Grease Trap: 29 November 2021

I gotta agree with Teej here. There are definitely downsides to the technology we have today, but the upsides outweigh it by a lot (even if the cons are REALLY bad).

Codisha

Something was printed in a book and put in a library. It must be gospel. I'd say that checking your sources in a library is a lot harder than doing Google searches for what you find online. Plus, new studies and data are found all of the time and instantly accessible from reputable sources.

DownrightSuperb

lol, the lack of self-awareness is staggering. You're right, bud. Everyone around you is an idiotic asshole who's terrified of a REAL conversation. No way you could possibly be the problem; nor that your idea of discussion is in fact a monologue contest in an echo chamber. After all, who in their right mind doesn't love a self-important pseudo-intellectual blowhard with trash-tier capitalization skills opining at excessive length about his half-baked plan to fix the culture of the internet? You're just charming as fuck. I can't imagine how anyone could ever mock you without immediately feeling a deep and resounding sense of shame for having spurned humanity's greatest son.

Josh Jerome

Good, I’ll do it some more then. TJs audience is good practice to sense how the Comfort Clingers of the internet will engage to real discussion. BTW Pessimists, you previously asked why most internet comments are meaningless. Well, here ya go 👆

Hypnotic Visionaire

Is Paul a boomer?

Jonathan Jones

Paul should just leave the internet then. Yet he will not mmmmmmmmm...

Jonathan Jones

i did read it my dude.

Jonathan Jones

Paul .is sssssssssssssooooooooooooooooo wrong .

Jonathan Jones

No ones going to read this nor care btw

Comfy Koro

sound like consoomer.

Fuck your comments they're too long and get in the way of reaching the content.

Nunya

Hello Pessimist Productions, this will be yet another long response from yours truly. So if there is any honest contention, please contact me ASAP. Otherwise, I feel like you will enjoy my feedback, let's continue. I feel like you guys hit on a lot of points, but blamed the problem on the wrong issues. In general, I agree with TJ on this (which is odd because that's rare). The Internet is a great invention, probably the most useful invention in human history. There will always be a give & take with any invention, but I do think the benefits of the Internet outweigh the problems. That being said, our current way of viewing the internet is the bigger issue. Our Society is built upon a Complacency Standard, perpetuated by big business & social serving. The Internet, in its most basic form, is just the exchange of information. The Issue with the Modern Internet is that most of us see it as an escape from our reality, rather than a tool that can help improve our reality. That's not an issue with the Tech, that's an issue with the Fake Climate Of Americanized Culture. So what are my proposed solutions? Well I do not agree with controlling information in any form. It's always better to have a Chaotic Form of Information than a Controlled Factor of Ignorance. So the solutions come down to an expansive standard that must tie back into how we see ourselves. Let's Explore This Vague Previous Sentence Further. For starters, the Internet should not have any monopolistic standards based on advertising. I know you three make your business on YouTube, and I clearly enjoy having that convenience. But in an honest world, everybody would have the ability to use the same tech in order to make their own platform. An example of this would be what used to be the case with Blip.TV back in the day. YouTubes biggest problem is how much it incentivizes long form content. That's great for you, and I enjoy it, but a lot of other Artists/Creators are automatically cut out. That sucks on it's own, but it's even worse than it seems on the surface. When Long Form Content is Automatically Incentivized, we get a lot of extended fluff that perpetuates a singular message. Everybody should have the ability to gain access to the tech that makes YT possible, and then use it to make their own platform. It is then on the audience to go out there and find/explore the different ideas that will help expand their minds. This might make it harder to earn money on YT (although nobody worth a shit is making money off YT anyways), but it will make it a burden on the audience to go discover information rather than the creators to construct information. Take this concept and apply it to everything else. Social Media should be an endless array of multiple websites, rather than a few singular websites built around growth (both Social and Financial). Same with Search Engines, News, Opinions, etc. If one needs a Mass Website where people need to advertise their own particular Website, then that needs to be controlled by a Government Institution or a Non-Profit with heavy oversight from the Government. But it should be made clear that the Mass Website is just an Advertisement Hub, no different than Times Square or Tokyo’s Shibuya Crossing. Another thing we must incentivize are movements built upon improving the internet rather than discarding it. The Internet is here to stay, whether we like it or not. We might not live in a future with Mobile SmartPhones in every pocket, but it will exist in one way or another. Building Movements that help expand the Internet is what needs to happen. And, just like everything else, there will be drawbacks to promoting a new standard. But it’s the only way. My New Standard will look something like this. The Age of Mass Media and Mass Consumption must come to an end. We must Democratize Media, Place Responsibility on the Audience to go Discover & create an ecosystem that promotes individual growth & Expansive Thought. No longer will the Internet serve as a place for complacency and bias seeking. To do this, we must get rid of Monopolistic Corporations that benefit the most out of our current ecosystem. We then must replace them with MANY Non-Profits that will give everybody a chance to either sell a product or promote any idea without a financial incentive. Then we must Educate those who Engage but not Create (most users) that a World where they must Explore is better than the current standard. It doesn't have to be blind like it was in the 90s. We can set up Local Networks where you automatically connect with your Local City (or State) before you connect with the Wider World (most early Radio worked this way). We can make it so that Websites engage with one another, like a Social Media App, without having an authority platform that promotes or disincentives content. We can make it so that parts of the The Internet are locked out from kiddos & that you must prove your age in order to access that site (I think Paul would like that). In contrast, we can construct networks and websites where only children are allowed to go on. There are Hundreds of Different Solutions that I could write down, but the point is this. The Problems with the Modern Day Internet come down to having a Profit-Incentivized Infrastructure that promotes Monopolistic Complacency over Personal Discovery. Take that information and think about how an Internet with Personal Discovery in mind could be beneficial to the human spirit.

Hypnotic Visionaire

https://www.medicinenet.com/why_is_autism_increasing_dramatically/article.htm https://www.nber.org/bah/does-watching-television-trigger-autism What I interpret from these two articles is that : 1. Autism diagnosis rate is not increasing. 2. In areas of higher precipitation, autism is more prevalent than in areas with less precipitation (children stay inside more often). 3. Screen time of digital media for children has dramatically increased in areas with high and low precipitation. (my speculation) 4. We would see a proportionate increase in the rate of autism diagnosis if the cause was truly digital media. (My hypothesis) If my hypothesis is valid, this suggests that autism prevalence does have something to do with staying indoors, perhaps a multitude of causes, but we cannot single out technology alone, otherwise we would see similar prevalence of autism even in areas with lower precipitation. Is my argument reasonable?

David

Just like every other time, Paul is wrong about everything.

Jonathan Keller

I'd really like for this debate to continue. Because it's a fascinating topic. Maybe the boys could search out some actual academic data on the matter to better present their cases and fuel their arguments in a future grease trap?

David

love that tj and paul can always have a heated discussion then just be friends at the end lol

Roman Douchington