinct because it's what makes life run. The hormones in your body make you lust - you are not in control - the main drive behind fucking is your body craving it. So who can deny that? Why deny it? Why deny elvis's hips, why deny [generic nude huge-titted girl]? They are not taught to deny instinct, so they won't. We are now a society that consumes consumes consumes. YouTube, why should I not click a youtube link? It's going to be a funny video! I'm going to laugh! And sure, I laugh, but I don't stay happy. It wasn't filling. It was as hollow as the kids who go to parties and get "so fucked up". Sure some of them never grow up, but they will, and then what? My dad's stories are about "hey remember that time we went hunting? and that funny shit happened" or "when we went camping". What will they tell their kids? "Hey remember we got... uhm, well, we drank a lot... and then passed out... and then we woke up, DUDE THAT WAS SO AMAZING." Their kids are going to be raised even shittier and quite frankly, Demi, I fear it. We don't need atom bombs to destroy us, we need a week's worth of groceries depleted. Then shit is going to go down.
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MonBre is an unlisted game of Tinydark Studio.
Personal Website: vaelvict.us |
Demi Lune
"The what now?"
Posts: 909
07/27/2009 16:55 | With some things it's good that we're more accepting, but yeah some of it is just apathy and not caring. Which sucks, but again when it's acceptance of something like homosexuality rather than not being offended by headless people and etc.
Yeah, to the kids thing. I'd be kinda intimidated by the idea of having kids. It'd be tough having control over someone else's life, I think. Add on top of that the stress of bills and jobs and etc. etc. and it's easy to see how people who have kids too early can get super stressed out and be less than perfect parents.
The internet isn't so much a problem, it's the things it makes available to people and how they use them. There have been definite changes in the things people expect and how they act in recent years, just because of the proliferation of the internet and facebook and whatnot. I won't credit texting with anything, because while it kinda in a sense has changed the way people act at times, it's not really as big in the long run as facebook and etc.
While 1984 (yeah I'm being proper here so people will know I mean the book) specifically mentioned language as something that slowly disappeared as time went on, independance is doing the same. Sure, we have our cars and we have our rights as citizens, but we're tied down to the comforts that we see as necessities now. We need the internet, we need our brand name clothes, our music, our microwaveable foods, etc. etc. If someone tossed us all into a forest, we'd be stuck. In that sense, we've become unable to completely depend upon ourselves for everything.
That has nothing to do with the internet, though. That's just a societal thing.
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But when that call never comes, it's time to face what you've become - there's no point doing all of this, unless you know you're having fun. |
Frank Lux
"Hello Motto"
Posts: 167
07/27/2009 19:07 | The whole dependance thing is just the side effect of living in a city, with all its comodities and services. On a funny side note, like Michael Scott(The Office) said:
| Man became civilized for a reason. He decided that he liked to have warmth, and clothing, and television, and hamburgers, and to walk upright, and to have a soft futon at the end of the day. He didn't want to have to struggle to survive. I don't need the woods. I have a nice wood desk. I don't need fresh air, because I have the freshest air around, A.C. And I don't need wide open spaces. Check it out. [shows off computer screen scenery] I can also make it the sky. |
Also, like in a comic I read in a Vael's Tumblr post (I'M MAKING PROPAGANDA), where comparing Huxley with Orwell predictions, with Huxley is said that the things we love will destroy us. That's right, all these benefits of modern society will suddenly be gone for some reason or another(war, alien invasion, atomic bombs, Fallout 3, etc) and we will not be able to cope with it.
By the way, Vael, don't worry, in a future we won't have kids anymore, they'll mass produced as in Huxley's. So there will be no opportunity for horrible parenthood.
Finally, listen to the song "In The Year 2525 - Zager & Evans" if you want a grim but certain outlook to future.
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Screw this, I'm going a-back to Italia!
Edited once on Monday, Jul 27th 19:13:47 2009 by Frank Lux |
Demi Lune
"The what now?"
Posts: 909
07/28/2009 09:48 | Yeah, eventually our way of life won't be able to sustain itself. I think they're working on a replacement for plastic, which is a good start, but not going to solve all our problems.
I'm not so sure about a Brave New World style mass-produced society, but you never know. His idea that sex will become so acceptable that to not have sex is considered abnormal is interesting, though, because it's not an uncommon suggestion. And it touches on what Vael said, in a sense, and like the 1984 style language disappearing, it is happening a little.
It's just not as complete as it was in either of those two books, so it's not too late.
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But when that call never comes, it's time to face what you've become - there's no point doing all of this, unless you know you're having fun. |
Vanilla Name
"h"
Posts: 1275
07/29/2009 09:50 | Ya know, the internet is not so bad;
geez where to start?..
Well how about this: CJ 3 years ago, sociopath, selfish, apathetic, hating, etc etc and I had no internet.
CJ now, I still have a few flaws but I have grown up alot and if it wasn't for the internet I would have still been most of the bad things I was back then.
The internet is a great big variable; it's effects widely vary but a common mean approaches from the first paths you take when you first start frequenting the internet.
We get the Facebook, Myspace, Bebo people, they're usually just gonna be the ones Lke dis vid is fny 1! Lst nte ws gr8. They're not gonna be using the internet as often and they're not gonna get so far as a mainstream social network site or google.
We have the forum frequenters now, these guys vary the most since forums are so popular, you have the noobs which go onto a different path later, you have the trolls, the oldies and etc. Too much to go into there.
Well basically my point is made anyway, there are different people and that is key to how the internet will affect us. The internet is communication and entertainment, right? So we should communicate with different people, that's how we evolve socially. The thing is moderation, no not the people in charge of keeping things from getting bad, have you head the saying "All in moderation"? Things are fine in small amounts but too much is what ruins things. The internet is an addiction, the people who become dependant on it aren't going to have children since they spend so much time on it so we don't have to worry about future generations becoming internet slugs.
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h |
Vael Victus
"See you, fantasy monster game."
Posts: 2200
07/29/2009 11:44 |
Demi Lune said:
His idea that sex will become so acceptable that to not have sex is considered abnormal is interesting, though, because it's not an uncommon suggestion. |
It already is. I literally cannot explain to people why I don't have sex, so I don't even bother anymore. I'm borderline just telling everyone I'm gay so they'll leave me alone about it.
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MonBre is an unlisted game of Tinydark Studio.
Personal Website: vaelvict.us |
Demi Lune
"The what now?"
Posts: 909
07/29/2009 13:59 |
Vael Victus said:
Demi Lune said:
His idea that sex will become so acceptable that to not have sex is considered abnormal is interesting, though, because it's not an uncommon suggestion. |
It already is. I literally cannot explain to people why I don't have sex, so I don't even bother anymore. I'm borderline just telling everyone I'm gay so they'll leave me alone about it. |
Well, have you read Brave New World? Kids run around naked playing with themselves/eachother at school, and they're told to by the schools. Adults have government issued belts full of contraceptives, there's big religious orgies constantly (literally constantly), etc. etc. If a guy's with a woman, they're supposed to be doing it. Or doing it soon. Or doing it later.
We're not quite there yet, but people do find abstinence weird, regardless of the reason.
I sorta had something different in mind than the way it came out when I sat down to write the post, but what I was trying to illustrate was the differences in the way people use it. When I was a kid, the internet was where I went to be grown up and learn stuff, aside from playing games and stuff. And that was cool, it made me mature and helped me out a lot in all sorts of situations.
That was pretty much the way it was, the internet wasn't mainstream and it wasn't really a place to go post OMG PICTURES OF MY CATS! AND HERE'S A PICTURE OF ME MAKING A FUNNY FACE! My favourite colour today is x, and my quote of the day is y, and I LOVES YA ALL <3333333
Well, alright, people totally did that. But it wasn't like everyone and their dog did it. Because we didn't have facebook and etc., people still did their socializing face to face and they liked it that way.
It's not really moderation, it's just the way people use it. You can use the internet all you want, as long as it replaces human physical contact. It's when you get into the emotionally vacant facebook+twitter+myspace mode that it's bad, because human contact is replaced with, well, nothing of substance. And that's the issue - growing up is taken away, because there's nothing being experienced, and it's not replaced with the thing that's taking it away. When I did my socializing online, it was still real, even though I had never met any of these people.
Twitter isn't real. Twitter isn't actual socializing. Neither is learning about someone through facebook notes, that's not socializing, or friendship, or even knowing them in the first place. Neither is... I don't know, whatever it is people do with myspace.
MSN isn't all that bad, it can still be a replacement for conversations. Some people do just sit there and LOL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stupidbullshit  and whatever instead of actually interacting with people, but they're pretty much doomed. So who cares about them.
It's fine if you spend your life in front of a computer, but it's not fine when the computer doesn't emulate and replace the kind of legitimate experiences we need to grow as human beings. People need to make mistakes and learn from different things in order to mature, and you don't get that when all you do is LOLOLOL. Even making an inappropriate joke and pissing someone off doesn't really qualify, because it's not much of a learning experience. If all you do is talk to people on MSN and play flash games, you're not going to be doing stuff like, say, kicking people in the face or arguing about absolutely nothing. Even if you do, you don't feel bad afterwards, because it doesn't really mean anything, and as such you don't learn anything.
So, rather than growing up through the internet (using the internet as a medium to interact with people, so more growing up with those people than anything), they're growing up with the internet itself. And the internet itself isn't a very good teacher.
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But when that call never comes, it's time to face what you've become - there's no point doing all of this, unless you know you're having fun. |
Vanilla Name
"h"
Posts: 1275
07/29/2009 20:40 | Man, this topic is so depressing
Just the way the future seems like it will end out..
It's chaotic and not very happy ;^;
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h |
Demi Lune
"The what now?"
Posts: 909
07/30/2009 19:21 | Then do something about it?
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But when that call never comes, it's time to face what you've become - there's no point doing all of this, unless you know you're having fun. |
Vanilla Name
"h"
Posts: 1275
08/01/2009 19:55 | For 1 man, a man who does not excell at much to change that is rather unlikely
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h |
Demi Lune
"The what now?"
Posts: 909
08/01/2009 21:58 | All you have to do is try! : DDDDDDDDDDD
If everyone thought they couldn't do anything and gave up, CJ, where would we be right now?
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But when that call never comes, it's time to face what you've become - there's no point doing all of this, unless you know you're having fun. |
Vanilla Name
"h"
Posts: 1275
08/02/2009 09:44 | Most of those people excelled at what they did
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h |
Demi Lune
"The what now?"
Posts: 909
08/02/2009 10:39 | Not if they didn't try they didn't D:
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But when that call never comes, it's time to face what you've become - there's no point doing all of this, unless you know you're having fun. |
Vael Victus
"See you, fantasy monster game."
Posts: 2200
08/05/2009 10:23 | Everyone who got where he is began where he was.
Anyway, sorry for the super late reply, Demi. Just wanted to add that I've at times used the 'net as a good physical... medium, I guess, for "internet people". About 2 years ago, I had a romantic interest in this girl named Alice who lived in Florida. We used to play guild wars and when you see a character like that in the world, working with them, and with the armor that the person finds appealing, it's like you're really "with" them. Now I have someone else in mind and we'll play some vidya sometimes like L4D or yes, even GW, and so like for example in GW I take all my good friends to Kessex Peak. I call it Mansex Peak. ~-^ So we go on the journey for mansex peak and it's a wonderful adventure where we kill Verata and explore.
When I was young I used to have a lot of meatspace friends. I think I had a pretty good social high school life, nothing like I am now. ( I try to make one social plan a week ) I think a lot of the kids on my steam friends list have never actually had all those friends, and meetups and stuff, so when I say I "choose" to live in cyberspace, I think it's more of a fair decision. I -don't- like people that much, but here in the 'net it's a lot easier to deal with people you do and don't like. I do get tired of people in meatspace easily and I wish I didn't, but that's just me. I was hanging out with some "friends" about April of this year and I decided, wtf, I shouldn't come home complaining to myself about how much of losers they are.
Well that's as many sporadic thoughts as I can give.
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MonBre is an unlisted game of Tinydark Studio.
Personal Website: vaelvict.us |
Demi Lune
"The what now?"
Posts: 909
08/05/2009 12:57 | Yeah, I've done the whole internet relationship thing. Maybe not quite so drastically, because it was people who went to my school, but outside of the internet I didn't know them at all. I could spend hours talking to them about nothing, telling them stuff I wouldn't normally tell people, but at school we didn't even acknowledge eachother. That doesn't mean our feelings weren't there, we were just more comfortable talking and not having anything else.
Of course, that was junior high, and is pretty typical for that age. The point still stands, though - physically it made no difference to me who these people were. Most of them were never my friends before I befriended them through MSN, and for all I know they could have been anyone in the world. Actually, once, one of them was someone else trying to show me I could still care about them, but anyhow...
It's essentially the same idea with an MMO, and all sorts of people end up in relationships with people they met through WoW or whatever. Hell, I know of several couples who met through the forums of Newage 3 (the browser based game I played for years) and ended up getting married. There was no possible physical relationship, but the feelings were there and they knew eachother as well as, or even better than, if they had known eachother physically. Even if you really care about someone, it can be hard sometimes to tell them everything because of how you know they'll react, and obviously in a situation where that worries you it's not going to be good. The internet takes that away, which can be good for a relationship, or even just friendship.
On the one hand it's a shame when people don't get any physical friendships, but at the same time it's kinda awesome when they can make do because of the internet. Sometimes it does limit them in a way and affect how they act/react, but it's better than having absolutely no human interaction whatsoever.
Introverted people are a lot more comfortable with friends on the internet, which is kind of weird because it should be sorta the same. I am pretty introverted, actually, and I get really tired and frustrated when I'm around people and we aren't doing anything interesting. When we're having fun and actually doing stuff it doesn't affect me that much, but definitely when we're just sitting around I wish they'd all go home. Or feel like leaving, whichever is appropriate at the time
Yet the same kind of situations on the internet don't have any sort of effect on me, it's totally different when it shouldn't be. Huh.
When I used to spend all my time with people there were a lot of times I'd only be doing it for their sake, and it kinda sucks to only enjoy their company occasionally, but they had fun so it was alright.
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But when that call never comes, it's time to face what you've become - there's no point doing all of this, unless you know you're having fun. |
Frank Lux
"Hello Motto"
Posts: 167
08/05/2009 18:12 | In the same way I don't want to be embarrased in the meatspace with my comrades, I do almost the same through the internet. I don't know why, but it also makes me feel uncomfortable starting a conversation in MSN. I think "Maybe they're doing something and don't want to talk" or "I know that the conversation will quickly die, so why even bother". I'm shy both ways 
As for the MMO, once I met a girl and we leveled up together and the clan leader told both of uf "Apparently a couple has been made" and she said "What do you say about that?". I replied "If it's ok for you"(Shyness acting up again) and then she started b*tch*ng about why I wasn't decisive or things like that. Since then I haven't played that game.
Although, I have plenty of friends on the meatspace, but I fail to make newer friends, I just don't have the nerve :S
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Screw this, I'm going a-back to Italia! |
Demi Lune
"The what now?"
Posts: 909
08/06/2009 05:22 | For the record, meatspace is in the dictionary. It is now, anyway.
I don't have any issues telling people things on the internet, but I do the same thing with starting conversations XD I can't bear the thought of "rejection" so I don't start talking to people unless I have a reason to :/ I have no problem with talking to people, I just don't want to start joking around and have them not be in the mood or something. Or, when it comes to Vael, be working on something I shouldn't be interrupting
Which is why most of my solid friendships are with more talkative people, because less talkative people tend to kinda drop off eventually, whether or not I want them to. It's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just kinda different.
When it comes to situations like that in MMOs, I think it's best to refer to the infamous Greater Internet Dickwad theory: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19/
When it really matters, you'll manage. That's just how life goes, you tend to confront your fears when you need to. I do have stories related to this, but you don't get to hear them
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But when that call never comes, it's time to face what you've become - there's no point doing all of this, unless you know you're having fun. |
Vanilla Name
"h"
Posts: 1275
08/06/2009 10:04 | I find it easier on the internet to be nicer or funnier to people.
I'm a constant niceness/comic whore, if i'm not being funny then i'm being nice, I just want to make people feel good because it makes me feel good, it's also funny to troll as my friends find it funny so that's how I get my kicks. In real life however I don't seem to care about anyone except my friends and loved ones which makes me think about people in real life; it's odd in how you get mental images of people and how their personality makes them seem even better, i've only ever met one person I met over the internet and it was a VERY spotty 21 year old who looked nothing like I imagined, he acted the same around me but when some guys from his college came up to him he acted so different, he turned all shy and didn't say much until they left.
In some ways the internet seems to be a place where the social barriers seem to be missing and allowing people to act freely. Odd huh?
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h |
Sledge Wielder
"Go Reapers!"
Posts: 374
08/06/2009 11:58 | Replying(late[very late]) to demi's comment that the internet and other comforts are becoming necessities and that we'd all be fucked in the woods, I actually very recently learned to make rope from tree bark. I learned it on the internet. I use the internet all the time to augment my knowledge. I'd survive quite well in the woods, thank you very much  I do find myself on the internet way too much, but I've used it to make me better IRL almost as much as I've used it to avoid the real world lol. The future will happen, and hopefully something I've done or said will make it better. I sure try. The problem is that there are so many people that not only have apathy, but seem to be driven to create that same apathy, or open rancor in others. THERE is the real problem. Get people to be more goal-oriented, like this guy I know called Vael Victus who WROTE A WHOLE FRIGGIN WEBSITE. Any child who went his whole childhood without MAKING anything is going to turn out meh at best. We need to instill a desire to create things, improve things, and improve ourselves in every child. That is the key to everything. It's even the key to becoming interdependent again. If people were trying to improve themselves and their surroundings more, instead of just trying to get everyone to believe they have nothing wrong with them, then people would hit a point about mid-life where they can't improve much on their own anymore and need to group up with other like-minded people to continue improving themselves and those around them. Wow listen to me rant! Go Sledgie go! lol ok I'm done.
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If everything's right, what's left? |
Demi Lune
"The what now?"
Posts: 909
08/06/2009 15:46 | Being nice/funny just because it's the internet: Well, that's kinda a thing. One of many things relating to this topic. When you're being overly nice or funny for people, it's not really you they're talking to - it's who they want you to be. You try to be that person, whether it's someone funny, or smart, or nice, because being yourself is more complicated. Even if something in real life had upset you a lot, you wouldn't bring that to the internet, because it's more complicated to try and talk to people about that than to just lol your way through life.
Imagining internet people in your head/meeting them in real life: The fact that we tend to imagine people in our heads shows how socially oriented we are as humans. There's no way around it, it happens subconsciously if we don't do it consciously. You tend to associate certain types of personalities with certain things, a guy who acts big and manly must be a big manly man, why would he act like that if he wasn't?
I've met all kinds of people on my time on the internet, though I've never met any of them physically. Yet, anyway. Probably because I live in the middle of nowhere so they're never anywhere near me. I've seen lots of people's pictures, though, and I've known all kinds of people. Female anime nerds who have modelling careers and monitor tans, old metalheads with families, british chicks with dreadlocks (no, CJ, I will not help you hit on any of the surprising number of attractive british women I once knew), high school kids from korea who wish they were japanese, the list goes on. As far as women go, the attractive ones are much more inclined to post their pictures, so that could account for the weird way that most of the ones I've seen pictures of are attractive. That's not to say they were all attractive - but many of them were, which is surprising when many people are unattractive.
Back to my point? Expect to be surprised, really. There are a lot of different kinds of people in the world, and you'll never know them all. You learn new things about the ones you do know all the time anyway, even if you thought you knew them pretty well.
Did I mention my birthday is a week from today? Surprise! You learn new things all the time.
Social barriers: It's non-verbal cues that are missing. Body language we instinctively pick up without really understanding, tone when speaking, facial expressions, etc. There is a bit more to it, like how you can say whatever you want with no real repercussions on the internet, but the vast majority of why we act differently is related to not being able to connect people's words to an actual person. We could just as easily be sitting in a circle and talking about this, but we'd be nervous giving out personal history kinds of stuff, we'd be afraid of looking bad, etc. Just trying to impress eachother, honestly. When we go back to the forums, it's back to plain natural conversation without worries. If someone gets up and walks away from you on the internet - metaphorically speaking - they just don't post, and you don't worry about it. If you say the wrong thing in person, you can't just let that go - and they won't let it go, either. And that stays in the back of your mind when you talk to them.
We're sorta back into Monkeysphere territory now - try as we might, we just can't connect the same way through the internet. I'm the same to you as the guy you walked by at the grocery store the other day. We both exist, maybe, but not the same way as your dog or closest living family member. We're there, and we probably have hopes and dreams, jobs, families, lovers, but at best those things only briefly cross your mind. Then you're on to more important things.
Making the future better: Once upon a time, my goal in life was to do everything I could to help people. I've settled for making a positive difference in a single person's life, and I believe I've done that, but who knows? It's not over until it's over, so I've gotta stack up the potential life changing in case some of them stop being important. I enjoy helping people anyway, so why not?
Apathy/being a dickwad: Monkeysphere. They wouldn't do that in real life, consciously or not you're not actually a person when they're faxing you black pages and posting your contact information.
Goals/creation vs improvement: A little direction in life doesn't hurt. Accomplishing things is wonderful, especially when it involves creating something, whether that's a story or a game, a painting or a machine. The other thing it does is keeps people busy - how many times have you said "well, I had nothing better to do..." to justify doing something? If you need to justify it like that at all, you would have been better off not doing it generally. Justification is only for when you've screwed up, after all.
"Idle hands do the devil's work." -Saying, possibly from the bible?
It's pretty much true, people with less free time tend to do more rewarding things with the time they have.
And now I've run out of steam, so I'm off to pack.
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But when that call never comes, it's time to face what you've become - there's no point doing all of this, unless you know you're having fun. |
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