We really haven't worked this out yet, have we? And silly laws don't help; never thought through. Like trolls and the panic about them (they were always around, over the traditional garden fence). Ignore them. Likewise personal data - make sure you keep details secret. I always destroyed personal or business letters - didn't wait until shredding and Benjy the Binman. More and more the law makes things worse, not better. Superficial World strikes again.

And the Mayor goes on about taking down violent videos now too; it gets great tabloid coverage; makes him look good. Does it do any good? No. It's like banning books about murder. I bet very few killers were inspired by Agatha Christie. Whilst stupid top politicians and cops pander to media editors, the real baddies do better and better.

The information super highway, was an old fashioned nickname for the internet.

Information isn't good or bad: it's just information. The purpose it's put to, and the results therefrom can be considered good or bad, according to various points of view and ways of judging.

The way we decide is through freedom of expression: discussion, criticism, rational enquiry, even trying things out for ourselves. Without this, individuals and groups can make no progress - whatever that is for them - towards any clue of what we should do with our short time on the planet.

This is why governments, whether calling themselves liberal and democratic or otherwise, are so keen to strangle freedom of expression. They want us to live how THEY say we should. Well, I live in the free world. I take it everywhere I go. The territory is where I stand and the borders are an arm's length and an earshot around me. Visitors, peaceful embassies and even curious observers are welcome. Agents provocateur, fifth columns and overt invaders will receive a very poor welcome.

JK2006 wrote:
And the Mayor goes on about taking down violent videos now too; it gets great tabloid coverage; makes him look good. Does it do any good? No. It's like banning books about murder. I bet very few killers were inspired by Agatha Christie. Whilst stupid top politicians and cops pander to media editors, the real baddies do better and better.

There wont be very many films left then! Hasn't he got anything better to do?

One of the things that had a lot of impact on me during my degree was the knowledge imparting that society always needs something to blame for it's ills.

In the early parts of the 20th century, it was D H Lawrence and Lady Chatterley's Lover, then in the 50s and 60s it was comic books that were causing problems in society, then television, in the 1980s the video nasty, the 1990s and 2000s video games and now it's the internet.

steveimp wrote:
One of the things that had a lot of impact on me during my degree was the knowledge imparting that society always needs something to blame for it's ills.

In the early parts of the 20th century, it was D H Lawrence and Lady Chatterley's Lover, then in the 50s and 60s it was comic books that were causing problems in society, then television, in the 1980s the video nasty, the 1990s and 2000s video games and now it's the internet.


And what will be the next thing, I wonder? Artificial Intelligence sex dolls?

JK's usually good at predicting cultural trends. Over to him...

Funnily enough after watching Dunkirk (and the marvellous moment when all the little boats arrive) I was thinking about how crucial events for a species are dwarfed by time and the bigger picture. I bet ants have a historical moment when somewhere in the world a heroic ant (probably played by Woody Allen in the movie) saved millions of ants - each of whom has a Mummy and a Daddy and friends and siblings and enemies - and yet who, especially in another species, cares?

Randall wrote:
steveimp wrote:
One of the things that had a lot of impact on me during my degree was the knowledge imparting that society always needs something to blame for it's ills.

In the early parts of the 20th century, it was D H Lawrence and Lady Chatterley's Lover, then in the 50s and 60s it was comic books that were causing problems in society, then television, in the 1980s the video nasty, the 1990s and 2000s video games and now it's the internet.


And what will be the next thing, I wonder? Artificial Intelligence sex dolls?

JK's usually good at predicting cultural trends. Over to him...

It works for the government that there is something 'societal' that can be blamed for perceived declines, even when it's complete rubbish.