As a new parent, handling all this is terrifying. I do try and remind myself that we had games and grainy 56k porn far too young and turned out ok, but there was no instagram, and certainly no submissive A.I. avatars.
It’s not like this has to go badly, it could allow people an avenue of expression and development currently denied. But it’s not like teenage boys conditioned to abundant free porn has gone particularly well for young women.
> I do try and remind myself that we had games and grainy 56k porn far too young and turned out ok, but there was no instagram, and certainly no submissive A.I. avatars.
Someone commented here the other day about how going online used to be a distinct activity; that once you disconnected, you were again alone and offline. I think that physical distinction helped create a mental one as well when we were young.
More than that, going online used to mean physically going to a place. Where the computer with an internet connection was. Wi-Fi blurred the lines a little, but sucked so bad (at the time—and kinda still) that it didn’t really change things.
What totally shifted humanity’s relationship with the Internet was the smartphone. It put the Internet everywhere. Disconnected it all but completely from physical space (barring certain remote areas—but for the most part, where most people live and travel 99+% of the time, it did). You don’t have to go to the Internet now, in the real world; it just follows you everywhere.
It’s not like this has to go badly, it could allow people an avenue of expression and development currently denied. But it’s not like teenage boys conditioned to abundant free porn has gone particularly well for young women.