Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted)

I’m In The Minority ..

Posted by "GrrlScientist" on October 25, 2007
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Are we becoming a nation of pajama-wearing web-surfing loners?

(Orphaned image).

Zogby International and 463 Communications recently polled 9,743 Americans online regarding their attitude towards the internet.

They found that a significant minority of equal numbers of men and women would consider the internet to be a surrogate significant other: 31% of single political progressives and 18% of single political conservatives felt this way. Wow, amazing, huh? I didn’t know that so many Americans found 3.5 inch floppies so attractive!

But weirdly, only 11% of Americans said they would implant a device into their brain that would allow their mind to access the internet. [story].

I not only see the internet as a surrogate SO, but also a surrogate family, and a surrogate for friends, too. Not only that, but I have often complained that I’d like to have a device implanted into my head so I could browse the internet using only my mind. I would still like to plug in to a computer screen so I can write, though!

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Comments

  1. #1 Moopheus
    October 25, 2007

    “But weirdly, only 11% of Americans said they would implant a device into their brain that would allow their mind to access the internet”

    Remember the film The President’s Analyst? What makes you think in the future we’ll have a choice?

  2. #2 Andrea
    October 26, 2007

    I love the Internet A LOT. But it doesn’t hug you back!

  3. #3 Chris' Wills
    October 26, 2007

    ….I didn’t know that so many Americans found 3.5 inch floppies so attractive!

    No such thing as a 3.5 inch floppy, it’s 90mm see ANSI X3.171-1989. Sometimes known as a stiffie (stiffy disk) in South Africa and some other countries.

    Now the 5.25 inch floppy was truly 5.25 inches :o )

    For some reason the 8 inch floppy has become extinct and the 12 inch never made it to the desktop.

  4. #4 Romeo Vitelli
    October 26, 2007

    I take personal offense at your caption suggesting that we are becoming a “nation of pajama-wearing, web-surfing loners”. I’ll have you know that I do NOT wear pajamas.

    I await your apology.

  5. #5 Library Diva
    October 27, 2007

    I wouldn’t go so far as to say that see it as a surrogate significant other, but the internet does play a big role in my life. I realized that the night that I was saying prayers (which I do on occasion) and realized that all the people I’d prayed for had names like “Hedwig,” “Werewolf,” “Amadine”, “Panda” and “Becasquared”.

    I was telling my parents about an internet friend once, and they were amazed at the amount of stuff about her life that she’d just posted out there for anyone to see. I tried to explain that these forums are like bars or coffee shops: there are regulars that go there, and that’s who she was speaking to, and while people passing through might hear it too, they probably wouldn’t give a shit.

    I actually find it easier to connect online to people. The people you see IRL just generally don’t seem to be looking to connect with anyone, most of the time. But if you’re online in a discussion group, well, the point is to DISCUSS and get to know others.