I always find these RSA animate videos amusing , even tho they convey serious messages people learn things easier with a visual aid then just some random guy talking toa huge crowd. keep up the good work RSA.
Wow! This validates what I've long suspected. Thank you for such a clear (and visually-compelling) articulation of inter/action between the Internet and society.
Hey there! Have you seen related to the "Phantom Cash System"? I came across it on Google Search and found out amazing stuff about it. Some of my colleague also strongly recommend me to look into it
To say that the internet is "destroying" the nation is a little(or really) harsh. It won't be the harbinger of ultimate democracy either, but it is an extremely useful tool in helping our global society and economy progress via instant easy communication and shopping as well as a new level of accountability in all areas of government.
@stevo8782 I didn't get this at all from the video. The talk seemed to say that the internet will encourage negative as well as positive things, as well as oppressive governments being able to use it to subvert any attempts at political change.
That effect appeared in the 2011 Egyptian revolution, where the non official networks (mainly e-social networks) were the leading communication chain, where immediate pictures, tweets and status updates were one of the main sources of uncensored real-time information, making a mass movement of population in demonstrations and set ins, leading to the removal of the old regime.
I think Eugeny Morozov has valid points that Western technology does not lead to democracy by default, and that the same Internet technologies used to empower citizens can be used to empower regimes. What he does not acknowledge is that sometimes Internet technology *does* facilitate democracy, as evidenced in Egypt and the Middle East. Ultimately the end result of a tool is entirely based on how it is used.
The Internet is a an unpredictable catalyst of the society's reaction. Evgeny Morozov's view of the internet before could been changed right now... two years after this talk.
@susansayler The most useful point that is made in this video; and one that must be understood by individuals engaging in this conversation is this: The internet, despite its 'ability' to be a tool for democratic production, is used more often than not as a distractor from democratic participation. Individuals spend their time infront of a screen reading about the atrocities happening and sharing opinions about them but rarely leave the house to participate in democracy.
Well in light of what happened in Egypt I think we can clearly see that technology and social media, when used correctly, can have significant impact in leading to change.
I agree with some point, for example if you had million people blogging/ signing an online petition protesting over a certain issue, it does simply does not have the same impact as a million people marching/protesting in the street because it is easier to ignore/ censor an online protest than a physical one. Plus the internet method seems to lack a certain sincerity and passion needed to truly drive change because people can easily hide behind online identies/ hide behind a screen.
this is just an insight into the big paradox we are facing. We must be able to look beyond our cultural values and beliefs and become more tolerant and less arrogant to face these challenges.
The fundamental point is that new technologies are not inherently good or bad, but are simply tools. As such, its tendency to amplify and extend existing behaviors will be far greater than its tendency to create entirely new behaviors. It's a commonsensical argument, but boils down to "the more things change, the more they stay the same".
Since the Web started changing business and economics it has changed politics too. It's not about traditional democracy or autocaracy, it's about changing the whole social relations paradigm.
If girls spend enough time together their menstrual cycles will sync. If humanity communicates enough our views will find common ground. Communication dissolves extreme polar views. Our 7,000,000,000 opinions are chaos. The internet speeds our determination of our strange attractor. I vote 'LOVE>FEAR'
Internet is just a medium, and threw it we can see human nature as it really is. Individualism, consumerism, egocentrism, it's just so sad, we could do so much together.
Commenters need to open their mind a bit. The speaker isn't saying the internet doesn't help empower people; he's saying that sometimes it's the state that is empowered. The internet is a tool that can be used by any party with access, including oppressive governments with cyber-police.
@stevo8782 It's at 6:30. He mentions an example of people downvoting (and as is usually the case, false-flagging) a video en masse until TH-cam removes it. I don't think he cites this as a good thing though.
I had suggested a wide area network in the late 80's network for the benefit of remote Indian reserves in Canada. I believed that it would have a transformative effect on education and politics for the region. One thing I did reflect upon is analog to digital monitoring: such a conversion would facilitate government monitoring of communication. I believed that this was the way to sell it to the institutions while at the same time provide communication & sharing of information to average people.
It's always worth thinking about the negative impacts of technology, if only so you can account for, and devise solutions for them. The march of technology isn't smoothly linear - typically technology solves a bunch of problems while creating a bunch of other issues. It's just the nature of something that has wide ranging impact - it's bound to create positive and negative externalities beyond the initial naieve intention.
It’s out of control. I just want to make a videogame. Because I had the audacity of asking for services when I’m a young man in dept with no job, institutions refuse to believe this is my intention. This triggered a whole line of privacy invading protocols, media actions and discriminations. I have nowhere to go and they won’t let me work. They can’t stop paying attention to me. Petrifying.
Well said. Technology is a medium and information is not necessarily equated to thought - its what you bring to the table in terms of research skills and creative searching that allows you to get value out of the internet. Education and reading have to be primary drivers here, and people wont read outside their comfort zone unless they have a reason to do so.
"Technology does not make us better people, it just makes us better at being people. There is a significant difference." -Not sure where I heard that. Very relevant to this video, though.
I think the internet is good for making people aware of the holes in today's so-called "democratic" countries. Rather than encourage democracy, the internet has opened my eyes to even better alternatives that promote egalitarianism, and are in touch with the idea that our planet's resources are finite, rather than the(impossible) infinite growth paradigms we have in place. Resource based economies will take over from democracy or we'll ruin our planet.
Very insightful presentation which raises some important issues about the utilitarian qualities of internet technologies and the political process. I especially agree on the point that the current power holders could make and are making as good (if sometimes not better) use of those technologies than the politically marginalised. Although that is invariably true it is nevertheless hard to argue against the fact that internet and the (relatively) accessible mobile devices have had an unprecedented liberating effect on many disengaged and disenfranchised people all types of existing political systems. In that sense, taking into consideration the inevitable setbacks which such a method of organisation might have; internet technology has presented us (humanity) with the best means (thus far) for democratising and the liberalising the political process.
Can you make an animated presentation of Edward Snowden's revelations and all the NSA and other government components involved? This may be very difficult for anyone to do.
@gatheringwithin That was not a 'dumb' video. What he is suggesting is that although all these perceived freedoms exist and are supposedly more accesible because of our heightened connectivity, there is also another side where people can get absorbed and made captive by the online community. People become engrossed in living online and fail to actually do. He is explaining that this form of captivation is often not addressed and may be a growing problem.
@Vayton the animals were a great use, mouse for the civilians and cats for the government, what a great way to represent the relationship. I found it very creative. Also, i prefer massive text when someone with a thick accident is speaking, so I can read what he is saying too. I guess we all have our preferences.
@whatagainst I'm not sure if everything will go exactly the way I see it coming. After all it pretty much depends on how much the internet users self are aware of the possible threats for their freedom which are coming from behind the horizon.
@quietthomas I don't think that he was trying to suggest that porn is morally bad, but rather a poor outlet for political change versus educating oneself to various political views/actions.
While what you're saying is true, under very specific conditions - The right guy with the right mindset and intelligence, amount of time available and the right motivation - it's not feasible for an entire population. For that, we have to fight censorship straight on, broadside it and decimate it, rather than try to circumvent it.
what I'm saying is my speculation. I'm looking at many of the bads, there are good and I will not deny them either. 500 characters is rather tough in space constraints to formulate two sides of an argument.
Some countries don't fear the internet because they know that it's entertainment. They might want to control everything that doesn't deal with entertain though.
It’s out of control. I just want to make a videogame and because I was audacious in asking for services when I’m a young man in dept with no job, institutions refuse to believe this is my intention. This triggered a whole line of privacy invading protocols, media actions, discriminations and threats. I have nowhere to go and they won’t let me work. Most jobs are probing sections that drain me while they make money out of this situation somehow. They can’t stop paying attention to me. Petrifying.
@whatagainst the difference is this has actually bothered to make an in depth lecture about it, rather than be reflexively critical on youtube. Also, the 'free and uncontrollable stream of information' isn't a neutral dynamic. If you alter that stream (i.e China) you can easily warp people's availability to chose or process information.
@PericlesGR Oh, absolutely. Everything has negative and positive sides. But the feeling I got from Morozov is that he believes the negative outweighs the positive, and this is where we disagree. Of course there is a substantial risk to using the internet, but in the end I think it's worth it.
It seems to me that these types of oppression have reoccurred generation after generation. The oppressive type may be a larger evolutionary trend that will continually subjugate the passive types. This type of inequality always seems to exist, and revolutions are just the threshold of tolerance.
I think that the potential of the internet to change the world is not in the broad sense of overthrowing dictatorships that this video criticizes, but in empowering activism in existing democracies where the law protects it. This video makes a great case, but there's no denying that there's benefit in making communication easier, even if that means said communication is easier to abuse. Let's not talk about stopping Rwanda, and talk instead about government deadlocks in the U.S.
@BenzillaProductions I wouldn't say laziness, but rather "not-activism". Laziness is seeing a problem and doing nothing about it. If they don't see the problems, or don't recognize the problem as a problem, you can't really call them lazy.
Ad Hominem, the beautiful language. It's so great to use such intellectual insults. Deliberately trying to make oneself better than others by constantly using words to intimidate with seemingly endless streams of hatred and violent tone in words. May I ask, why are you mad? Why should I pretend I don't care? I do care, who doesn't? I like responding to people and know what they think. So, give me more insight of what you think it should be? *boisterous clapping*
@quenwolf It's been a big tool in publicising it, but the problems and attitudes were well enmeshed before twitter. And really, will the Arab Spring last? And was the internet a crucial tool at all?
It's a theory. Evgeny Morozov is a media theorist. Who said it was right? - The cartoons are also actually very clever, they are a nice pun, as well as a metaphor for many things. Morozov is basically saying that society misuse the internet, and just because countries suddenly have access to it, doesn't mean they are going to use it for democracy, or for the 'right reasons'. Some use to watch porn, and funny cat videos.
@Oyaji291 - This is the trouble with most everything else being 'instant' about the internet. Assuming trend will continue is not such a folly, in most instances, that's the pattern finding portion of your brain functioning properly. You make a fair point, seems logical to me, I hope it pans out to be for the betterment of human rights. And I agree, he did sort of nudge at one of the troubles with democracy. It can very much be used to cause a tyranny of the majority type problem.
Did he really just argue that no one online will care about world issues because they will be too busy looking up porn? The point of this idea that "the Internet is good for democracy" is that people in countries that deny rights may not even know exactly what they're missing out on until a medium such as the Internet introduces these ideas. No one is saying that people will say "That iPod is awfully fancy. Democracy, now!"
@PokerJoey888 I think it is exactly what this video is about. There are people, who want to know more, who want to be active. There is unfortunately just more people who want just get enterteiment, or want to stay active only on the Internet.
I agree that most kids of my age are more interested in looking up Lady Gaga's next new hit or some Brazzers video rather than actually use it to educate themselves about the world. We all dawdle once in a while, but it's discouraging to realize that the majority of kids spend 5 hours a day in front of computers and not learn anything useful aside from learning how to snipe in a video game.
i like the overall idea of the video, the only thing I disagree, or maybe Morozov just didn't explained it is that the video assumes that corrupt or "evil" governments concentrate in non-western countries. he does not put any examples of how goverments in Europe and America controlls the Internet. we dont live in free countries either, maybe in, for example, middle east, abuses aren't "hidden" because there isn't a strong culture of liberalism (freedom, equallity, etcetc
I can see that most of the time, that technology isn't to blame, but humanity keeps on underestimating the power and consequences of the use of technology. Technology does offer autonomy, but those behaviors can be manipulated or spin out of control.
I too think he put way too much emphasis on pornography. Still, the way I see it, this new generation is more about talking big online but not quite delivering outside of their internet role-playing scene.
@montyuk106 - You seem to have missed something, and jumped at the buzz words. He didn't say that. He suggested that lots of people tend to be inactive, they might even look at political activistic sites, but largely, they are using their machines just for entertainment. Passive observation, and inactivity, due to preference for pleasure seeking. (In america for example, who's jumping to Wisconsin's defence? Going out there and doing something about it? How many? Just that state? Hmm. Fishy.)
Being politcally active can be frustrating and exhausting. It seems to me that we are in a better condition than the dark ages, where more people were controlled and abused, although i can't say that for sure... What I'm trying to say is you can't force someone to have an opinion...
@martinthew What is shown here is that there are potential downsides to internet access as well, and that technology is not the sole bearing for success or failure of of revolution and change, and that in taking this position of "iPod Liberalism," as he calls it, ignore the vast amounts of other influences upon these movements. The point isn't to say that the internet has an inherently negative effect, but that it does not necessarily have a positive one is all cases.
I enjoyed how the mouse on the computer was a human! Also, it was a good talk.
I always find these RSA animate videos amusing , even tho they convey serious messages people learn things easier with a visual aid then just some random guy talking toa huge crowd.
keep up the good work RSA.
Wow! This validates what I've long suspected. Thank you for such a clear (and visually-compelling) articulation of inter/action between the Internet and society.
Now I know that I'm more of a visual learner. And this helps greatly.
The artist is amazing! very original way of drawing out these thoughts. Keep up the great work guys, i really enjoy these videos.
Hey there! Have you seen related to the "Phantom Cash System"? I came across it on Google Search and found out amazing stuff about it. Some of my colleague also strongly recommend me to look into it
To say that the internet is "destroying" the nation is a little(or really) harsh.
It won't be the harbinger of ultimate democracy either, but it is an extremely useful tool in helping our global society and economy progress via instant easy communication and shopping as well as a new level of accountability in all areas of government.
@stevo8782 I didn't get this at all from the video. The talk seemed to say that the internet will encourage negative as well as positive things, as well as oppressive governments being able to use it to subvert any attempts at political change.
That effect appeared in the 2011 Egyptian revolution, where the non official networks (mainly e-social networks) were the leading communication chain, where immediate pictures, tweets and status updates were one of the main sources of uncensored real-time information, making a mass movement of population in demonstrations and set ins, leading to the removal of the old regime.
This is awesome. We talked a little about this is class (just before this is posted). :)
Love this video, and what I take from it is that Cyber Utopia isn't automagical. People still have to want and work for it.
I think Eugeny Morozov has valid points that Western technology does not lead to democracy by default, and that the same Internet technologies used to empower citizens can be used to empower regimes. What he does not acknowledge is that sometimes Internet technology *does* facilitate democracy, as evidenced in Egypt and the Middle East.
Ultimately the end result of a tool is entirely based on how it is used.
@csh0918 You can download the prints from our external animation partners website - cognitivemedia.co.uk
His reasoning is EXACTLY why we need to ensure our anonymity online.
Loving the art as always and great view on this. Thanks!
The Internet is a an unpredictable catalyst of the society's reaction. Evgeny Morozov's view of the internet before could been changed right now... two years after this talk.
@susansayler The most useful point that is made in this video; and one that must be understood by individuals engaging in this conversation is this: The internet, despite its 'ability' to be a tool for democratic production, is used more often than not as a distractor from democratic participation. Individuals spend their time infront of a screen reading about the atrocities happening and sharing opinions about them but rarely leave the house to participate in democracy.
The visuals are everything that teachers tell us to avoid in a powerpoint presentation.
Well in light of what happened in Egypt I think we can clearly see that technology and social media, when used correctly, can have significant impact in leading to change.
I agree with some point, for example if you had million people blogging/ signing an online petition protesting over a certain issue, it does simply does not have the same impact as a million people marching/protesting in the street because it is easier to ignore/ censor an online protest than a physical one. Plus the internet method seems to lack a certain sincerity and passion needed to truly drive change because people can easily hide behind online identies/ hide behind a screen.
this is just an insight into the big paradox we are facing. We must be able to look beyond our cultural values and beliefs and become more tolerant and less arrogant to face these challenges.
A humbling video for me to watch, as I have always been a 'Cyber-utopian', and need a reminder of the harsh facts of reality.
do you guys sell these posters? i really really want to get these!
The fundamental point is that new technologies are not inherently good or bad, but are simply tools. As such, its tendency to amplify and extend existing behaviors will be far greater than its tendency to create entirely new behaviors.
It's a commonsensical argument, but boils down to "the more things change, the more they stay the same".
Who's the illustrate? He's absolutely great and hilarious.
Since the Web started changing business and economics it has changed politics too. It's not about traditional democracy or autocaracy, it's about changing the whole social relations paradigm.
When did he do the speech? Libya and egypt were pretty recent
Magnificent! Congrats for the effort :)
@theRSAorg app for android ("unable to fetch videos"): are the vids NOT available in germany?
This needs to be updated in light of what has happened in the Middle East over the last few months !!
If girls spend enough time together their menstrual cycles will sync. If humanity communicates enough our views will find common ground. Communication dissolves extreme polar views. Our 7,000,000,000 opinions are chaos. The internet speeds our determination of our strange attractor. I vote 'LOVE>FEAR'
I believe the internet has and will continue to have a net-positive effect towards revolutionary liberation and democracy.
Doesn't this video and the free access to it, contradict any outside influence stopping anyone from sharing knowledge?
Anyway, great content.
Internet is just a medium, and threw it we can see human nature as it really is. Individualism, consumerism, egocentrism, it's just so sad, we could do so much together.
Haha, I love that this was posted right before Arab Spring.
Commenters need to open their mind a bit. The speaker isn't saying the internet doesn't help empower people; he's saying that sometimes it's the state that is empowered. The internet is a tool that can be used by any party with access, including oppressive governments with cyber-police.
@stevo8782 It's at 6:30. He mentions an example of people downvoting (and as is usually the case, false-flagging) a video en masse until TH-cam removes it. I don't think he cites this as a good thing though.
I had suggested a wide area network in the late 80's network for the benefit of remote Indian reserves in Canada. I believed that it would have a transformative effect on education and politics for the region. One thing I did reflect upon is analog to digital monitoring: such a conversion would facilitate government monitoring of communication. I believed that this was the way to sell it to the institutions while at the same time provide communication & sharing of information to average people.
I love these animations.
It's always worth thinking about the negative impacts of technology, if only so you can account for, and devise solutions for them.
The march of technology isn't smoothly linear - typically technology solves a bunch of problems while creating a bunch of other issues. It's just the nature of something that has wide ranging impact - it's bound to create positive and negative externalities beyond the initial naieve intention.
Channeling Spiegelman. Fascinating.
It’s out of control. I just want to make a videogame. Because I had the audacity of asking for services when I’m a young man in dept with no job, institutions refuse to believe this is my intention. This triggered a whole line of privacy invading protocols, media actions and discriminations. I have nowhere to go and they won’t let me work. They can’t stop paying attention to me. Petrifying.
Most of the things he mentioned as being negative were actually very positive
Great analysis.
Thank you for sharing.
never thought of it that way. thanks rsa
@HellBreak777 I promise we do have an android app - pls visit our website and the links will take you there :)
Very interesting critique of net activism. Well worth watching!
this might be the cleverest of the drawings so far
FYI, your lower third ad has a bad link on it...
Love the videos though! thanks!
very interesting....certainly food for thought!
Well said. Technology is a medium and information is not necessarily equated to thought - its what you bring to the table in terms of research skills and creative searching that allows you to get value out of the internet. Education and reading have to be primary drivers here, and people wont read outside their comfort zone unless they have a reason to do so.
"Technology does not make us better people, it just makes us better at being people. There is a significant difference." -Not sure where I heard that. Very relevant to this video, though.
I think the internet is good for making people aware of the holes in today's so-called "democratic" countries. Rather than encourage democracy, the internet has opened my eyes to even better alternatives that promote egalitarianism, and are in touch with the idea that our planet's resources are finite, rather than the(impossible) infinite growth paradigms we have in place. Resource based economies will take over from democracy or we'll ruin our planet.
This RSAanimate bleeds awesomeness.
I always wish I could see these in posters! They are so .... GREAT! haha...
Very insightful presentation which raises some important issues about the utilitarian qualities of internet technologies and the political process. I especially agree on the point that the current power holders could make and are making as good (if sometimes not better) use of those technologies than the politically marginalised. Although that is invariably true it is nevertheless hard to argue against the fact that internet and the (relatively) accessible mobile devices have had an unprecedented liberating effect on many disengaged and disenfranchised people all types of existing political systems. In that sense, taking into consideration the inevitable setbacks which such a method of organisation might have; internet technology has presented us (humanity) with the best means (thus far) for democratising and the liberalising the political process.
Can you make an animated presentation of Edward Snowden's revelations and all the NSA and other government components involved? This may be very difficult for anyone to do.
@gatheringwithin That was not a 'dumb' video. What he is suggesting is that although all these perceived freedoms exist and are supposedly more accesible because of our heightened connectivity, there is also another side where people can get absorbed and made captive by the online community. People become engrossed in living online and fail to actually do. He is explaining that this form of captivation is often not addressed and may be a growing problem.
@Vayton the animals were a great use, mouse for the civilians and cats for the government, what a great way to represent the relationship. I found it very creative. Also, i prefer massive text when someone with a thick accident is speaking, so I can read what he is saying too. I guess we all have our preferences.
@whatagainst I'm not sure if everything will go exactly the way I see it coming. After all it pretty much depends on how much the internet users self are aware of the possible threats for their freedom which are coming from behind the horizon.
@quietthomas I don't think that he was trying to suggest that porn is morally bad, but rather a poor outlet for political change versus educating oneself to various political views/actions.
Anyone could post the transcript for this speech. Thank you!
The final reference to Maslow pyramid was quite good. Depressing, by the way....
@SantaBJ yes but the idea of freedom itself changes from culture to culture. Are you free from advertising, taxes, policital boundaries?
While what you're saying is true, under very specific conditions - The right guy with the right mindset and intelligence, amount of time available and the right motivation - it's not feasible for an entire population. For that, we have to fight censorship straight on, broadside it and decimate it, rather than try to circumvent it.
what I'm saying is my speculation. I'm looking at many of the bads, there are good and I will not deny them either. 500 characters is rather tough in space constraints to formulate two sides of an argument.
Some countries don't fear the internet because they know that it's entertainment. They might want to control everything that doesn't deal with entertain though.
It’s out of control. I just want to make a videogame and because I was audacious in asking for services when I’m a young man in dept with no job, institutions refuse to believe this is my intention. This triggered a whole line of privacy invading protocols, media actions, discriminations and threats. I have nowhere to go and they won’t let me work. Most jobs are probing sections that drain me while they make money out of this situation somehow. They can’t stop paying attention to me. Petrifying.
Another amazing animation!
@whatagainst the difference is this has actually bothered to make an in depth lecture about it, rather than be reflexively critical on youtube.
Also, the 'free and uncontrollable stream of information' isn't a neutral dynamic. If you alter that stream (i.e China) you can easily warp people's availability to chose or process information.
I love how they plug "men" into their computers instead of "mice". 8:52
this is just amazing.
@PericlesGR Oh, absolutely. Everything has negative and positive sides. But the feeling I got from Morozov is that he believes the negative outweighs the positive, and this is where we disagree. Of course there is a substantial risk to using the internet, but in the end I think it's worth it.
best one yet!
I LOL'd at the blind mice, took me a while to get it though
cool presentation with the mice as people
The children of today are to busy caring about there immediate social circle on social media to ever acknowledge the presence of a government
Who is giving the lecture?
@AirelonTrading - Exactly! Inactivity, and 'captivity' through the social media applications and technologies. *thumbs up*
It seems to me that these types of oppression have reoccurred generation after generation. The oppressive type may be a larger evolutionary trend that will continually subjugate the passive types. This type of inequality always seems to exist, and revolutions are just the threshold of tolerance.
I think that the potential of the internet to change the world is not in the broad sense of overthrowing dictatorships that this video criticizes, but in empowering activism in existing democracies where the law protects it. This video makes a great case, but there's no denying that there's benefit in making communication easier, even if that means said communication is easier to abuse. Let's not talk about stopping Rwanda, and talk instead about government deadlocks in the U.S.
@BenzillaProductions I wouldn't say laziness, but rather "not-activism". Laziness is seeing a problem and doing nothing about it. If they don't see the problems, or don't recognize the problem as a problem, you can't really call them lazy.
I love the Momar Gadafi cat at 4:15 :)
Ad Hominem, the beautiful language.
It's so great to use such intellectual insults. Deliberately trying to make oneself better than others by constantly using words to intimidate with seemingly endless streams of hatred and violent tone in words.
May I ask, why are you mad?
Why should I pretend I don't care? I do care, who doesn't?
I like responding to people and know what they think.
So, give me more insight of what you think it should be?
*boisterous clapping*
@quenwolf
It's been a big tool in publicising it, but the problems and attitudes were well enmeshed before twitter. And really, will the Arab Spring last? And was the internet a crucial tool at all?
with what program is this made?
The Human Talent program, it's all done by hand. ;)
It's a theory. Evgeny Morozov is a media theorist. Who said it was right? - The cartoons are also actually very clever, they are a nice pun, as well as a metaphor for many things. Morozov is basically saying that society misuse the internet, and just because countries suddenly have access to it, doesn't mean they are going to use it for democracy, or for the 'right reasons'. Some use to watch porn, and funny cat videos.
@Oyaji291 - This is the trouble with most everything else being 'instant' about the internet. Assuming trend will continue is not such a folly, in most instances, that's the pattern finding portion of your brain functioning properly.
You make a fair point, seems logical to me, I hope it pans out to be for the betterment of human rights.
And I agree, he did sort of nudge at one of the troubles with democracy. It can very much be used to cause a tyranny of the majority type problem.
Excellent & Brilliant => Thanks !!
Did he really just argue that no one online will care about world issues because they will be too busy looking up porn? The point of this idea that "the Internet is good for democracy" is that people in countries that deny rights may not even know exactly what they're missing out on until a medium such as the Internet introduces these ideas. No one is saying that people will say "That iPod is awfully fancy. Democracy, now!"
@PokerJoey888 I think it is exactly what this video is about. There are people, who want to know more, who want to be active. There is unfortunately just more people who want just get enterteiment, or want to stay active only on the Internet.
9:13 I love the fact that the mouse uses a human to control its computer.
I agree that most kids of my age are more interested in looking up Lady Gaga's next new hit or some Brazzers video rather than actually use it to educate themselves about the world. We all dawdle once in a while, but it's discouraging to realize that the majority of kids spend 5 hours a day in front of computers and not learn anything useful aside from learning how to snipe in a video game.
i like the overall idea of the video, the only thing I disagree, or maybe Morozov just didn't explained it is that the video assumes that corrupt or "evil" governments concentrate in non-western countries. he does not put any examples of how goverments in Europe and America controlls the Internet. we dont live in free countries either, maybe in, for example, middle east, abuses aren't "hidden" because there isn't a strong culture of liberalism (freedom, equallity, etcetc
I can see that most of the time, that technology isn't to blame, but humanity keeps on underestimating the power and consequences of the use of technology. Technology does offer autonomy, but those behaviors can be manipulated or spin out of control.
Very interesting concept.
I too think he put way too much emphasis on pornography. Still, the way I see it, this new generation is more about talking big online but not quite delivering outside of their internet role-playing scene.
@montyuk106 - You seem to have missed something, and jumped at the buzz words. He didn't say that. He suggested that lots of people tend to be inactive, they might even look at political activistic sites, but largely, they are using their machines just for entertainment. Passive observation, and inactivity, due to preference for pleasure seeking.
(In america for example, who's jumping to Wisconsin's defence? Going out there and doing something about it? How many? Just that state? Hmm. Fishy.)
Being politcally active can be frustrating and exhausting. It seems to me that we are in a better condition than the dark ages, where more people were controlled and abused, although i can't say that for sure...
What I'm trying to say is you can't force someone to have an opinion...
@martinthew What is shown here is that there are potential downsides to internet access as well, and that technology is not the sole bearing for success or failure of of revolution and change, and that in taking this position of "iPod Liberalism," as he calls it, ignore the vast amounts of other influences upon these movements.
The point isn't to say that the internet has an inherently negative effect, but that it does not necessarily have a positive one is all cases.