Without Internet

[Luna the Great of all the Russias 2,700]

Potential points for discussion:

• How different would your life be if you never accessed the internet?
• Do you think your personality would be significantly different if you never accessed the internet?
• If you were now transported to an alternate universe where the technology level is similar except that the internet never arose, how much would you struggle to adjust to this world?
• Any other thoughts come to mind in relation to this topic?

Edited March 2, 2023 by Luna the Great of all the Russias

[Envy 5,998]

I do suspect my life would be very different if I had never found the internet.

It's impossible to know exactly how much, but I can speculate!

One large thing is that I'm not sure where I would be with my religious belief. It was internet forums I joined as a teenager where I was exposed to respectable, reasonable non-believers. Beforehand, I remember my only experience with an atheist being a former member of my childhood church, who was a complete jerk to me and he told me that he no longer believes in God and I was so offended by all of this. lol. He was a bad person, he couldn't open my eyes to my true nature as a nonbeliever. But then I found internet forums and people who were atheists who weren't jerks and were very reasonable. My deconstruction started right there.

Without the internet, I'm not sure my eyes would have ever been opened. Of course, I still would have still ran into some ingredients of my deconstruction without the internet (namely learning history, and being a gay/bi woman - even without the internet I would still have those).. But would those be enough? Or would I just become a Progressive Christian and think myself "not like those Christians, they aren't real Christians", which would be nonsense... But if my only exposure to a nonbeliever was a jerk, I might not have felt like I could explore being a nonbeliever. That sounds shallow AF, but a very human flaw. I mean, the reality is that I have no reason to believe in God myself. I never have. Getting myself to fully acknowledge that, however, is what took a lot of work with how I was raised.

So I'd say it's questionable where I'd be today in terms of religious belief. Without the internet I may very well be a Christian... Or moreover, a "going through the motions that had been instilled into me since early childhood" Christian. Not a good place to be.

Now, a much more serious concern: In the mid-2000s I found escapism in the internet. I joined forums and I was allowed to be myself entirely. I also had an outlet to socialize when socializing IRL was stressful for me. Not to be dramatic, but on these counts, I fear that it's possible that without the internet providing me those outlets, I might not have made it through my teens. As I said, I hate to be dramatic. But I know where my mental state was as a teenager, and why I was occasionally suicidal. If I did not have these outlets, it would have been much worse.

Beyond that, how would I be different? Too hard to say. I would have access to maybe 5% of the music I love today, that would suck. I used to say that me playing the bassoon was strongly influenced by the internet, but I'm not so sure now. I think my major influences were IRL, but I did have one online as well. Without the internet, I might have become an even more dedicated musician, as the internet became an addiction for me immediately when I got high speed internet. Lol. I would probably still play games like I did pre-internet - that is put many, many hours into them, because there wasn't much else to do.

[They call me Loyalty 1,941]

I live behind the monitor. But there was this time my pc broke, and I spent an entire month watching through the window. My family would bring me meals, and I would leave the bed to go to the bathroom and return to my bedroom once more. Sleep and repeat. But this sort of behaviour is common here, since depression and mental illness run in our family. Still, I think I would be the same dysfunctional individual, just with another addiction. A monitor, or windows. They are not so different.

Also, I am still as depersonalized as before. I experience the same symptoms of autism and violent breakdowns I had since childhood, too.

Still, the internet has helped our family immensely. Because without this coping mechansim, my mental health would have worsened severely. I always mention to my family, that without our economic stability, our rather benign addictions would have turned to subtance abuse.

(Mmm... 911 characters. That is interesting).

Edited March 2, 2023 by They call me Loyalty

[Gaines 1,109]

1) I would basically be a cowboy xD I'd live on a ranch and tend to animals and cattle, as well as appreciate nature more.
2) I would be more family-oriented and give/appreciate compliments and physical touch, which I often refuse.
3) I don't believe I would struggle too much, either using the internet to simply check emails or somehow becoming a tech whiz.
4) I had actually tried to go without too much internet for a few months, as in deleting all my social media accounts and only using my phone for contacts, google and music. Very peaceful, stress-free times.

[TBD 17,228]

Hm let’s see.

I don’t pay attention to the news unless I come upon it on a newspaper or the news channel.
 

I prefer doing my research and study through a textbook, than endless research on the web. Online assignments for college classes is such a bitch. I rather have it done on the same day of class and HW be done and turn it in on the next on paper. Because when they have the due date like the next two days or next week I tend to forgot about it. Too many distractions.

streaming music or shows . Yeah not gonna miss it. I still buy CDs and watch televisions. I don’t even buy stream or subscriptions anyways. 
 

Almost everything is online. I always drag when my work expect me to go home and fill out forms online when they could just give me the damn paperwork to fill out at work and turn it in. So I won’t have to worry about when I get home. 

I remember the purpose of me using the internet for the first time is to play online games like Cartoonnetwork. But if I haven’t known about it I would be fine with my game boy and game cube. 

I only use internet for this forum, online shopping, YouTube and Twitter. Twitter I can go without since I have books to entertain me. Fuck twitter. Online shopping is rare since I like going to the mall to shop. YouTube may be something I will miss since I use it to watch tour guides, how to do, and K-pop contents. 
 

Overall, I dealt with many shitty annoying people on the media than in my real life, especially when I do not want to be bother but they bother me anyway with their BS online. The way how they talk and behave online so uncivil and uncultured, makes me wonder, “jeez is this how you would behave or talk  in public?”if they did, I won’t be surprised to see them getting their ass kick. So I think I would be better off without internet and social media.

What I just mentioned here, I don’t think my life will change much without internet since I never replace what I like/preferred and enjoy with internet. Also my personality irl and online does not differ. If you respect me I will respect you. If you’re being an ass then I will be 2x worst to you. 

Yet, here I am. Here I am still.. using internet.. why? For this forum? Maybe. It’s the only best reason I can think of. 
 

[Pentium100 2,056]

1. Well, without internet, I probably would be able to be a network administrator, there would probably be some small networks, but most of what I do now would not be needed.
2. Yes, I am used to quickly looking things up instead of having to remember them. It was more difficult without the internet.
3. Well, my profession would be somewhat useless, but I don't think it would be that bad. OTOH, I could start creating the internet there. I know how some of the stuff works and with the help of smart people we could make it.
4. I lived without the internet (not really knowing what that was) until I was 11 maybe, then I only got a limited connection (dial-up, paid by the minute), then later I got the unlimited connection. Still, even when I had a good connection at home, I did not have internet (or even a PC) on vacation for a long time, then I got an old laptop (486 50MHz) and no internet. I used to read more books, I was reading books all the time. We go on vacation and after a week, I bring a stack of books (already read) home. I used to listen to the radio all the time and sometimes record good songs from it, or I would just record everything that was broadcast.

When I was a kid, even when I had the internet connection, I did not use it that much. Sure, I would use it to download games and later movies, but there was no Youtube and a lot of internet was not accessible to me because I did not know English that well (still in school learning it). Then we moved into a house and I did not have internet for 6 months, later I got dial-up (this time unlimited, but only in evenings/nights or weekends) and used to download games (a CD image takes a long time to download at 4.5KB/s).

[Props Valroa 26,034]

Assuming this is a world in which the internet never existed, I would have likely lived a far different life. I would imagine that I would be working in person for several years up to this point and have a solid idea on what I want to do with my life. I imagine that I would also be physically healthier, and mentally stronger - yet at the same time a lot less creative, as the internet has given me an outlet for my creativity.

Even though my family was never really religious - in a world without internet, I can see my family having a more overt religious character. Most likely Catholic. I would have had a lot more Catholic influence in my world view. Yet even so, I wouldn't imagine that I would attend Church frequently. My brother was in a Catholic School for a while in his youth, and I imagine that I would have possibly had a similar experience. The butterfly effect is an interesting thing, really.

My world view as a whole was largely shaped by my experience on the internet. MLP, politics, cartoons, reading, and roleplaying. All of which have had a major impact on my personality and identity. Without the internet, I can basically say that the vast majority of it simply wouldn't have existed. I'd be reading books in physical form, having a lot more time to focus on physical media. In such a case, I may even go as far to say that various aspects of my personality would be superior (Work Ethic, productivity, etc), but I imagine my world view may be more narrow and focused in a set of core tenants set within Catholic Christianity, general American Conservatism and Patriotism. 

Due to the internet's influence, I have lived a rather hedonistic and self-centered existence to put it lightly, something I have largely had to actively work against, and am still working against on a regular basis. I would not have this outlet, in a world without the internet, so my largest shortcoming simply wouldn't exist - and even if it did, it would have been to a far lesser degree. 

If one is to say the people in school one grew up with would remain the same in this hypothetical scenario, I would have developed closer friendships with people in school and I would have likely not separated my friendships with them to the extent that I have in this world. There would have been a lot less drama in school, and school would have taken a more "old school" approach with an oddly modernistic flair. Without the internet, I can see portable physical media being the norm in a modernized version. I can imagine various alternate trends in school developing.

Through the internet, I more or less would develop my world view through interacting with people online and engaging with them. Without the internet, my world view would have likely been more strictly aligned with that of my parents. Though as similar as my world view is to my parents, it has significant differences here and there - I imagine those differences would have been a lot less in this world, as I wouldn't have been exposed to alternative ideas to the extent that I have in this world.

So all in all, I would see myself in a much better place in terms of work ethic - but in terms of friendships and the various positive changes I have experienced on the internet, that wouldn't have existed. It's tough to say how things would be, as this is all just speculation.

There would be significant positives without the internet, but also significant negatives within this alternate me. But that's just like most things in life. Trade offs. Though, without the internet, I would likely have laughed at the idea of liking ponies and consider those that to do be some strange type of people. 

If I myself was to go to this world, it would be a hard adjustment. It would take months to adjust, but knowing that my online friends would have developed differently - I wouldn't have to worry about them. As they would have developed completely differently, never having ever been aware of my existence.

Surreal stuff to think about. Even though my worldview has changed a lot over the years, at the bottom of it all there has always been some kind of block in my mind that prevented me from legitimately hating other types of people. No matter how I expressed myself, no matter how hateful I was in the past - I really don't think I seriously meant some of the things I said. I like to think this would be one of the few things that remained unchanged.

 

[RDDash 18,864]

If I had never had the Internet in my life I would not know it was even there, to begin with. These days everywhere you go you can find a wifi signal and it's inevitable not to use it 

Edited March 2, 2023 by RDDash

[SharpWit 2,472]

How Different Would Your Life Be?

I used to read quite a bit, and have a decent little library in my home. But I buy maybe 5 books every year, and read only 1 of them. I think I'd maintain my old reading habits, still have a computer for movies and maybe some games. All my time reading articles amd watching hour after hour of YouTube would be put towards that and other projects. More of my art ideas would become reality, but I'd also have less original stories circling my head. Perhaps one would have finally made it to paper by now. Would I have ever met my girlfriend through the job I saw advertised online 4+ years ago? It'd be an odd mix of being more productive but knowing so much less.

Personality Different?

The internet has certainly lowered my attention span significantly, and it bothers me knowing I'm typing out this long of a response, and that I wouldn't have the patience to read it if it were someone else's, short of being the creator of the topic. And although it may be easier to hold my attention, my interactions with people online have taught me to be much more patient towards others, and those two characteristics go a bit hand in hand in many situations. My best guess is that it would balance out and I'd be the same more or less.

Struggle to Adjust?

It would be an absolute struggle, but maybe not as much for myself as it would be for others. I relied on Wifi up until 2019 when I moved out and got my own phone plan. That's recent enough where i can easily recall trying to get online at a McDonald's out of desperation.

Other Thoughts?

I cant emphasize this enough, even though its just an opinion. One aspect that would make things not all that different from how they are, is how much the internet has benefited from Smart Phones. France introduced Milinet in 1982, and the World Wide Web was released in 1991. A simple majority of American households didn't have internet access until 2000.

In my own experience, we didn't have it till 2003 when we subsequently set up a home computer. Even then, we predominantly used offline features more often until about 2010. Instead we were reading books, watching cable,  playing CD Rom or offline consoles, using portable DVD and music players, ect.

The first sign of change was the iPod, which allowed us to listen to music, audiobooks, and watch movies and shows. Rather than download these from online, they'd be copied/burned from a disk onto the computer, then put on the iPod via a cable. Combining these with a typing application and the ability to take pictures, call and text, tell time and a fricken calculator was naturally the next step. The usefulness of a device like this is nearly immeasurable, and that's without the internet! The touch screen aspect makes it a more personal experience because all of this isn't at the touch of a button, but at your finger tips! Not to mention you've theoretically done away with a need for paper if you can digitally draw and erase. Simply plug your device to a printer and you need only have the final draft physically in your possession.

We may use the internet more now, near constantly, but without the smart phone, I honestly think it would be seen more as a tool than an essential part of life. But we'd all still be walking around with our faces glued to screens. You're watching the pre-recorded game or whatever instead of streaming is all.

 

[Tao 6,719]

• How different would your life be if you never accessed the internet?
• Um no anime.....no fanfics, part of me might be dead
• Do you think your personality would be significantly different if you never accessed the internet?
• Yes and no
• If you were now transported to an alternate universe where the technology level is similar except that the internet never arose, how much would you struggle to adjust to this world?
• Books, all i need is books
• Any other thoughts come to mind in relation to this topic?
• yes and no

[Splashee 28,537]

On 3/2/2023 at 3:16 AM, Luna the Great of all the Russias said:

Any other thoughts come to mind in relation to this topic?

Yes, since I am collecting old telephones and working telephones systems (and history on that technology), there was a time in the late 80s when telephones were the high tech. Back then, no one would think that telephones would become less than it did after internet arrived. Like, people would say to dial-up to the internet would require a telephone. But who knows what a telephone is today? (no one born after 2000 knows what a telephone is).

[Dreambiscuit 8,024]

I’d have to have more specifics. How different my world would be depends on whether or not the internet existed at all. If it didn’t I would be 100% fine with it. The problem with the internet existing is that it’s done away with a lot of brick and mortar stores, so I can’t just go shopping and get the same selection that was available pre-internet. Goods and services are different now than they used to be so, while I’d love to live without the internet, the present world forces me to depend on it.

My personality would be the same, except that I’d probably be more peaceful and calm. Technology (so-called) is always a source of pointless frustration and the internet is at the heart of it.

I would never have to adjust at all to an alternate reality sans internet. When someone is unaware of something, there’s no reason to miss it. I never used it when I was little and remember those times fondly. I never felt as though I was missing anything and people weren’t as broken and mixed up as they are now. People often defend it as though it were something wonderful, but they’re unwittingly defending their own enemy.

In my opinion, the internet is the cause of a vast percentage of the world’s problems. If I had the power to change one thing in this world, destroying the internet would be high on the list.

[ZiggWheelsManning 7,358]

Those are clever plans Dreamy  

[Allevi 1]

 In general, without the Internet, I would  read, communicate with friends and family, and walk the dog. And I will watch MLP on a DVD player. I would definitely have to find another job, and I don't know where I could go. Are there any jobs that do not need the Internet at all?

[Cash In 21,509]

I'd definitely be far less knowledgeable on certain subjects without the access internet. I also wouldn't have discovered a lot because of it. I'd imagine that I would probably be doing the same thing I was before I had internet access. Playing offline video games, TV, reading books etc.

[Longhaul 6,470]

Personality-wise, probably not much would change.  I'd most likely spend more time reading or watching DVDs.

[Clawdeen 12,109]

A good chunk of my job involves internet access. So without it I’d be out of a job

[ZiggWheelsManning 7,358]

I'd be sad at first, but adaption will come in handy.  

[Ice Princess Silky 10,812]

The internet has always been a big part of my life. But I remember a time when I would read a lot of book. I have over 1000 of them that I have collected over my youth. They are like little time capsules that reflect a chapter or phase in my life that is no longer.. or perhaps still prevalent. 

In either case, if we had no internet, admittedly, I’d probably have a much richer imagination and richer mind from reading more and more books I do read a lot of articles online but it is just not the same. Without the internet, however, I would never have met @sir hugs a lot, so I would have just been single since dating was never an appeal to me.

However, to answer your question properly… I would probably have as rich an imagination as @ShadOBabewhich is quite the enviable position. 
 

  

[user unknown 1,450]

The Internet and cell phone tech was basically in its infancy in the 90's so other than chst rooms I basically did live like that.

Wanna see a friend's house and you never been there? Call them and write down word for word instructions. Also keep your cell with you in case you get lost. NO Internet= NO gps system.

Wanna see a movie or try a game out? Okay, let's go to video store and see what they have available.

Wanna see what your buds are up to?

call them up just like  be like hey you wanna grab some chow and watch some movies at my place/check out "x" place?

pretty much without Internet life wouldn't be too much worse just involve using the phone and paper FAR more.

Only real major loss I see is no contact with people outside your country really. 

Beyond that it's just a little more hands on effort to do what we're used to the Internet doing for us.