Internet Addiction Camp Opens

[admin]

Welcome to South Korea, home of Kimchi, Bul Go Gi, and 250,000 Internet addicts as reported by The New York Times. Since Korea has nearly border to border Internet access apparently kids need to learn what it is to experience life without the Internet. In my day, they called that "recess" and... oh yeah, "life."

Discuss "Internet Addiction Camp Opens" here. Read the article.

 

[Haoleb]

At least I think alot of people will be smarter because of it. I Definetly wouldnt know half the stuff I do If I didnt have a computer and internet access.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

Sign me up. When I am at work, I spend way more time hanging out on the internet (here, for example) than I do actually working.

 

[yettitheman]

Well, then I must be a Heroin Speedball user of the Internet, given that most of my work and play is Internet (sometimes 18 hours on a computer in a day).

 

[Thaedium]

Hahaha....


The issue is serious, I agree. I'm not laughing at the idea, but the blurb on the Korean fella who keeled over due to playing for 2 days straight with no sleep / minimal food intake. I mean seriously, to blame his death on his internet addiction is absurd. The link did not delve much into the nuances of his life, but I would suspect he was suffering from a number of factors including depression etc. His health was probably compromised due to this, and the fatigue just pushed him physically over the edge. The fact he was at an internet cafe purusing the internet is not the root cause, but merely an outlet for an underlying issue that was affecting him. Not to mention he was weak... I've done a lot of extremely physical demanding and fatiguing things in the military, two days without sleep and no food being one of the easier things on that list.

I believe that in North America at least, that we have been seeing the affects of addictions to technology for some time. TV as an example, console games, internet. In my experience, the vast majority of those "addicted" to these mediums are only so because there are other issues in their lives driving them towards it. Depression, social anxiety, autism, etc being the sort of thing that creates a need for these people to seek out a form of escapism.

I'm not saying that the mediums in and of themselves cannot be addictive. I'm just saying that while these camps are a great idea, and will hopefully prove positive, that there is a great chance for falling back into the trap again. Especially if the issues that drove, or led the people to it are not resolved.

I would speculate, that perhaps more learned people then I have perhaps similar views and as such have not deemed the Internet as a worthy standalone addiction yet to merrit dedicated clinics for it.

 

[GlocksRock]

Sign me up. When I am at work, I spend way more time hanging out on the internet (here, for example) than I do actually working.

Same here. Right now I'm in training for a new job, and I finished up my web based training very quickly, so that leaves me with about 5 hrs. of nothing to do for the rest of the day, and Fri. will be just as bad. So to kill time I hang out here since most of the other sites I usually go to are blocked by the corporate firewall.

 

[Halon451]

I usually have to take a deep breath when topics of this nature come up either in real life (or in this case) on the web. As a technology addict in general, I have found one thing to be true - that technology has the dual effect of enriching people's lives while at the same time "dumbing" them down either intellectually or socially. You see the contrast in today's youth, versus those of us who are old enough to remember what life was like without the internet and cell phones. How did we ever survive??

I also agree that the internet has enriched my own life and has been a source for learning, education, entertainment - no small emphasis on the first two - but that it has to be utilized wisely. Going go TMZ.com every day to check on the latest celebrity gossip in my opinion is only driving one's IQ down in the process and is doing absolutely nothing for their social life.

I believe that balance is the key - in anything. As a human population we have come to rely on things that not but for a few short years ago were still considered "novel", are now commonplace and have revolutionized the way we go about our lives. Things happen now at the speed of light (bank transactions, paying bills, finding directions, making purchases on things, finding relatives, friends, etc. So the internet's usefulness cannot be discounted. I don't think anyone would disagree with me on that. However, there does come a point where we have to realize that we are still human after all, and not everything that makes us human exists on the World Wide Web.

I'm a tech geek as much as they come, and if I can say that... also, this is ironic that we're discussing the pitfalls and benefits of the internet, while we are on the internet.

 

[highfihoney]

I would urge caution to those who use the internet at work for personal reasons,my company keeps tabs on who's doing what on the WWW,if a person's work is not suffering we will not make an issue of it but come time for an employee evaluation the question always comes up.

How much better of an employee could so & so be if he was totaly focused on his job, not spending 3 hours a day surfing,every time its been mentioned a raise or promotion has been denied.

Another reason why i use my own laptop & provider service for work

 

[Tomorrow]

I usually have to take a deep breath when topics of this nature come up either in real life (or in this case) on the web. As a technology addict in general, I have found one thing to be true - that technology has the dual effect of enriching people's lives while at the same time "dumbing" them down either intellectually or socially. You see the contrast in today's youth, versus those of us who are old enough to remember what life was like without the internet and cell phones. How did we ever survive??

I also agree that the internet has enriched my own life and has been a source for learning, education, entertainment - no small emphasis on the first two - but that it has to be utilized wisely. Going go TMZ.com every day to check on the latest celebrity gossip in my opinion is only driving one's IQ down in the process and is doing absolutely nothing for their social life.

I believe that balance is the key - in anything. As a human population we have come to rely on things that not but for a few short years ago were still considered "novel", are now commonplace and have revolutionized the way we go about our lives. Things happen now at the speed of light (bank transactions, paying bills, finding directions, making purchases on things, finding relatives, friends, etc. So the internet's usefulness cannot be discounted. I don't think anyone would disagree with me on that. However, there does come a point where we have to realize that we are still human after all, and not everything that makes us human exists on the World Wide Web.

I'm a tech geek as much as they come, and if I can say that... also, this is ironic that we're discussing the pitfalls and benefits of the internet, while we are on the internet.

Very well said and a great analysis!!

Imagine what your (anyone's) life would be if the internet were suddenly taken away. Yep, we're addicted. It's a great tool, especially for those of us who live in rural areas. Being addicted to a tool, and simultaneously enjoying it, are not so bad.

 

[Halon451]

Absolutely - I've entered into a number of conversations about such a possibility as the internet suddenly going away. These have been, mind you, "in-person" conversations! It's not a stretch of the imagination to say that, at the very least millions of people on this planet would be completely unable to function. I believe that it would drive hundreds if not thousands into severe depression, if not into suicidal tendencies. For the remainder of us (those of my aforementioned demographic, who are old enough to remember life without), might be severely annoyed and somewhat crippled at first, but we would recover and relearn how to do things the old-fashioned way.

I don't think that many people realize just how profound the internet's influence has been on mankind in just the last decade and a half. And that influence continues to grow, exponentially.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

I would urge caution to those who use the internet at work for personal reasons,my company keeps tabs on who's doing what on the WWW,if a person's work is not suffering we will not make an issue of it but come time for an employee evaluation the question always comes up.

How much better of an employee could so & so be if he was totaly focused on his job, not spending 3 hours a day surfing,every time its been mentioned a raise or promotion has been denied.

Another reason why i use my own laptop & provider service for work

I used to worry about that, but I have gotten a raise in each of the 3 years I have worked here so far. My job is sufficiently boring that I would probably quit without a way to get away from it several times a day.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

Absolutely - I've entered into a number of conversations about such a possibility as the internet suddenly going away. These have been, mind you, "in-person" conversations! It's not a stretch of the imagination to say that, at the very least millions of people on this planet would be completely unable to function. I believe that it would drive hundreds if not thousands into severe depression, if not into suicidal tendencies. For the remainder of us (those of my aforementioned demographic, who are old enough to remember life without), might be severely annoyed and somewhat crippled at first, but we would recover and relearn how to do things the old-fashioned way.

I don't think that many people realize just how profound the internet's influence has been on mankind in just the last decade and a half. And that influence continues to grow, exponentially.

Having grown up long before the internet existed, I could certainly do without it. I enjoy having it, though. I particularly like being able to buy things that I cannot find locally.

 

[Halon451]

Having grown up long before the internet existed, I could certainly do without it. I enjoy having it, though. I particularly like being able to buy things that I cannot find locally.

To tell you the truth, many days I would prefer to do without it, but it's not possible. For one, my job requires extensive use of the internet, so my company would be among the first-line casualties. But what you mention highlights my point - yes, we can do without it, because it is still a matter of convenience for us. For those born into it, it has become too much of a necessity in order to function in life. For companies, such as mine, we have built our operation on the backbone of the internet (no, we're not an internet merchant or anything like that), so our success depends greatly on the fact that the internet exists and functions. We're all a bunch of old-farts, to semi-old farts here, so while the company would suffer, those of us within would fare better. That is part of the irony.