All Blog Comments

Denyse O'Leary - If the Internet is the problem, is more government really the solution?

Denyse O'Leary — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 12:23:58 +0000

Hi, Thrawn: The critical question, in my view, is how to frame the problem so as to work on a solution. I don't doubt the Internet can be a real danger; so can ravines (because they are out of the line of sight). The "embarrassing pictures" problem would be best addressed by school discipline. Students who do that kind of thing should not expect to graduate with their peers. All countries should have laws that protect people from liability for fake personas and - especially - anti-stalking laws. Certainly, entirely unsolicited Internet troll-driven "visits" should fall under the 9-11 category. It is true that people can gather information about a person on the Internet. That's one of the risks of being on it, and students should learn this in early grade school. What we say can indeed come back to haunt us. But as memoirs show, that has always been true. - d.

Monica - If the Internet is the problem, is more government really the solution?

Monica — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 03:40:00 +0000

Amen! No one is forced to be on 'face book' or on 'twitter'. Twitter, used to be something you did behind your hand. Face, meant to look someone in the eye. We just might regain our ability to communicate if we actually did face one another. We would certainly have to be more accountable for what we say. Social media has done some good things throughout the world but it has also, paradoxically, done great harm. We are like children with a new game. We have become addicted to it. We are actually being ruled by the game, diminishing our relationship ability. There is the risk of becoming cold, reactionary, monosyllabic morons. We need to grow-up, take control of technology - regain our humanity.

Thrawn - If the Internet is the problem, is more government really the solution?

Thrawn — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 02:01:07 +0000

I mostly sympathise with your views on the internet, but in fact, it can be a real danger. A child/teenager with enough maturity may choose to disconnect themselves. But that will not save them from humiliating pictures between exchanged over mobile devices amongst their peers. https://www.lds.org/youth/video/bullying-stop-it It will not save them from someone creating fake Facebook accounts to impersonate them, make embarrassing comments that appear to come from them, arrange for people to come to their house, etc. http://lifehacker.com/5902295/how-can-i-stop-some... And ignoring a stalker - or any other predator - will not prevent them from gathering information that they can use to find you. http://au.norton.com/cyberstalking/article Often, it's a little more complex than just walking away. But I heartily agree that governments are not good at solving social problems.

john4ns - If the Internet is the problem, is more government really the solution?

john4ns — Wed, 11 Jun 2014 17:29:55 +0000

Robert Heinlein said, "There is no problem so simple that government cannot make it worse." I wish I could remember which of his many writings but... A lesson we seem to not be able to learn. Humm, the definition of insanity is ...

Nick - Two underage girls charged: Internet fiction motivated attack?

Nick — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:14:58 +0000

Well done Denyse. I agree with you.

john4ns - The real online danger for kids turns out to be wasting time

john4ns — Thu, 5 Jun 2014 13:37:42 +0000

Is this level of addiction rare or common. I need some data to weigh the prevalence of the of the problem

Peter L - The rise of the campus brownshirt in the academic wasteland

Peter L — Thu, 5 Jun 2014 13:32:12 +0000

Hmm... so is the saying now 'Check your brownshirt'? Seriously though, thanks for the article Denyse. For me, being informed is a giant step toward having the confidence to speaking out.

Athene - iThink: How to use new technology like a human being

Athene — Sat, 31 May 2014 03:28:30 +0000

I enjoyed this post in its entirety. Have sent it along as well. Must get that book.

Alexis M. - iThink: How to use new technology like a human being

Alexis M. — Tue, 27 May 2014 22:28:39 +0000

Great points! We must not allow ourselves to be pushed around by societal norms. The song at the end is absolutely glorious, too!

Denyse O'Leary - How Wikipedia can turn fiction into fact

Denyse O'Leary — Sun, 25 May 2014 00:04:42 +0000

Do tell. I'm long out of the business now. But I remember the desperate hunt for facts to support PC stories. The factual stories were always more interesting, and involved an authentic mix of people, but reality was apparently too risky for the educrats.

@DocPencil - How Wikipedia can turn fiction into fact

@DocPencil — Sat, 24 May 2014 16:09:03 +0000

How does this scenario differ from the process used to create a Province of Ontario Grade Eight Social Studies textbook?

Thrawn - Internet can foster crime or addiction, but weigh remedies carefully

Thrawn — Wed, 21 May 2014 02:08:23 +0000

There's a statement in modern-day scripture about lying to catch a liar: https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/10...

zipporah - Internet can foster crime or addiction, but weigh remedies carefully

zipporah — Tue, 20 May 2014 23:49:38 +0000

There is an addiction, and teens are in a bad way with it. In the San Francisco Bay area, two teens walked in front of trains and got KILLED, because they walked right in front of it, and not looked where they were going!

ralphcoelho - Internet can foster crime or addiction, but weigh remedies carefully

ralphcoelho — Tue, 20 May 2014 23:16:26 +0000

A much misunderstood ethical policy is that the end does not justify the means. Parents who discipline their children "for their own good" failing to explain the reason or the possible alternative behavior contribute to such developments in their children.

David Page - Freedom of speech (if you mean it) makes for strange bedfellows

David Page — Mon, 19 May 2014 23:47:12 +0000

There is a reason that the very first amendment to the US Constitution guaranties free speech. The Canadians have come unglued on this issue. There is no right not to be offended.

zipporah - Why more information is not the answer to our problems

zipporah — Fri, 16 May 2014 21:15:17 +0000

My daughter and great niece, are around the same age, 19 & 20. They are NOT into the info age, and don't want to be, because you could get 'lonely' speaking to lots of people and actually talking to NOBODY. Sure they have cellphones, and laptops, but use them sparingly.

Tim Lee - Why more information is not the answer to our problems

Tim Lee — Fri, 16 May 2014 02:30:35 +0000

More data is definitely NOT the answer. As digital denizens, information overload can turn us into digital zombies. Two of the seven deadly sins – pride and avarice, amplified by our gizmos – converge in a vain quest to know it all.

Monica - #I care #But so what? Will social media help or hurt human rights causes?

Monica — Mon, 12 May 2014 06:44:30 +0000

It is a very basic yearning within each of us to want to feel good - to feel (emphasis on feel) that we have done something worthwhile. For the most part we have no idea how to even begin to do something that is lasting and worthwhile. Social media tends to meet this need to feel good. Our inner social being feels connected to a mass of people who are able to acknowledge a good or an evil that is happening. This connection that takes place becomes very easily confused with having done something worthwhile, when all that has really taken place is an assuaging of my moral awareness that something is right and I have said that I agree with this right- and I haven't had to get my hands dirty. A certain moral energy comes from this but I have really done nothing. But, I feel good and I have aligned myself with thousands of others who feel good but have affected nothing. No energy, no effort has been exerted to bring about change - to rectify the evil. The only good that I can see that comes from social media in relation to world situations is that positive energy is released and it does accumulate for the good, slowly changing hearts and minds - almost despite ourselves .

Susan Reibel Moore - The Internet is actually quite a good tool for oppression

Susan Reibel Moore — Sat, 10 May 2014 07:03:37 +0000

I'd love to know the names of American universities that are allowing, or promoting, this disgraceful activity. The US is my native land, and I received my first two degrees there: B.A. Oberlin College, M.A.T. Harvard. I've never been to Canada, but my Aussie husband (first degree U of WA) travelled there before we met at a Harvard party. Of course, yes, the Internet is a fine tool for oppression--along with all of the other present-day and age-old tools. Denys's reflection is vitally important.

Tony - The Internet is actually quite a good tool for oppression

Tony — Fri, 9 May 2014 17:44:23 +0000

It must also be time to stop using the phrase '6,000,000 Jews' in connection with the death camps in Germany. It might upset the the sensitivities of the Germans.; and the untold millions of victims in Stalinist USSR . It might upset the Russians. And the millions murdered in Mao's China. It might upset the Chinese. It cannot be that some human beings are more equal than others, can it?