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< | -- ValentinaGurney - 23 Dec 2008
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
People have shopping addictions, too. Why don't we make a law requiring malls to hire more guards to follow women around and then forcefully expel them from the premises after 3 hours? In fact, lets have them all sign in and out every time they enter a retail facility, so we can keep track of their weekly and monthly shopping habits, too. Maybe then we can move on to libraries. We wouldn't want kids spending too much time reading books instead of getting exercise, now would we?
By the way, in case you haven't noticed, this country's GDP is solidly grounded in services provided over the internet and fueled by efficiencies gained through online communication and e-commerce. If not for the internet, this country wouldn't have the GDP you cry we're suddenly going to lose. It's the internet, it's not the plague.
-- KateVershov - 15 Jan 2009
| | | Feeding the Addiction
In 2009 China is expected to be the first country in the world to recognize “internet addiction” as a clinical disorder and register the disease with the World Health Organization. | | | Looking at the precedents of gambling regulations in countries like Australia, voluntary adaptation and compliance with the specific codes of conduct could be something that the domestic sites could follow. However, it is not realistic to expect that every site in whole entity of the Internet will be covered with seals of compliance.
What needs to be done first is recognizing the Internet addiction as disorder domestically. This would help generate the funds and establish treatment facilities, as well as include the disorder into the health care plans and finally create an independent regulatory board. Raising awareness on the issue will be of particular importance to the parents of the minors, responsible for actively safeguarding the welfare of their children. The government should take a broader role in sponsoring and publishing the research and the resources on how to fight the addiction both online and off. | |
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> | -- ValentinaGurney - 23 Dec 2008
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
People have shopping addictions, too. Why don't we make a law requiring malls to hire more guards to follow women around and then forcefully expel them from the premises after 3 hours? In fact, lets have them all sign in and out every time they enter a retail facility, so we can keep track of their weekly and monthly shopping habits, too. Maybe then we can move on to libraries. We wouldn't want kids spending too much time reading books instead of getting exercise, now would we?
By the way, in case you haven't noticed, this country's GDP is solidly grounded in services provided over the internet and fueled by efficiencies gained through online communication and e-commerce. If not for the internet, this country wouldn't have the GDP you cry we're suddenly going to lose. It's the internet, it's not the plague.
-- KateVershov - 15 Jan 2009
- I think your colleagues pretty much explained why this essay is problematic. It remains for me to point out that adherence to reasonable rules of information gathering, including critical assessment of sources and a requirement of general evidence for general propositions, would have prevented you from relying so heavily on information of doubtful reliability.
- But Kate, whose logic is unerring if her enthusiasm for both shopping and capitalism could be productively qualified, has asked a question which goes beyond a problem with facts. If a child spends more time reading than doing anything else, or even than almost everything else put together, have we identified an unfortunate victim of reading addiction? This objection goes to the heart of the matter, and you need, regardless of the support you can marshall for the idea, to consider this independently.
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