the impact of the internet on our progress

finally i can make a thread!!

so i was just thinking about how since ive found this website, my thoughts on life and consciousness(thats its subjective and we share this oneness.....all the stuff ive seen posted and talked about here as well) have been more stable, yes ive had these thoughts before and got to them through my own path of study(brain and philosophy) but the fact that ive met other people with the same thoughts has solidified it in my mind, so its not just a fleeting theory, or its not something that makes me feel like im weird or crazy anymore.....the internet and forums like this are significant in creating/ maintaining these conscious states in us......think about it......your consciousness is influenced by what is directly around you, before we had the internet, phones, anything to communicate long distances, we were stuck to our town and the people around us, its not a secret that well traveled people who went outside the normal scope most humans see, are the ones who made discoveries and realizations......maybe we feel a unification now because we simply have these technologies that make physical space irrelevant, we can talk to each other and influence each other from far away places, we can meet here and stabilize our thoughts, i for one must admit, writing and reading posts here has helped me say what ive always wanted to say, like its coming out of me piece by piece, its like physically having you guys around me...

once you meet similar minded people through the internet, it does not matter what people think around you, so where before meeting you may feel very alone on a path that is difficult and not find much help from around you, in fact whats around you will detract from your path, but once you DO communicate with other people and they have similar thoughts or opinions, your mind is like a rocket that blasts off and quickly goes down that road you want to explore.....every moment is truly unique and life is never the present moment, because that moment has passed and its on to the next one.....we have to consider how technology and social structure is changing us and our consciousness, we have to be diligent in seeking truth and debunking bull#, sure we could feel unified now and all these feelings could be surging through us and we can talk about the oneness and all that, but it could be an expression of the times, how can we go back and say this is how its always been or how its going to be......? its like achieving a state because of what is currently around you and then extrapolating it to the future or going back....can we really do this?


im not sure exactly where im going with this, im just trying to think about how we get to our positions and our thoughts....i have no clear position on anything, i want to explore all angles.....

reply to post by subjectivelife


I fully agree with you. Just the amount of knowledge that is available to us all now with a couple of keyclicks is amazing. Before the internet, I had to go to my encyclopaedia Britannica to find any information, and if I couldn't find it in there, off to the local or the university library, which could take days or weeks to find information, if at all. Now the biggest handicap with finding information (if you know your search engine), is the thousands of irrelevant/false information that you find if you do a search. I have yet to find any search that comes up empty, even though in some instances it might refer you to a book.

So I personally think that the wealth of knowledge that is now available on-line has increased the way we do things more than thousandfold. I can't wait for the day that a brain implant, with a direct connection to the internet is available. Just think of all the possibilities, I would wonder what is the square-root of 13879877, and within milliseconds I would know the answer, I can call up all the works of Shakespeare and get it all in my mind immediately, or any music we can think of, and the list just goes on and on ....

the increased access of knowledge changes who we are, determines our consciousness in a way....

oh and this will summarize from years of brain study why i believe consciousness arose...i wrote this as a reply in another thread.....im really looking for some feedback.....im trying to look at why we are conscious in our current state now, i know when i was born i was not conscious, my consciousness arose from interaction with the data around me.......for some reason it makes me think of how when we are in a dream we seem to "come" into being conscious in it.........and most of the time we dont know we are dreaming until some time passes.....

the people/environment/ everything around you does not only influence your unconscious it is what makes up your consciousness......everyone runs the same mechanisms, has the same body, and the same brain. the brain is a super adapting machine like thing that is thrown into a bunch of data(birth) and from the beginning is taking everything in and integrating it, none of us existed at birth, it took time and data for our brains to form our selves, we are all unique because no brain can experience the same things you have, because no person/brain will occupy the same time and space as you(if you were born in the 1500's "you" would be completely different, an expression of the times and things around you, not only what time period your born in, but what location of that time period), thus no one gets the exact same stream of data coming into them, this data is what defines us, it like we are all reporters sent out by god or whatever made us or whatever we come from......we are the same, we are one, we are just spread out.......the universe may be a big abyss, a huge void, but it is consciousness that fills the void, it is the combination of our brains and the data that enable you to have a unique perspective and enable us to sit here in different positions and talk to each other about what WE have learned or experienced, look into someones eyes next time you talk to them and see how much of yourself you see......

I remember when i first experienced the "magic" of Internet. I was about 10 years old and i was fascinated with first news portals, real time chats and so on. Since then i always thought of Internet as of best (and neutral) medium to share information.

I firmly belive that Internet helped us a lot in our progress. Huge amount of information that is shared across the Internet effects us everyday.

That information raised global consciousness. People are getting more and more aware of "global picture" in terms of culture, politics, current events and so on.

Some people might even say Internet itself is that global consciousness. Today we have Internet words, phrases used around the globe. We have global movements like Anonymous "founded" on the Internet. Ideas are spreading and forming on the Internet.

Its in a human nature to interact with other people and to share information and Internet is by far best medium to do that at this point.

Originally posted by Hellhound604
reply to post by subjectivelife

 

Just the amount of knowledge that is available to us all now with a couple of keyclicks is amazing. Before the internet, I had to go to my encyclopaedia Britannica to find any information, and if I couldn't find it in there, off to the local or the university library, which could take days or weeks to find information, if at all.

The only thing I really miss is that in those libraries I stumbled on books with topics I never heard or thought off. Books are elaborated, topics on the net, well in general they are not. The info is quicker, true, but it took away the journey, so I still tend to do both, but I've seem to have neglected the thousands of years of knowledge and theories before the internet.

yup dario you are right

but what i really want people to think about is how this is just an example of how consciousness is all about the now and what it does is interact with the things around us.........its like we are all movie projectors because we all have the same hardware, the data/film going into us is what differs and this is why we each project a unique movie on the screen.......the internet is just a good example of how consciousness is a direct derivative of its surroundings.....this sounds like typical nature vs nurture but its not.....

and why do you think all the kids are diagnosed with ADD these days.....the brain is a machine that LOVES stimulation, once you learn to type a certain speed you arent going to go back to typing slow are you........once the brain is exposed to a higher level of stimulation then how can it go back to a lower levels, im 25, im a good example because i was around as a kid when it was just books and stuff. i could read for hours, but now thanks to video games, the internet, media, there is so much data i can get in a few minutes, reading a book pales in comparision....and btw when we are born we have many more neurons than we need, neurotrophic growth factor(food essentially) is sent to the brain areas that are activated, whats activated depends on the enviroment, if you put a cat in a dark room for the first few months of its life, the brain area for vision will never develop, it literally dies........and the cat will never see, even when you expose it to light........but if you did give it light and allow it to take data in, neurotrophic growth factor WOULD go to that part of the brain...do you guys see how the brain is the ultimate tool of adapation? but it depends on the incoming data, that determines what it will express and what it will not......

no one has ADD, your just trying to get something used to a high level of stimulation(electrical impulses literally, in the brain) to sit there and read and have the brain generating less electrical impulse, so is it a suprise many of us get bored and move on to an activity that will stimulate........you can compare it to a drug, because a drug essentially is stimulation of actions potentials and chemicals as well.....you dont start to do a lot of a drug and then go down to 1/10 the amount youve been doing.....to the brain its all the same

Originally posted by subjectivelife
you dont start to do a lot of a drug and then go down to 1/10 the amount youve been doing.....to the brain its all the same

True but you can't compare 10 good spliffs with one good acid trip, you need to do both, preferably at the same time.

reply to post by subjectivelife


Subjectivelife.

I find this topic to be one of the most under-rated issues of this age and have spoken to it in replies numerous times on these boards.
When we look at the amount of information available to people in our past we can see that it was very limited.

In tribal times for instance. there was the over-riding story within which the tribe ordered itself and carried out it's everyday life. Individual consciousness for the most part was confined to development within these tribal story lines. Individuals didn't choose how they wanted to be, who they wanted to be, they just became the aspect of the tribe, which the tribe needed them to be.

Now, however, the simple story-lines of our tribes are washing away with the influx of more and more information, and I think, as I think you observe, that consciousness is developing faster and more broadly than ever before.

And what does this mean? Wow. We should all be looking at this question. It certainly is not addressed in our public sphere to any valuable extent that I can find. Sure in the halls of academia but not out where most of us can grab onto it.

So Subject, just what or where do you think all of this expanding of consciousness will be taking us. I have several ideas, but what are some of yours.

And oh, if and before you rely I would like to ask you one more question and I hope you are not bothered by it.
With all the information circulating around these boards, I can only surmise that you have encountered some of the threads which address the issue of grammar, punctuation, and spelling. As you have already discovered the relationship of individual consciousness and communication, would it not be a prudent gesture on your part to augment your writing style to better serve the advancing communications you so rightly promote?

Well, ive never been much of a writer and I guess to be honest Im just really in an excited state when i try to get these thoughts out of my head and onto the computer, so i tend to just let is stream, I apologize, but i do believe that you get what I'am trying to say.

In terms of where it is going, I do not know. I dont think we really can know and thats part it, because consciousness is about the now. Im still struggling to understand my current state of consciousness. I do wonder what happens when we lose this subjective point of view we have in our bodies and mind, how can we still be conscious if we become part of everything, i fear that maybe it is true death, at least for these unique people that we have become during our lives so far, how can I say that I will go on and join this oneness, when the only I,that I know, is this one, its almost like implying that there is another thing in me, that is unconscious. I find it difficult to talk about the unconscious or subconscious because it is not currently present, what is not currently present to me might as well not exist.....

Hello again subjectivelife. Congrats on your first thread. I said this a few days ago in another thread; "I am so glad to be here 'now,' in a time where such knowledge is openly shared and not confined to esoteric circles, occultist cabals, medicine-men, shaman, witches, wizards, or the inner sanctums of religious hierarchies." I am grateful and thankful that us 'average' people have the chance to learn what the select few once held so secretly.

Beyond the greater understandings of self and of the greater existence... the widespread accessibility of sacred knowledge is helping to liberate and unify us by empowering the masses to the level of our 'masters' and handlers. Their power seems less intimidating and less mysterious as we begin to open our eyes to the utilization and realization of our full human potential.

I do feel that we are, in part, products of our environment, peers, and surroundings. We may very well all be born as clean slates... exactly the same, and become 'individuals' as a reaction to the circumstances in life we are faced with. That's why parents always warn us about bad friends; "Birds of the same feather flock together."

Sometimes I look at a person deeply, and I tell myself that within myself is the potential to have become that person... the worst person I ever saw and the best person that I ever saw. When I see a poor beggar, or alcoholic, or a person who has wasted life... I remind myself that I have the potential to have made all of their same decisions if I had experienced each circumstance of their life. And sometimes when I see a person living an unhonorable life, I tell myself that if they were given my life, they would have turned out just like me. It really helps me to humble myself in brotherhood, non-judgementalism, and empathy. I never felt it before this year, but now I do see myself in the eyes of others.