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Techno-Addicts

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Renegade:
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/technology-addiction-takes-toll-in--asia-2274247.html

A baby girl starves to death as her parents raise a virtual child online; a boy scolded for excessive gaming kills his mother then commits suicide - technology addiction is taking a toll in Asia.
--- End quote ---

Nutty.

f0dder:
I thought this was thread was gonna have something to do with breakbeats :p

40hz:
I think it has more to do with the society than the technology. In heavily regulated and controlled societies like Singapore, the web might be the only place where you are relatively free. Any place where you can be flogged for dropping a candy wrapper has got to have a high need for escape into another reality. As William Gibson noted in his short essay in Wired Magazine:

Singapore is a relentlessly G-rated experience, micromanaged by a state that has the look and feel of a very large corporation. If IBM had ever bothered to actually possess a physical country, that country might have had a lot in common with Singapore. There's a certain white-shirted constraint, an absolute humorlessness in the way Singapore Ltd. operates; conformity here is the prime directive, and the fuzzier brands of creativity are in extremely short supply.

The physical past here has almost entirely vanished.

There is no slack in Singapore. Imagine an Asian version of Zurich operating as an offshore capsule at the foot of Malaysia; an affluent microcosm whose citizens inhabit something that feels like, well, Disneyland. Disneyland with the death penalty.
--- End quote ---

We have the occasional web addict in the States. But most "at risk" people in the US seem to prefer to blow off steam by employing such classic "coping mechanisms" as: cruelty to animals, child abuse, spouse beating, substance addiction, hate crime, criminal use of firearms, petty theft, living above one's means - or pursuing a career in politics.

Clear proof 'reality' is healthier than virtual despite the occasional "bleed-through" or "unintended outcome."

 ;) (Kidding, just kidding...)

tsaint:
In Pocatello, Idaho
 It is prohibited for pedestrians and motorists to display frowns, grimaces, scowls, threatening and glowering looks, gloomy and depressed facial appearances, generally all of which reflect unfavorably upon the city’s reputation.
--- End quote ---
So?
I'd suggest that there's some pretty important freedoms available in Singapore, vis a vis, say, the USA...
- freedom from drugged up crazies
- freedom from gun toting crazies
- freedom from crushing poverty
- freedom from rednecks
 Rather than focus on state imposed conformity, it might be more illustrative to consider the cultural aspect involved, that people have a sense of community.
Rather than an individualistic "me first, only me" attitude, there is an attitude something approximating JFK's "ask not what your country..."

 The friends I know in Singapore seem to feel free to do lots of things, quite happily, and don't seem too worried by not being able to get into anti-social behaviours.

Finally, there are published statistics (please don't ask me for references, I read, then don't always bookmark) suggesting Singapore to be one of the top ranking countries for desirability for ex-pat posting.

Obviously I reject the thesis presented here, at least as it applies to Singapore, as well as disagreeing with Gibson's viewpoint.

[thought bubble] Strewth! Did I write all that??? Musta got a bit steamed up and defensive! [/thought bubble]

40hz:
I'd suggest that there's some pretty important freedoms available in Singapore, vis a vis, say, the USA...
- freedom from drugged up crazies
- freedom from gun toting crazies
- freedom from crushing poverty
- freedom from rednecks
 Rather than focus on state imposed conformity, it might be more illustrative to consider the cultural aspect involved, that people have a sense of community.
-tsaint (April 24, 2011, 06:21 PM)
--- End quote ---

Hmm...that might be a problem if it were widespread and constant. But I think it's more the exception than the rule in most places in the United States. At any rate I wouldn't consider it a big enough and constant problem that I'd be willing to bring in a 24X7 police state just to avoid the possibility it might. Some cures are worse than the maladies they profess to address. And that's assuming such things actually are widespread and constant problems. From where I sit they seem much more like sporadic and occasional incidents.

Conformity is also not the same thing as community. Nor does a 'sense of community' automatically means it's for the good. Prison guards and death squads have a sense of community purpose and belonging by nature of the fact members share the same occupation and  immediate goals. Same goes for most hate groups, totalitarian governmental political parties - as well as the most humanitarian of relief agencies and public philanthropies.

'Sense of community' is just another manifestation of groupthink. And as such it's neutral. It doesn't automatically bring with it anything that's intrinsically good or evil. It's just one more mind tool that can be employed for either good or ill, depending on the intentions and mores of the community in question.

William Gibson is a little over the top with his essay in places. But I think at the core of it he's onto something: Don't be too taken in by appearances.

For my part, I'd rather take my chances here. But to each his/her own. :)

 

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