Comment by wiseowise | Hacker News Reader

Comment by wiseowise | Hacker News Reader

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> who claims the internet is making us stupid.

You have to be delusional to think otherwise. Modern web absolutely makes us more stupid on average. I’m looking forward to studies in 10 years about long term exposure effects of junk platforms like TikTok and YouTube shorts.

> So what if someone spends a ton of time consuming information you don’t think is useful?

Because we don’t live in a vacuum? I don’t want to be around erratic, constantly outraged and disinformation fed people. And before you say “well, you don’t have to”, keep in mind that those people hold as much voting power as you, possibly more, because hordes of fanatic will eat whatever shit their influencer overlords will tell them.

> Get off your intellectual high horse and go for a walk.

What exactly makes you so outraged about the article?

> Because we don’t live in a vacuum? I don’t want to be around erratic, constantly outraged and disinformation fed people. And before you say “well, you don’t have to”, keep in mind that those people hold as much voting power as you, possibly more, because hordes of fanatic will eat whatever shit their influencer overlords will tell them.

I would not rebut with “well, you don’t have to.” I know that we have to. But what is being complained about here is not a new problem enabled by the internet. Disinformation has been around as long as humanity has (see religion). This attitude that “those people” have as much voting power as I do is the kind of thinking that disenfranchised women and non white men. (As an aside, it’s funny that you think voting actually matters and that the populace has a say in anything that goes on in the halls of power).

This type of intellectual exercise is nothing more than mental masturbation: it serves only to make the writer feel good about himself. You can’t force others to value what you value. And you certainly can’t shame them into it by calling them intellectually obese.

> What exactly makes you so outraged about the article?

Don’t worry about me. I don’t feel called out by this article. I’m careful about what information I consume, don’t spend my time on socials or YouTube, and I’m comfortable with my choices. What irks me about this article is that it serves no purpose but to cut other people down for their choices that don’t harm others.

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