Damn it. Someone already did.

Yeah, though. That's it. Monkeysphere! Fuck it! We're all monkeys, man!>> ^ReverendTed:

>> ^zombieater:
Once this community grows too large, people don't know each other and they become strangers.I think you're describing the Monkeysphere.

>> ^zombieater:
Once this community grows too large, people don't know each other and they become strangers.I think you're describing the Monkeysphere.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

I'm not against having outlets for pure unfettered self-expression, but much like a primal scream therapy session, it doesn't lend itself to real communication very well.>> ^gorillaman:

>> ^dag:
Is there a movement to accountabilise the web? I sure haven't seen much evidence of it. Most places I visit - it's pretty much anything goes.
I don't think it's just honesty and dumbfuckery. It's more about what the article describes, the feeling that "it's just a game" and a fantasy outlet for expressing sublimated rage, sadness etc in a "safe" way (without a chance of retribution).
I agree with @ReverendTed that scaling moderation by members is the way to handle lots and lots of comments.

Why do you think so many need an anonymous outlet for expression? Our culture is so repressive, on an individual scale, and that fear of retribution is real. I think the instinct that the internet is another world where we can reinvent ourselves is something to be encouraged rather than dismissed as a game or a fantasy. We're able to communicate now unburdened by circumstances or the disapproval of our peers. I'd say the less this reality interpenetrates with the lower world the better.
Personally there's almost no difference between my online and offline behaviour, except when I talk to my boss, but most people are more social than I am; they have more people pushing down on them and more to lose if they push back. So let them have their freedom, some might even have something worthwhile to say.

>> ^dag:

Is there a movement to accountabilise the web? I sure haven't seen much evidence of it. Most places I visit - it's pretty much anything goes.
I don't think it's just honesty and dumbfuckery. It's more about what the article describes, the feeling that "it's just a game" and a fantasy outlet for expressing sublimated rage, sadness etc in a "safe" way (without a chance of retribution).
I agree with @ReverendTed that scaling moderation by members is the way to handle lots and lots of comments.


Why do you think so many need an anonymous outlet for expression? Our culture is so repressive, on an individual scale, and that fear of retribution is real. I think the instinct that the internet is another world where we can reinvent ourselves is something to be encouraged rather than dismissed as a game or a fantasy. We're able to communicate now unburdened by circumstances or the disapproval of our peers. I'd say the less this reality interpenetrates with the lower world the better.

Personally there's almost no difference between my online and offline behaviour, except when I talk to my boss, but most people are more social than I am; they have more people pushing down on them and more to lose if they push back. So let them have their freedom, some might even have something worthwhile to say.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

Is there a movement to accountabilise the web? I sure haven't seen much evidence of it. Most places I visit - it's pretty much anything goes.

I don't think it's just honesty and dumbfuckery. It's more about what the article describes, the feeling that "it's just a game" and a fantasy outlet for expressing sublimated rage, sadness etc in a "safe" way (without a chance of retribution).

I agree with @ReverendTed that scaling moderation by members is the way to handle lots and lots of comments.
>> ^gorillaman:

There wouldn't be any reason to visit videosift without the comments.
The reason you see so much dumbfuckery online is people are able to be more open about who they are, and most people, at their core, are dumb fucks. So deal with it; it's better than living your life in a straightjacket of manners and convention.
I despise this movement to 'accountabilitise' the web. It comes from those who enjoy their social power too much and want to tighten their grip over the few remaining sanctuaries of free expression. I'm not talking about big evil governments; I'm talking about the control of people who are able to punish your dissent in ways like not inviting you to a wedding or blocking a promotion. If we're able to have open, honest interactions without fear then their power dissipates.
RL conversations should be more like web conversations; honesty is valuable and bullshit taboos and rituals are not.
If this puts me in the vocal minority, then I am glad.

>> ^zor:

We could mine these ourselves but it is a filthy business. China should tell the US to fuck off and do it themselves.


We could, but all our stuff is usually mixed in with Thorium, and thanks to the EPA you have to treat it like toxic waste. Even though you could eat thorium and be totally fine, it only just barely radioactive.

>> ^Peroxide:

Cell phones are immoral, from the slave labor mining of precious metals to the sweat shop assembly, to the toxic waste shipped back to china.
Your sentiments are cliche and your herd mentality a detriment to the global herd.

Cell phones are not immoral. Slave labor mining, sweat shop assembly and toxic waste pollution are definitely immoral, but don't confuse the ends with the means. Our desire for cell phones may not justify the immoral actions used to produce them, but that doesn't mean the cell phones themselves or our desire to use them, is wrong.

As for the poem, technology is amoral. It is a tool, which can be used to enslave or enhance your life. Would he have said the same thing about the printing press?

I have acquired knowledge, discovered art and laughed at the world (and yes those things have equal value) on this site alone, and that means the internet makes my life better. I have had visceral, collaborative, experiences in online games I could never have in real life (at least, until the zombie apocalypse hits).

But it's a part of my life, not the whole. Guitar hero doesn't compare to actually playing guitar. SSX has none of "oh crap, I've overcooked this and now I'm really gonna hurt" adrenaline rush of actually snowboarding. As much as I love taking down a room of thugs in Arkham Aslyum, it's a pale shadow of the intricacy of martial arts.

So yeah, take what you want from the web, but go have a beer with some friends every now and then

Cell phones are immoral, from the slave labor mining of precious metals to the sweat shop assembly, to the toxic waste shipped back to china.

Your sentiments are cliche and your herd mentality a detriment to the global herd.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxconn_suicides

http://www.ted.com/talks/edward_burtynsky_on_manufactured_landscapes.html

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/foxconn-workers-threaten-mass-suicide-if-working-conditions-arent-fixed

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/05/26-4

The thing I hated the most in the lab was having to constantly deal with formaldehyde - a pretty potent carcinogen. It's used in tissue preservation, so anytime you want to extract some DNA/RNA from formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue you end up getting a dose of it.

The strangest thing is how in our chemistry labs all the waste chemicals from all our experiments had to be put into one big jar, so there would be this viscous, almost gooey mass of this silvery-orange-black'ish sort of toxic waste which was a combination of all the 30-40 different (already toxic) chemicals put together. That would then need to sit in the lab for a month until waste collection day arrived.

So if I wonder why they are dumping toxic waste in the river it's envy?

Is it also envy when I wonder why they keep reducing their workforce but continue to make more profits and question what they've done to allow that to happen?

Was it envy when people were wondering where their returns were with Madoff?

So it's wrong to wonder how these people are functioning when it all signs point to them doing something that's long term counter productive or illegal?

This is basically how they catch drug dealers, looking at people who have money that have no obvious reason to explain how they continue to earn it.

I know it'd make life a lot simpler if I could just do whatever the hell I wanted and could tell people to fuck off (or stop being envious) when they were looking into my unlawful or dangerous (physically, economically, etc) behaviors.

>> ^DerHasisttot:

The anarchist's cows drink from the poisoned groundwater and die because there was no society, regulations, and agencies to prevent the factory to dump all its toxic waste. Anarchy!


Exactly, people who espouse to be anarchists or libertarians only really want to be up to a point. They always seem to be quite happy to take those things that are provided by living in a society, but seem to get shirty when that entails paying taxes to fund such things.

Strange that.

The anarchist's cows drink from the poisoned groundwater and die because there was no society, regulations, and agencies to prevent the factory to dump all its toxic waste. Anarchy!

Tags for this video have been changed from 'TYT young turks shrimp china toxic waste' to 'TYT, young turks, shrimp, asia, toxic, waste' - edited by DerHasisttot

>> ^Phreezdryd:

This is why we can't have nice things.
Should this be surprising? Isn't this how every other critter we eat gets treated?
I look forward to the sci-fi future when we're eating our recycled waste.


Made me remember this: http://videosift.com/video/EAT-SHIT-AND-LIVE