I'm closing comments on this because I have a metric ton of work to do in the next few days and I'm also not feeling well. Need to focus. Sorry; will reopen them over the weekend when I'm caught up, assuming I also feel better.
I think we need to start asking ourselves (as a society and as individuals) what does it mean to be a human being in the digital age? How do we express the drives and desires that have made us human for the past 250,000 years?
Thus far, it does not appear as though there are any reasonable nor coherent answers.
I appreciate your writing on this stuff.. I'm sure this takes a lot of processing power to assemble. my first thought is what a complete waste of capable minds. clearly if they can process all this garbage, they could be working on complex problems, everything from art to science. they could be creating a lot of good and a lot of value. instead they devote brain cells that you'll never recover to this crap.
hoopleheads have children, too. they can also become hooplehead children but its not guaranteed. some of them even vote. a lot are too self-absorbed and unmotivated to vote.
It’s a good thing to be aware of reality, no matter how horrific. Even if the only thing I feel like I’m able to do is pray about it.
One of the thoughts I had about all those ruined lives, is that I had just witnessed a massive sea of millions of dead bodies. But it’s actually worse than that. Because dead people don’t suffer anymore. These poor souls have got to endure miserable lives because of so much evil in this world.
I feel so sheltered after reading about this world. Thank you for taking the pains to cobble together something sensible regarding something so...devastating.
Thanks for reading it. And yeah, it's pretty astonishing that this has happened in plain view, mostly with parents watching their kids on their phones but having no idea.
Thank you, Holly. I was living in an unhappy marriage, not horrible , just sexually and emotionally bereft. I read historical romance novels but knew they were fiction. I knew that the men in these books were not realistic, they were just escapism. To think that our youth are exposed to the “normalcy” on these internet sites is beyond repulsive. The corruption of healthy minds and bodies to this extent is the stuff of science fiction.
I echo your admonition to parents-restrict your children’s use of their internet devices. Not only the sites they have access to but also the amount of time they spend on their phone, laptops, and tablets. My own children pay no heed to this advice and I fear they will rue the day they did not.
You are right about the dangers of the internet. And yes, you need to treat the internet for your kids like you'd treat gun safety, use, and storage.
Just for context, I remember fanfic before and during the beginning of Tumblr in 2007. I never used or read Tumblr myself and still don't. I'm a writer of fanfic. I posted my first fanfic in 2006 to a Harry Potter fanfic site, and I actually recently posted it here as well: it's called "A Decision."
Back then, there were many different places to write fanfic. I was also part of a fanfic writer's group on LiveJournal. And then, eventually, posted my fic to fanfiction.net, where I still have an account, and where I moved my fanfic from other places.
My group on LiveJournal was very much like substack is now. Yes, we had ships and OTP's. At that time, the main things we tagged were M/F, M/M, F/F, H/C. And the characters, of course. And people would have very heated discussions about their favorite ships. But it was still possible to have discussions back then.
All the cis and detailed identity stuff came later, although in retrospect I can definitely see the beginning of it. And I don't think it had evolved yet into the virtue signaling system, or calling people out phase.
We used to have rating systems similar to movies, that identified age appropriateness, which seems to have been replaced with the labyrinthine trigger warning systems. And there used to be more adults writing fanfic then, because I don't think the huge influx of kids hadn't quite taken off yet. So there were still more adults on-line than kids, I think.
As the mother of a too-smart-for-her-own-good-pre-teen, I appreciate this post. It has been a struggle to keep my daughter's internet access restricted since she started learning to crack my passwords to EVERYTHING! We finally found ways to get this under control, one of which is locking the computer away if I can't supervise her activity at that time. This was enlightening.
I had a general idea about Tumblr, but this essay has enlightened me about cultural changes I’ve observed, especially the drop in sexual activity among Gen Z. How could it be otherwise with the kind of porn such very young kids are consuming? So much non-reality in this world. Makes me feel (among other unpleasant emotions) sadness for these kids.
🤯 When I was a teenager and became interested in sex, my mom handed me her historical romance collection of books and I thought that was racy. She did me a solid now that I see the horrifying alternative. Imagine if these teens put all of that energy into something good for them and the world. They are obviously capable of understanding and breaking things down in a complex system. But, the entire system sounds about as horrible a system as I can imagine. Thanks for sharing all this. I had no idea and I mean, not even an inkling!
Wait, should I give my daughters a dirty romance book? I don't have any, but I would be willing to buy one for educational purposes.
I got my own sex education from reading the smutty parts in my aunt's outrageously explicit romance novels, but here I've been thinking maybe that was bad.
I highly recommend Jude Deveraux. Start with the Velvet series. There are 4 books. The Velvet Promise, Highland Velvet, and 2 others that should be easy to find. They are 5 or 6 dollars. The reasons I encourage these in particular: 1. Reading is good. 2. Historical fiction allows learning a little about another time and place, making it a bit less awkward. 3. These particular books are really good about leaning into female empowerment while also showing some good traits to expect from men. 4. They will get this information somewhere, this is the least harmful process imo. 5. It was a good trust building exercise because I kind of felt like I was being treated like an adult and my mom probably felt like this was the least dangerous way for me to learn a little. I can tell you that she also did this with my little sister when she was a teen, and my sister named 2 of her kids after women in those books and I still have the entire collection on my bookshelf.
This is so funny. I am a recently ex-Catholic of the traditionalist variety, and I spent years beating myself up for things like youthful dirty book-reading (among other, much dodgier experiences of youth) and determined to raise my girls "better". Then I started worrying about them entering adulthood with only a biology textbook understanding of sex - that can't be very helpful in real world situations, can it? I was seriously thinking about buying some literary filth and leaving it around, feigning ignorance of its existence. Mind you, I have given my teenager admirably thorough education about the female body, but knowing about Bartholin's glands and luteal cycles won't help manage future relationships, I guess.
I'm closing comments on this because I have a metric ton of work to do in the next few days and I'm also not feeling well. Need to focus. Sorry; will reopen them over the weekend when I'm caught up, assuming I also feel better.
I’m so glad I grew up on the internet before this crap happened
So you're saying that you have generational privilege. 🤣🤣🤣
When do you find time for mathematics?
This is definitely one of the most insightful pieces you've wrote.
If you haven't read it, I think you would find "A Billion Wicked Thoughts" by Sai Goddam and Ogi Ogas very interesting. They make the exact same argument you do. In fact, in a lot of ways, you've written a sort of précis of their book: https://www.amazon.com/A-Billion-Wicked-Thoughts-audiobook/dp/B005HBI67Q/ref=sr_1_1?crid=ZXWGF4T9JQ1V&keywords=a+billion+wicked+thoughts&qid=1707880729&sprefix=%2Caps%2C232&sr=8-1
I think we need to start asking ourselves (as a society and as individuals) what does it mean to be a human being in the digital age? How do we express the drives and desires that have made us human for the past 250,000 years?
Thus far, it does not appear as though there are any reasonable nor coherent answers.
I appreciate your writing on this stuff.. I'm sure this takes a lot of processing power to assemble. my first thought is what a complete waste of capable minds. clearly if they can process all this garbage, they could be working on complex problems, everything from art to science. they could be creating a lot of good and a lot of value. instead they devote brain cells that you'll never recover to this crap.
hoopleheads have children, too. they can also become hooplehead children but its not guaranteed. some of them even vote. a lot are too self-absorbed and unmotivated to vote.
Wow; I had no idea. My own experience with fanfic seems so… wholesome… by comparison.
I know, right?
Highly effective advice.
Thanks Holly,
It’s a good thing to be aware of reality, no matter how horrific. Even if the only thing I feel like I’m able to do is pray about it.
One of the thoughts I had about all those ruined lives, is that I had just witnessed a massive sea of millions of dead bodies. But it’s actually worse than that. Because dead people don’t suffer anymore. These poor souls have got to endure miserable lives because of so much evil in this world.
I feel so sheltered after reading about this world. Thank you for taking the pains to cobble together something sensible regarding something so...devastating.
Thanks for reading it. And yeah, it's pretty astonishing that this has happened in plain view, mostly with parents watching their kids on their phones but having no idea.
Literally no idea. I plan to ask my daughter about it tonight as she is a huge HP fan. I wonder if she's ever stumbled on fanfic...
Thank you, Holly. I was living in an unhappy marriage, not horrible , just sexually and emotionally bereft. I read historical romance novels but knew they were fiction. I knew that the men in these books were not realistic, they were just escapism. To think that our youth are exposed to the “normalcy” on these internet sites is beyond repulsive. The corruption of healthy minds and bodies to this extent is the stuff of science fiction.
I echo your admonition to parents-restrict your children’s use of their internet devices. Not only the sites they have access to but also the amount of time they spend on their phone, laptops, and tablets. My own children pay no heed to this advice and I fear they will rue the day they did not.
You are right about the dangers of the internet. And yes, you need to treat the internet for your kids like you'd treat gun safety, use, and storage.
Just for context, I remember fanfic before and during the beginning of Tumblr in 2007. I never used or read Tumblr myself and still don't. I'm a writer of fanfic. I posted my first fanfic in 2006 to a Harry Potter fanfic site, and I actually recently posted it here as well: it's called "A Decision."
Back then, there were many different places to write fanfic. I was also part of a fanfic writer's group on LiveJournal. And then, eventually, posted my fic to fanfiction.net, where I still have an account, and where I moved my fanfic from other places.
My group on LiveJournal was very much like substack is now. Yes, we had ships and OTP's. At that time, the main things we tagged were M/F, M/M, F/F, H/C. And the characters, of course. And people would have very heated discussions about their favorite ships. But it was still possible to have discussions back then.
All the cis and detailed identity stuff came later, although in retrospect I can definitely see the beginning of it. And I don't think it had evolved yet into the virtue signaling system, or calling people out phase.
We used to have rating systems similar to movies, that identified age appropriateness, which seems to have been replaced with the labyrinthine trigger warning systems. And there used to be more adults writing fanfic then, because I don't think the huge influx of kids hadn't quite taken off yet. So there were still more adults on-line than kids, I think.
As the mother of a too-smart-for-her-own-good-pre-teen, I appreciate this post. It has been a struggle to keep my daughter's internet access restricted since she started learning to crack my passwords to EVERYTHING! We finally found ways to get this under control, one of which is locking the computer away if I can't supervise her activity at that time. This was enlightening.
I had a general idea about Tumblr, but this essay has enlightened me about cultural changes I’ve observed, especially the drop in sexual activity among Gen Z. How could it be otherwise with the kind of porn such very young kids are consuming? So much non-reality in this world. Makes me feel (among other unpleasant emotions) sadness for these kids.
Damn, Holly! You hit every nail on the head here.
Reddit is another cesspool for this derangement too.
Wow. I had no idea how.....awful? No. Sick it was out there in cyber land. I learned a lot from this post. Thanks.
🤯 When I was a teenager and became interested in sex, my mom handed me her historical romance collection of books and I thought that was racy. She did me a solid now that I see the horrifying alternative. Imagine if these teens put all of that energy into something good for them and the world. They are obviously capable of understanding and breaking things down in a complex system. But, the entire system sounds about as horrible a system as I can imagine. Thanks for sharing all this. I had no idea and I mean, not even an inkling!
Haha! My mama did the same. I didn't realize what she was doing at the time, but THANK GOD.
Right?!?
Wait, should I give my daughters a dirty romance book? I don't have any, but I would be willing to buy one for educational purposes.
I got my own sex education from reading the smutty parts in my aunt's outrageously explicit romance novels, but here I've been thinking maybe that was bad.
I highly recommend Jude Deveraux. Start with the Velvet series. There are 4 books. The Velvet Promise, Highland Velvet, and 2 others that should be easy to find. They are 5 or 6 dollars. The reasons I encourage these in particular: 1. Reading is good. 2. Historical fiction allows learning a little about another time and place, making it a bit less awkward. 3. These particular books are really good about leaning into female empowerment while also showing some good traits to expect from men. 4. They will get this information somewhere, this is the least harmful process imo. 5. It was a good trust building exercise because I kind of felt like I was being treated like an adult and my mom probably felt like this was the least dangerous way for me to learn a little. I can tell you that she also did this with my little sister when she was a teen, and my sister named 2 of her kids after women in those books and I still have the entire collection on my bookshelf.
This is so funny. I am a recently ex-Catholic of the traditionalist variety, and I spent years beating myself up for things like youthful dirty book-reading (among other, much dodgier experiences of youth) and determined to raise my girls "better". Then I started worrying about them entering adulthood with only a biology textbook understanding of sex - that can't be very helpful in real world situations, can it? I was seriously thinking about buying some literary filth and leaving it around, feigning ignorance of its existence. Mind you, I have given my teenager admirably thorough education about the female body, but knowing about Bartholin's glands and luteal cycles won't help manage future relationships, I guess.