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Science (non-SETI) :
Internet addiction?
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Author | Message |
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ProfessorBarnhardt Send message Joined: 19 Aug 03 Posts: 37 Credit: 2,285,937 RAC: 0 |
Over the years, I’ve read a number of articles on the topic of Internet addiction. And I’ve noticed that a number of these articles are written by women about victims who are primarily men. While I’m certain that Internet addiction is a real phenomenon, I wonder if it might be dangerous to jump at this diagnosis too soon in all cases. There could be a far more insidious disease process at work. This is my rationale. Years ago - long before the Internet and even before the advent of radio and television, many men found that they enjoyed going fishing by themselves. Wives and girlfriends left at home began referring to themselves as “fishing widows.†Later, with the advent of radio and television, many men found that they enjoyed listening to or watching sporting events by themselves. Wives and girlfriends left alone began referring to themselves as “football widows,†“baseball widows,†or “basketball widows.†Then came the Internet. And many men found that they enjoyed surfing the web by themselves. But this time, wives and girlfriends refused to accept their widowhood gracefully. Instead, they began suggesting that their men must be “ill†and in need of a “cure.†Therefore, it’s possible that some of these men might not suffer from Internet addiction at all. Instead, they might be suffering from a disease I refer to as “widow’s syndrome†- a disease forcing men to endure guilt trips laid on them by wives or girlfriends for the crime of finding pleasure outside their company. |
Dimly Lit Lightbulb 😀 Send message Joined: 30 Aug 08 Posts: 15399 Credit: 7,423,413 RAC: 1 |
Those poor guys :( Member of the People Encouraging Niceness In Society club. |
Darth Beaver Send message Joined: 20 Aug 99 Posts: 6728 Credit: 21,443,075 RAC: 3 |
Professor that was well put . hehehehehehehe Off cause you could say that men need to be by them self's because of the hunter gatherer thing . Stalking animals needs quiet and patience . And then there's the Men are from Mar's and women are from Venus idea that men can only speak 3-5,00 words and females speak 9-12,000 words so men just switch off. And then again you can say we , both you and me are just MSP's as we both understand what you where saying "WOMEN FOLK "give your man some quiet self time lest he say "F this I've had enough all she does is nag me , I'm outa here " hehehehehehehehe |
Es99 Send message Joined: 23 Aug 05 Posts: 10874 Credit: 350,402 RAC: 0 |
... Considering some of the comments on this thread, I'd say those ladies would be better off without them. Just a reminder that plenty of women do post here, try to remember that before insulting us. Reality Internet Personality |
Dimly Lit Lightbulb 😀 Send message Joined: 30 Aug 08 Posts: 15399 Credit: 7,423,413 RAC: 1 |
... I was being sarcastic with my comment, i'll try to be more clear in future. Member of the People Encouraging Niceness In Society club. |
Es99 Send message Joined: 23 Aug 05 Posts: 10874 Credit: 350,402 RAC: 0 |
... Unfortunately sarcasm doesn't always work on text based forums. Reality Internet Personality |
janneseti Send message Joined: 14 Oct 09 Posts: 14106 Credit: 655,366 RAC: 0 |
Genus perspective. Here on average, we spend 21.6 hours per week on the internet, men slightly more (23.4 hours) and women a little less (19.1 hours). Men spend more time on the Internet at home, at work and in school than women. Women spend somewhat more time with the Internet on mobile phones than men (8 and 7.7 hours a week).
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Bob DeWoody Send message Joined: 9 May 10 Posts: 3387 Credit: 4,182,900 RAC: 10 |
I have accessed the internet since early in it's existence. Most of my internet time is spent watching the various forums I participate in ranging from slot cars to science forums. I spend very little time in places like Facebook and I don't even know what twitter is. I like the access to technical information and historical documentation. I used to participate in online flight sims but they are mostly gone by now. I think I spend more time at my computer offline than online. My one and only wife had already left before the internet became popular so I don't know whether she would have considered herself an internet widow or not. I do think men and women need to spend time away from their significant other and I would think that most women would rather their husbands spend their time at a computer screen than out at bars chasing other women. Bob DeWoody My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events. |
tullio Send message Joined: 9 Apr 04 Posts: 8797 Credit: 2,930,782 RAC: 1 |
I receive a lot of mail on my two accounts, but it is mostly spam. I get a lot of spam mail from France, God only knows how they arrived at one of my accounts. They are sent from an address which is ex.IP, where x can be any number. Even if I block e1.IP I shall get mail from e2, e3, e4 etc. They must have a script which manages to vary addresses if it finds one blocked. Tullio |
Dimly Lit Lightbulb 😀 Send message Joined: 30 Aug 08 Posts: 15399 Credit: 7,423,413 RAC: 1 |
... And someone saying that a woman would be better off without a man based on the three words and a sadface he wrote is unfortunate. Member of the People Encouraging Niceness In Society club. |
Darth Beaver Send message Joined: 20 Aug 99 Posts: 6728 Credit: 21,443,075 RAC: 3 |
Good to see you can take a joke Ess :) |
Es99 Send message Joined: 23 Aug 05 Posts: 10874 Credit: 350,402 RAC: 0 |
Good to see you can take a joke Ess :) Of course I can, Darth! ..but they do have to actually be funny. :) Reality Internet Personality |
Julie Send message Joined: 28 Oct 09 Posts: 34060 Credit: 18,883,157 RAC: 18 |
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Darth Beaver Send message Joined: 20 Aug 99 Posts: 6728 Credit: 21,443,075 RAC: 3 |
Once a long time ago the humble Telephone was the life line . A man used a phone for a few minutes and women folk used it all day . average call length 1 hour Only men get in on it now , but there are more choices , women still chat, talk gossip men play games or look for information Problem solving addiction !!! maybe if you got to much time on your hands and a boring life Otherwise it's part of life these days , you wouldn't get caught without your mobile phone , addiction !! or the fact it can save your life ? |
janneseti Send message Joined: 14 Oct 09 Posts: 14106 Credit: 655,366 RAC: 0 |
Dagny Carlsson is 103 years old and may well be the world's oldest blogger. When Dagny was 93 years she inherited a computer and learned to use it on her own. She has also held a course in computer management for the elderly. The computer she calls for a company and she tells us how much it has meant to her. - It allows you to keep in touch with friends and family, it is indispensable. Here is her blog:) http://www.123minsida.se/Bojan/ |
Gordon Lowe Send message Joined: 5 Nov 00 Posts: 12094 Credit: 6,317,865 RAC: 0 |
Dagny Carlsson is 103 years old and may well be the world's oldest blogger. When Dagny was 93 years she inherited a computer and learned to use it on her own. She has also held a course in computer management for the elderly. That's awesome! My mother, who will be 80, got started on computers around 1992-ish. I encouraged her to get one, and while she readily admits she got so frustrated learning how to use it she "wanted to throw it out the window", she grew to love it, and even today, with her constant tiredness and dementia symptoms, she keeps up(with my help) her computer habit. :~) The mind is a weird and mysterious place |
ProfessorBarnhardt Send message Joined: 19 Aug 03 Posts: 37 Credit: 2,285,937 RAC: 0 |
Darth Beaver wrote: Professor that was well put . hehehehehehehe This was actually a "summary" of an op-ed article I got published in U.S. News & World Report magazine back in the early 1990s - in response to an article on the topic written by a female psychologist. And the editor who bought it was female (grin). Didn't get paid much but, heck, money is money. Interesting side note to all this. At the time I wrote the op-ed, my wife (now, ex-wife) was constantly nagging me with comments like, "Playing on your computer again?" whenever she saw me sitting in front of it. Before I finally divorced her (long story), I swear I didn't spend much time at all surfing the web. And I don't even do that now. Most of my computer time was spent writing short stories and articles, some of which were published for $$$ in magazines like Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Pirate Writings, and others. By the time I moved out, I'd brought over $5,000 of income into our home by playing with my computer. And every time I got a check, I gave it to her to cash. Even so, after about a week's worth of peace, she'd start the nagging again. Anyway, when I saw that article in U.S. News & World Report, I just had to respond to it. P.S. Note that I don't hate my ex and she doesn't hate me. We just both came to the realization that we couldn't live under the same roof in peace. We still communicate regularly by phone but (grin) live about 75 miles apart. And this Saturday (the 12th), I might be creating a monster, hehehe. On a call last month, she was complaining that her overseas landline phone calls were costing her 89 cents a minute. I told her that on my phone (MagicJack), I could make those same calls for 15-21 cents a minute. She was real interested in that. So (grin), I got her a refurbished Win7 Pro laptop, a MagicJack (already tested by me), and a cheap phone - with $40 put into her "international calls" account. And this Saturday, I'm driving down to her place to give her a tutorial on how it all works (probably, a day-long tutorial, hehe). I figure that by the end of the next week, she'll be spending a lot of time playing on her computer. The difference is that I won't nag her about it (snicker). |
ProfessorBarnhardt Send message Joined: 19 Aug 03 Posts: 37 Credit: 2,285,937 RAC: 0 |
Julie wrote: Internet has nothing to do with real life, poor guys indeed. Certainly, the Internet should not be an all-consuming vehicle. But in the 21st Century, the Internet is "part" of real life. I live in a rural area where the nearest shopping center is 16 miles away. And in my area, there are no night spots either ... just a small cafe, a mom/pop grocery store, and a post office (and we're darn lucky to have that post office the way things are going). In short, I do a lot of business on the web. Amazon.com and other online retailers are the only places I can acquire certain things - unless I want to waste a lot of gasoline and time. So, while the Internet might not be "real life" to you, there are some people to which it's a necessary part of real life. Have some sympathy (grin). P.S. BTW, I couldn't help but notice something. According to your sidebar notes, you've been a member of this forum since October 2009, have made 32,476 posts to it, and have 6,642,401 BOINC credits. I, on the other hand, have been a member of this forum since August 2003. But I've only made 8 posts to it and only have 948,564 BOINC credits. Between the two of us, who would appear to be the real Internet addict? Just sayin' ... (grin). |
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