Destruction of good things

[Master Razor]

Man has always been resourceful, we as a specicies managed to create just about anything out of nothing--sort of speak.
Why things/services that initially were supposed to help mankind suddenly turned and went rogue?

A few examples:

1. internet - originally it was supposed to provide a faster means of communicating. nowadays it is filled with ads for revenue. We have to use adblockers, pop-up-blockers, malware scanners for something that should exist in the first place.
2. medicine - in the beginning they really helped us. Nowadays if you look at a vitamin box you'll see all of these additives, toxic btw, that is like "we heal your problem but also starting other diseases or complications you haven't had"
3. software - take a look at driver packs application
   used to be a fine software, greed started, devs asking for money, for drivers that are free (driver packs and sam drivers). now it is filled with ads and create stamps on your system. as a fork, it was created snappy drivers because the dev just couldn't take the mockery anymore of the once great product

WHY is this happening to us? I is in human nature to want to top ourselves, not sink to the bottom of the tar pits.
I'm not imagining this as I'm sure you all experienced it as well.

[anon]

I'm typing this on a rush, but hopefully this post will get the ball rolling instead of making it look like no one cares about your thread.

The Internet: it wasn't created merely as a faster way to communicate, but as a decentralized system for military use during the Cold War. Only later would it become used by civilians, starting from educational environments (fun fact: The World, the first ISP to provide dial-up Internet access to the public in 1989, almost had to shut down before allowed to continue their service on an "experimental" fashion). When access was for university professors and students, and those willing to pay by the minute or the exorbitant prices high-speed connections had then, of course things were going to be different. There is more spam and scams now, but that's bound to happen with anything that gets so massive. When it comes to good things, the past's Internet was a shadow of what we have now, really. Most sites you use daily didn't exist, and forget about downloading media, the warez scene was still releasing single tracks then. Having 2015's Internet with 1995's user mentality would be great, of course, but impossible at this point.

Eternal September - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Medicine: I'm not very knowledgeable to opine on the matter, but could you give some examples of what you mention?

Software: there are so many free resources out there we tend to take it for granted that everything should be that way. When a coder starts asking for (or even accepting) donations, that doesn't make them sellouts, even though we, perhaps unconsciously, may come to think so. "The drivers are free" is a poor argument, as they're not what you'd be paying for. Ultimately, anyone who thinks they can do better is free to start their own project, as you've just given an example of.

Bottom line: there are some things in life which did get worse, but overall, we have more improvements. It's just hard to be objective because we have a tendency to idealize the past.

Good old days - RationalWiki

[Sazzy]

It is very easy to look at things from only one angle and call it bad. Honestly, I don't agree with any of those.

Perhaps subconscious feelings are twisting and warping your look on the world in a worse way than it is.

And remember: "Nostalgia is a dirty liar that insists things were better than they seemed."

[Instab]

some things were better at some point in the past. some things are better now. and some other things are just a matter of taste

[hellman]

Man has always been resourceful, we as a specicies managed to create just about anything out of nothing--sort of speak.
Why things/services that initially were supposed to help mankind suddenly turned and went rogue?

A few examples:

1. internet - originally it was supposed to provide a faster means of communicating. nowadays it is filled with ads for revenue. We have to use adblockers, pop-up-blockers, malware scanners for something that should exist in the first place.
2. medicine - in the beginning they really helped us. Nowadays if you look at a vitamin box you'll see all of these additives, toxic btw, that is like "we heal your problem but also starting other diseases or complications you haven't had"
3. software - take a look at driver packs application
   used to be a fine software, greed started, devs asking for money, for drivers that are free (driver packs and sam drivers). now it is filled with ads and create stamps on your system. as a fork, it was created snappy drivers because the dev just couldn't take the mockery anymore of the once great product

WHY is this happening to us? I is in human nature to want to top ourselves, not sink to the bottom of the tar pits.
I'm not imagining this as I'm sure you all experienced it as well.

Long story short. Everything today is business. From begging to saving lives to helping some1 .. everything u can think of is business.

[anon]

Everything today is business. From begging (...)

Many years ago, there was this guy in Florida street (an important tourist hub, and generally busy downtown location) who used to sit on a corner, and send "his" kids to beg for money. I would later learn he was actually renting children from poor families to keep the ordeal going for as long as possible. Naturally, they never seemed to grow up, as he replaced them regularly.

That sort of shit eventually turned me into a blackhearted selfish bastard with a dark soul who never gives to anyone.

[Master Razor]

That sort of thing happens here too, very often I might add.

If everything is a business then there's no progress, is there? We're all in it for the money, so we do what is requested instead of what is needed.
Scientists like Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Edsger Dijkstra, Alessandro Volta, were they in it for the money? I am more inclined to think they put a lot of passion in their work and didn't even consider the money. Electricity today is govern by the research of Alessandro Volta, James Watt, Andre Ampere, James Joule, Georg Ohm, how at their time challenged each others research--they had a natural desire to top one another. Money can't do that, it never creates passion.

Today I am missing these developments. Nothing is researched anymore, nothing is created anymore-- at least not to the general public. Perhaps everyday something is discovered but it is hold back, locked in a safe with the message "the world is not ready for this yet". To me, as a human being and a citizen, it seems man-kind has stopped advancing. We are making baby steps progress in everything--which means somebody does not want to change the way things are.

If you would of watched "the lightbulb conspiracy" you would've seen some invetors that were literraly hunted down because they wanted to make better products. Think about it-- you think a man, any man in his right mind would not want to top his adversaries? There isn't any man today that will say "fools, I can make something 100 times better than you piece of shit product", like they did in Einstein's era.
You think I'm nuts? Look at the damn facts.

[Master Razor]

Anyone has anything to say besides "I am insane and the world is fine?"
http://static.fjcdn.com/pictures/X+s...c4_5265861.png

[anon]

> tfw internet from 1996-2004 was amazing

If you could afford access and cherry pick only the good aspects, then certainly.

It was a freer place for those who could get in, and the people within were more level-headed. But now things are different and there's fuck-all we can do about it. I'll admit it would be interesting to see how things would have turned out if Facebook never existed and Google had remained just a good search engine, though.

[koel]

The beginnings of Medicine were ridiculous, just made up cures with no scientific basis.
Internet at 1st was slow and didn't offer much, now it's fast and a huge range of useful services run through it.
And software... well as far as I can tell it diversifies more and more each year and usually gets better features.
Granted they are not perfect and people always try to profit on the backs of others.

[Master Razor]

The beginnings of Medicine were ridiculous, just made up cures with no scientific basis.

Yes but even so, people were actually getting better. The placebo effect did its thing back then.

Internet at 1st was slow and didn't offer much, now it's fast and a huge range of useful services run through it.

Yes but at what cost? We are surrounded by ads, pop-ups and pop-unders which are the lowest of the low.
Sometimes I use internet explorer just to see the real jungle of the internet. In just a few seconds on some forums and 5 or 6 pop-unders and 40% of any page is filled with ads. It is unbearable man. Using these add-blockers you get the false impression that any website is OK but in realily it isn't.

Granted they are not perfect and people always try to profit on the backs of others.

Sad but true.

@anon
That's why coorporations like facebook and google exist. The average joe wants everything easy, to be fooled and entertained at the same time. But what about the 10%-20% of the damn global population that actually still have a working mind and can put 2 and 2 together? Smart people ar pushed aways these days, the wind up cleaning the floors at mcdonnalds. Most of the jobs posted today are in cleaning, construction/maintenance, and security (old dude with a flashlight sleeping all night while the burglars run free).

[anon]

The old internet was terrible - Irkitated
1998 on the Web - Predictions for the Internet in 1998
The Internet Circa 1998 | Pew Research Center
17 Ancient Abandoned Websites That Still Work | Mental Floss
Remember The Old Internet – The Moderate Voice
oldweb.today

Check the last link, everyone! It's pretty neat.

[anon]

Maybe you'll like this.

                                Telehack

    Telehack is a simulation of a stylized arpanet/usenet, circa 1985-1990.
    It is a full multi-user simulation, including 25,000 hosts and BBS's
    from the early net, thousands of files from the era, a collection of
    adventure and IF games, a working BASIC interpreter with a library of
    programs to run, simulated historical users, and more.

    You can telnet directly to Telehack on the regular telnet port of 23.

    Open a command shell and type

        telnet telehack.com

    See http://telehack.com/telehack.html for more information.

[slikrapid]

mostly @ Master Razor:

Destruction of good things

truly good things cannot be destroyed, they are eternal

Man has always been resourceful

which is a result of his ideas, but where do the ideas come from?

things/services that initially were supposed to help mankind suddenly turned and went rogue

they are continuously helping
they are continuously changing as well
you simply got to like a phase in their development and now you don't approve of the next phase (like old age in the human developmental cycle)

nowadays it is filled with ads for revenue...
starting other diseases or complications you haven't had...
filled with ads and create stamps on your system

its perfectly normal, considering the state of mind humans (directly/indirectly connected to all these items you mentioned) are in, it is a logical outcome

WHY is this happening to us? I is in human nature to want to top ourselves, not sink to the bottom of the tar pits.

it (life) is supposed to entertain and teach you lessons about how things work in the materialistic world(s) and what your true goals/desires are, so you could gradually shift towards embracing those goals and eventually transcending the state of bondage to materialistic things - that is the (true) freedom everyone is talking about

Nostalgia is a dirty liar that insists things were better than they seemed

it simply reminds us that we used to have a better time adapting to those conditions as opposed to what we are currently facing

Everything today is business
If everything is a business then there's no progress, is there?

business=busy-ness?
he who keeps busy may progress (towards the next stage) as well, but will do so very slowly and often not noticing or understanding the process

they put a lot of passion in their work and didn't even consider the money

there are people passionate about business or passionate about money too
wasn't edison exploiting tesla for profit?
the forbes 500 may be quite interested in topping one another

Perhaps everyday something is discovered but it is hold back, locked in a safe with the message "the world is not ready for this yet".

you need to understand that no matter how loaded those safes or top secret warehouses may be, they are not holding back anything, they are in line with the era as well - their lesson is that no matter how strong the measures may be, there are always countermeasures available around to be used when the time is ripe

it would be interesting to see how things would have turned out if Facebook never existed and Google had remained just a good search engine, though.

its simple, someone else would have had to take their place (with a similar outcome), as they are a product of the era, a sign of the times if you will, the circumstances were ripe for such a development, etc.

We are making baby steps progress in everything

isn't this the era of huge technological development?

The beginnings of Medicine were ridiculous, just made up cures with no scientific basis.

there were natural remedies before the era of the so-called scientific medicine, they somehow had numerous solutions all throughout ancient times without any technological equipment whatsoever, a great deal of current medicine has used (and often usurped as own inventions) previous knowledge - even today when modern medicine fails, the solution may be to find some respectable alternative, in fact, due to the overall medical ignorance, incompetence and corruption, the alternatives are getting an ever larger audience

The placebo effect

is a hint that you can get better simply by having a positive attitude or a firm belief

Smart people ar pushed aways these days, the wind up cleaning the floors at mcdonnalds.

you need to understand that if someone (regardless of how smart they may be) is cleaning the floors for a living, he simply needs that phase in his life, after which he can move towards something else (again, needed in that next phase), etc. - also, that there are lessons in this scenario both for the cleaner and everyone else involved (directly or indirectly), which all of them will figure out when needed as well as in the amount needed, regarding their own particular situation

[Master Razor]

you need to understand that no matter how loaded those safes or top secret warehouses may be, they are not holding back anything, they are in line with the era as well - their lesson is that no matter how strong the measures may be, there are always countermeasures available around to be used when the time is ripe

That's the problem -- they are in line. Why can't they release something that would be normally be released in 100 years? The damned military had mobile phones since the 1960's. We had them since late 1990's.