social evolution

I think society is decaying - but it is not because of internet. I think that our actions have become more controlled by Governments than ever before. Here in the US many parks, etc. that our parents usually strolled at night are now illegal to be caught in at night, for one example. Over-regulation also has made it almost impossible for parents to discipline children as well, so many are feeling very free to just go hog wild and there is nothing we can do about it. Government control is causing social unrest worldwide now.

Also with the economic situation being tighter than it was for our parents, many can just not afford to go out as much as our parents did. The social life of those without entertainment funds is pretty limited compared to generations past.

The underhanded practices used against employees of Corporations and the low pay offered has many fleeing to the Net to supplement incomes that no longer support them.

The population increase has also been a cause of breakdown. People have biological needs for space and when cities become as crowded as they are now, that innate need is violated continually and it will and does cause mental imbalances and violent tendencies. You can't move everyone to the country or you won't have country any more. This overpopulation has also strained many areas resources. It's hard to provide enough clean water now, clean air is a past concept, and fuel and power resources are strained beyond most people's beliefs. In areas where fuel is unaffordable forestry is being stripped bare. A good look at the forests of Haiti and parts of Africa are extremely revealing. Unfortunately some populations need that fuel to cook their grain into non-poisonous forms, so it's get fuel or starve. Competition for resources can drive violence as well.

So while society is breaking down - the Internet is helping more to pull people together than to cause problems. We are being told by our leaders who to mistrust and who to even outrightly hate. But here on the Net, we find that the people we are told to run from are actually no different from ourselves and it is only their leaders making the problems between us. I would have been one surprised little girl had I known back in high school that I would someday make friends with people from the many countries represented on this forum. If you had told me I would have set my address as Tehran Iran in a social forum to aid the people of that country, you would have sent me right into Twilight Zone mode.

So at the same time that conditions of ecology and government are causing the breakdown of society -- I think the Internet is giving us a chance to rebuild our relations on a global scale. Sure you will still see idiots on the Net - but you don't have to travel far in your own town or villiage to find them there either. We are all just more capable of being seen by many more than ever before.

Does everything have to be about freaking government control?

Seriously.

Allen has clearly stated that politics are not to be a subject of discussion here. Constantly bringing it up under the guise of "big bad government" is nothing more than an attempt to break the rules.

That's my take on it.

For the record, one of my favorite bands has been talking about this for over 30 years.

All the best,
Michael

He asked a question - I gave an honest answer. SHoot the messenger, but it's not MY fault everything is about gov and my post also included several other reasons which are all combining together to rip the snot out of Joe Q public. Sorry - Gov was only one of them and I could have incuded them on all counts but didn't.
I've tried to tell them to get their fat noses out of our business, but apparently I don't have any clout. That said - they are one of the reasons on the list of socially relevant causes for upheaval. Exactly how do you talk about this subject and refuse to include one leading factor?

Personally, I fear the further decline of capital letters, commas, full-stops (periods), and paragraphs! :rolleyes:

well government try problems are with big corporations. so far the tone I'm getting is that the internet has become a social crutch to a deprived generation? as for environmental issues that's a topic all in itself one i have extensive knowledge of.
but i was more referring to the social aspect of our lives in general as a society and how technology impacts it.

In regards to technology and how it impacts society, I think it's mostly positive.

Go further back than the Internet and ask the same question: How did using messengers to deliver stone tablets impact society? Riders on horseback? Papyrus? Pen and ink? The press? Telegraph? Telephone? Radio? Television?

Is the medium the message, or does it just give us a more accurate picture of what society is all about? Or does each successive advance in technology re-define what society is, while increasing the scope of what we think that is?

To me, just asking the questions points to the answers.

All the best,
Michael