The Social Dilemma on Netflix

[rtraverdavis]

my gut tells me that social media and the difficulty of finding or understanding any objectivity or reasonableness in all aspects of life are reaching all time levels of concerning. divisiveness seem more problematic than ever

but the other part of my gut says this is nothing new, the media has been whack since it's inception, in whatever form it comes in (whenever that might be, but it was certainly before america existed), truth has always been difficult to discern

seems every generation thinks their generation, or the one below them specifically, is the cause of all the problems. yet i remember hearing how aristotle spoke about how whack the youth were in his days with their disrespect for elders and their selfishness. even aristotle was pissin and moanin about millenials......

i think there are two things my naive brain seems to think are true anymore: 1) the only thing constant in life is change and 2) the only reality in this universe is that nothing ever changes

I don’t think we’re evolved nor adapted to deal with (in a healthy way at least) the rapid changes and connections and overwhelming data blasted into our brains via social media and other technologies. I hear you on the idea that every generation gripes about the habits of the next, but I think I think the problems posed by the exponential growth of our technology and human population right now is different.

Then again, I’ve been finding more and more grey hairs in my beard lately...

 

[TOGIE]

I don’t think we’re evolved nor adapted to deal with (in a healthy way at least) the rapid changes and connections and overwhelming data blasted into our brains via social media and other technologies. I hear you on the idea that every generation gripes about the habits of the next, but I think I think the problems posed by the exponential growth of our technology and human population right now is different.

Then again, I’ve been finding more and more grey hairs in my beard lately...

i do agree. i also think about it in terms of food. if you think about it evolutionarily (and i'm even a christian) the food we eat these days and similarly the way we ingest information just continuously seems to become more and more incompatible with the way our bodies and brains are designed. we're too smart for our own good, literally.

but i don't think these incompatibilities started with any "modern" medias necessarily, i suspect these incompatibilities have been occurring for probably a couple thousand years and are getting worse and worse

 

[refuseresist]

for what it's worth:

as a former twitter employee (was employee #200ish) and having known many people at facebook, instagram, etc.

this documentary was total bullshit

 

[rtraverdavis]

for what it's worth:

as a former twitter employee (was employee #200ish) and having known many people at facebook, instagram, etc.

this documentary was total bullshit

Please elaborate.

 

[refuseresist]

Please elaborate.

other than the typical documentary exaggeration with strong bias, many of the people interviewed were not speaking sincerely. obviously people running corporations are going to do whatever they deem necessary to make as much money as possible (aka capitalism), but the things that were said in this thing were just ridiculous. like "oh yeah looking back i feel so bad about what i did" yea okay

 

[TOGIE]

other than the typical documentary exaggeration with strong bias, many of the people interviewed were not speaking sincerely. obviously people running corporations are going to do whatever they deem necessary to make as much money as possible (aka capitalism), but the things that were said in this thing were just ridiculous. like "oh yeah looking back i feel so bad about what i did" yea okay

so elaborate

 

[Doublecluck]

Another great book in that same vein—and perhaps even more prophetic in that in it, it is we ourselves who are big brother and bring about our own destruction—is Huxley’s A Brave New World. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend. It’s scary.

A book that changed the way I viewed the world. I don’t recall much of what I learned in high school, but that book stuck with me.

Huxley wrote to George Orwell in 1949

“Within the next generation I believe that the world's leaders will discover that infant conditioning and narcohypnosis are more efficient, as instruments of government, than clubs and prisons, and that the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience.”

 

[refuseresist]

so elaborate

Occam got a new sharpener for Christmas

 

[mdhunter]

Its amazing to me how many people don't think social media is an echo chamber.

 

[refuseresist]

Its amazing to me how many people don't think social media is an echo chamber.

I'd direct anyone arguing that it isn't over to the 280AI thread

 

[hank4elk]

Deleted my FB after 2 yrs. My TV is mostly muted these days. No radio here worth listening to.
I listen to or watch podcasts, scan a dozen papers, this is the only forum I follow or am on anymore.
I did watch it and was not shocked nor surprized much either.

 

[bradr]

I found the Social Dilemma to be spot on. Social media and mainstream media have so much power over us that we don't realize it. I've never been a more happy person since I deleted FB, Instagram, and stopped watching/listening to mainstream media 3 years ago. Social & mainstream media have the power to make us feel any emotion that they choose. We fall prey to it, and believe it all. We all need to be smarter than that though.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

Everyone gets be Elvis/Chuck Norris behind a keyboard.... and get a bunch of these

I feel like this forum provides ample material for an interesting dissertation.

Can you take a group of diverse folks provide them a common interest as a focal point and then get them to interact to their mutual benefit using social media.

I wonder if there other forums that are attempting the same on other topics.

 

[rtraverdavis]

Occam got a new sharpener for Christmas

Meaning what exactly? That the ills brought about by social media are self-inflicted? No doubt we all need to look in the mirror on a regular basis and search for an honest summation of what’s what, but to me the inward blame stops with kids. I’ve seen firsthand what the traps of social media can do to young adolescents.

Also, I’m not trying to call you out or start an argument, but I’m genuinely curious about what you believe was misleading in the film. Specifically. As someone who worked in the industry, you have insight that I’d venture to guess most of us on this forum do not.

 

[Irrelevant]

I'd previously read about it but finally got around to watching it last night. There's a few things I took away from it.

1. The fake family plot line I could have easily done without, it didn't add anything, and was less than believable.
2. It was definitely exaggerated, the key was remembering early on, one of the interviewees said, all they're looking for is subtle changes, not completely changing who we are.
3. Netflix might be financially benefited if we collectively spent less time on Social media.

4. Nothing said was a lie. And these guys weren't the first to say it. There is absolute truth in "If you're receiving a product for free, you are the product." It's the same on HT as it is on Facebook.
5. That really isn't any different than talk radio - or Breitbart, but the shear magnitude is what causes issue.
6. The need for regulation that was pushed is an interesting take. While I agree on the surface and due to the societal risk, I think "we" have some pretty set legal protections on protecting free speech, which is basically what a lot of the spread of "fake" news boils down to. I don't know where it'll go.
7. It reinforced my opinion regarding my kids and social media, and screen time in general.
8. If I wasn't the only one capable of pushing out the occasional FB post for our Sportsmen's Assoc. I would ditch FB in a heartbeat. The value I place on keeping in contact with family and friends is no longer greater than the harms caused by the screen time addiction.
9. It feels a little like eating lead, or smoking heaters, or pounding tall boys. One more thing "we" do that we know is bad for us but we do it anyway.

 

[noharleyyet]

 

[Gerald Martin]

We watched this a while back. It truly is concerning when we struggle to agree on what basic truths exist.

The inevitable result of living in a post-modern world where the concept of objective, absolute truth is rejected in favor of experiential relativity.
The only absolute we seem to agree on is the marker needs to be placed wherever the rhetorical “I” is standing.

 

[Mark1970]

I agreed with the general premise of the show.

An ironic note: This forum is a really valuable resource and great, but is also a form of social media.
I try to spend more hours in the field hunting, than I do on the web talking about hunting.

 

[TOGIE]

I try to spend more hours in the field hunting, than I do on the web talking about hunting.

personally, i try to spend time on the internet talking about hunting while i'm supposed to be working than spend that time working

 

[Irrelevant]

personally, i try to spend time on the internet talking about hunting while i'm supposed to be working than spend that time working

Nailed it