tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15895111.post1229861537271516705..comments2023-11-03T12:44:19.948+01:00Comments on Orwell's Picnic ~: All change is bad, even change for the betterHilary Jane Margaret Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03771332473693479830noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15895111.post-70786743284949751982013-09-15T18:48:31.421+02:002013-09-15T18:48:31.421+02:00The internet did not cause mass marital breakdowns...The internet did not cause mass marital breakdowns, it did not cause the social acceptability of extended families living thousands of miles apart, it did not cause effective Soviet demoralization campaigns, it did not cause American anti-Catholicism, it did not cause the destruction in America of human-scale communities in favor of car-based ones. I remember life before the internet in the aftermath of decades of all that stuff and it was worse. People were not driven out of their isolation to socialize and form real community; they just sat at home and were sad little nerds at home. It was *really, really* awful. The internet ameliorated all of those things. I guess you can make the argument that if we didn't have the anodyne, we might have been motivated to do something about it, but I was there and I didn't see any motivation. I just saw a lot of lonely misery for which people mostly didn't even have the words, because they couldn't find other people to validate what we knew in our hearts: "this world we are living in together has been terribly damaged, wilfully, purposefully, but everyone acts like we are the ones with the problem." <br /> <br />There has been a sea change recently as more and more and younger and younger people use smart phones to socialize, but this change is not "the internet," it is more complex. I think the major issues have to do with staring at a screen, rarely going outside, lack of unstructured time, and lack of proper teaching relationships; but again, all of these problems existed before the internet and would exist if we had little devices in our pockets that had giant memories but no intercommunication. <br /><br />People's problem with the internet qua internet is a problem of self-discipline. It is similar to the problems we all have in an environment of abundant food. However this is a personal problem, and not only does everyone need to regulate their own usage because it's extremely unlikely to go away, suggesting that taking it away *from society at large* as opposed to imposing a personal internet fast, perhaps with the assistance of a spiritual director, is like suggesting that we should get less good at farming and transportation because you personally can't not eat some cookies. Let them all not eat cake because I can't not eat cake? - KarenAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15895111.post-1349869484622338892013-09-15T02:43:24.601+02:002013-09-15T02:43:24.601+02:00I realized that my husband has a book of Fr. Faber...I realized that my husband has a book of Fr. Faber's in our library.<br />I did not know anything about him until now. Thank you!Teresa B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/15076392000073341695noreply@blogger.com