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comment by PathogenXD
PathogenXD  ·  4256 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The internet is wasting our lives.

I don't think that you can really make an argument for either, unless you had some sort of quantitative proof of a deeper relationship. Otherwise, we wouldn't have any way to compare the depth of our relationships. As for your first point, I have a friend that I met in high school, and we hung out almost every single day during and after school. We hung out so much that our families just sort of adopted each other. In any case, he had to move to a different school after sophomore year, but even so, our friendship is still very strong because we still hang out almost every day over the internet. He is my best friend and would trump any of the friends I see from day to day in real life. The friends that I meet day to day still mean a lot to me, but they still rank below my friend that I haven't seen face to face for almost six years.





kleinbl00  ·  4256 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    I don't think that you can really make an argument for either

I can, in fact. It is the premise of the aforementioned MIT professor's body of work over the past 25 years. See also: Love and Sex with Robots.

| our friendship is still very strong because we still hang out almost every day over the internet.|

That was not the argument. The argument was that your relationship had been diminished by his moving away. I'm glad you skype every day. If you could choose to see him in person, would you?

Once again, I'm saying "there is scholarly data that reflects that." You're saying "It doesn't really feel true to me that." And, once again, this is like arguing "I know you just accused me of myopia, but I don't believe there's a man standing on that hill over there."

PathogenXD  ·  4256 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Whoops, I must have missed your earlier link to his work. Perhaps my ability to make relationships has been crippled both inside and outside the sphere of the internet, but to me it doesn't make a lot of difference. All I know is my perspective, I've never experienced anything else. While you may find that regrettable, I see no difference at all. My relationships feel deep and meaningful to me, so why should I seek something different?

kleinbl00  ·  4256 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    All I know is my perspective, I've never experienced anything else

Again, my point.

    My relationships feel deep and meaningful to me, so why should I seek something different?

Not saying you should. However, you are posting in a thread called "The internet is wasting our lives" and I set forth a number of points why the author might feel that way.

Soldier on, li'l camper. But also recognize that when someone explains why someone else feels empty inside, "but personally, I don't feel empty therefore your answers are wrong" is not a valid tactic of debate.