Law in the Internet Society

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ValentinaGurneyPaper2 3 - 10 Jan 2009 - Main.WardBenson
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-- ValentinaGurney - 23 Dec 2008
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Valentina,

First, I think your cited source may be somewhat problematic. Based on the articles I've read, Tao Ran is not just any psychologist, but one employed by the Chinese military. The “clinic” for internet “addicts” he runs is located on military base outside Beijing where patients are held against their will, medicated, subjected to electric shocks, and forced to undergo boot camp-style training. Given the Chinese government's attitude towards efforts by the general population to interact, communicate and organize, I think much more skepticism than you express is in order when a psychologist representing the Chinese security services announces that any young person spending significant amounts of time on the Internet, not related to work or studying, is an “addict” in need of “treatment.” That the “treatment” seems to mainly involve boot camp-style suppression of individual thought and action and extensive playing with fake machine guns seems especially telling, at least to me.

More importantly, I think that the general assumptions that one can be addicted to the Internet and that such an addiction is measured solely in terms of the amount of time spent on it are fundamentally flawed. Without a doubt there are activities that lend themselves to compulsive participation, such as gambling, which the Internet allows people to participate in more than they otherwise could. However, there is no reason to believe, as Mr. Tao apparently does, that time spent on the Internet not related to work or studying is somehow time poorly spent or indicative of a problem. Perhaps, the “average American kid between 8 and 18-years-old spends eight-and-a-half hours a day on a computer, listening to an iPod, watching TV, or paying attention to some form of digital technology,” because they understand much better than their parents or Mr. Tao how to access the wealth of useful content on the Internet. Certainly, the seven or so hours I spent listening to a combination of podcasts from NPR, the BBC and Ted.com and a concert by the German heavy metal band Rammstein left me better informed about current events, politics and economics and (thanks to the Rammstein) much more energized for lifting than I would have been had I spent the day in silence. And, the additional hour or so I spent reading Rammstein-related websites while searching for translations and explanations of the lyrics gave me a much better appreciation of their music and an ever-so-slightly improved German vocabulary. Maybe Mr. Tao would disagree and say I should have been doing close-order drill, but I think that was eight and a half hours well spent.

-- WardBenson - 10 Jan 2009

Also, why denigrate "cyber sex" and so-called "virtual relationships?" When geographic or other barriers prevent people from living together or going on "real" dates often, what is wrong with most of the relationship being conducted over the Internet? Indeed, since there is almost by definition less sex in "virtual" relationships than "real" ones, aren't they more likely to be "real" relationships, in the sense that they must be based on meaningful emotional and intellectual connections, than many relationships in the "real" world turn out to be?

-- WardBenson - 10 Jan 2009

 
 
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Feeding the Addiction

Revision 3r3 - 10 Jan 2009 - 09:39:13 - WardBenson
Revision 2r2 - 24 Dec 2008 - 15:07:34 - ValentinaGurney
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