The Internet Was A Mistake

[@WisecrackEDU]

Hope you enjoyed this pilot! The video took dozens of hours to research and pulled from 36 different sources - check out the full script and get your hands on the research at wisecrackPLUS.com

[@davidbrelu-brelu7118]

I'm impressed!

[@lemonsavery]

I think the internet is good, in a similar way to how *electricity* and *cars* are good. I comes with fantastic pros, but also cons, and we're realising those cons and trying to figure out how to minimize them.

[@Gazzyl161]

keep this one up I really liked it. Simple and to the point

[@xhosagibran370]

So then what do you suggest?

[@gadimgadimov7553]

the new pilots are great

[@ricancira]

"We live in an age where we have access to everything, but knowledge of nothing" - Ian Masters

[@kojismiles]

and you shouldn’t go back. if you were wishing before that, your iq would be a little lower. he’s brainwashing you

[@Scerttle]

"Why participate when you can retweet" is one of the best things this channel has said.

[@ronagoodwell2709]

I think it was "Why participate when you can retweet someone else's virtue."

[@Markie-lc2es]

Neil Postman, author of “Amusing Ourselves to Death” (1985) summed it up best of all in the following quote: “What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egotism.”

[@contranymph]

Markie2000 I am definitely going to check out the book. Thanks :-)

[@Tessitura9]

Yes!!! One of my favorite reads.

[@Graeberwave]

Just copied and pasted the quote from that book explaining the end of Brave New World, about why people laugh instead of think. See also Technopoly by Neil Postman.

[@franconegri9530]

Also it's a great song by Roger Waters

[@thenowchurch6419]

Hegel feared those who would have us running from one extreme to another, over and over, without realizing it.

[@ICSSecurityResearch]

It’s all Logan Paul’s fault.

[@mechajay3358]

nicholas kloster If anything he played a part in it

[@ttondakeys]

Agreed. See the internet made us agree so there for it works

[@cbishop41483]

Fuckin logan paul someone punch his lack of a wangnoodle through his fartbox. Inverted dingdong!😝👹

[@Ryan-pg1tw]

You shouldnt say that and be more respectful

[@dubuyajay9964]

I wish it was. The Paul Bros are easy to scapegoat because they're such scummy people.

[@jamestang1227]

I really like the term "Cyber-Balkans" now.

[@nikola2811]

And thanks to it I've seen my hometown on Wisecrack! So proud!

[@yurigagarin4974]

cyber Middle East more like

[@Ivorytrigger]

No, but we're getting closer

[@enger6561]

What I like with the dog playing piano is that he don't do the corns salute

[@catalinpaiu5285]

@@ivanpetkovic2130 you ruined the whole section

[@dereisberg]

The internet wasn't a mistake. Social media was.

[@dupin9251]

The Internet is part of Social Media.

[@Altermerea]

@@dupin9251 no, Social Media are small part of the Internet

[@kingartifex]

It wasn't a mistake, it was inevitable

[@fstrgray82]

I say all the time that I miss the Internet from about 15-20 years ago. It wasn't perfect then, but outside of the trolls, it was a fairly reasonable era. I'd miss having no KZbin though.

[@zXaero4]

@@fstrgray82 Yeah, in my false memories the only bad thing that was caused by the Internet back then was people endlessly discussing if Kirk or Picard was the better Enterprise Captain (which OBVIOUSLY Picard was). For cleaning this mess up I would suggest that the internet should only be accessable by Browsers that use command line prompts. Remember unpacking a compressed arj file in MS-DOS? Let's see if people are still motivated to post racist comments while taking a dump if it needs at least 150 characters just to open a website.

[@dlg5485]

The internet was a fine idea, it's social media that was a HUGE mistake.

[@artsf6161]

So true

[@mikitz]

The social media ruins the fabric of communities while masquerading as the necessary glue of it. We can only imagine how the 5G tech will escalate the situation even further. As they say, those who choose not to use it have problems. I happen to have a huge problem with stupidity.

[@Norsilca]

Is KZbin social media? A hell of a lot of misinformation gets spread here. Even if you just had Geocities and web forums like in the 90s, except everyone used it instead of a few nerds, I wonder if it'd be that different. I think blaming social media on its own might be a little nearsighted. Or you'd have to expand the definition of social media to basically the whole internet.

[@dlg5485]

@@Norsilca I would agree that youtube is technically social media too, but it also contains A LOT of useful news and information if you are discerning enough to weed thru all the trash.

[@Norsilca]

@@dlg5485 The whole internet, including social media, is full of useful information. But the whole internet, not just social media, is also full of misinformation.

[@jeffreykalb9752]

The internet is not a mistake. Allowing monopolies with political agendas to develop on the internet... That was the mistake!

[@OldHickory7]

Humans were a mistake. This is what mother earth would be saying about us

[@guywholookspretty]

@Lauren BIG MAMA Doughty How would we stop it then?

[@TheTrueAdept]

@Lauren BIG MAMA Doughty no, you clearly haven't looked at human history then, as it is more towards Hobbes than any other political philosopher.

[@JewishGoldGrab]

No man internet is a mistake.

[@NoobsDudes]

@@OldHickory7 Iqjajajahw

[@aymericdeascalon4590]

It'd be interesting to see an updated version of this given how much more extreme the fragmenting and polarisation has become less than two years after this was made.

[@bindukopparapu2795]

True. If the last decade was bad, this year alone was a trainwreck. It's only going to get worse from here. Misinformation is literally part of life now. If it keeps going in the direction it is going in, I hope the internet is eventually shut down or something in the future. Most people don't seem to be able to handle this sort of power, me included.

[@drummerxkun]

Scary stuff :(

[@insertname9736]

Another two years later and is getting even worse.

[@ElDiosDragónNegro]

artificial intelligence is making it worse and makes it even worse

[@vaibhavjain5227]

Wisecrack wasn't a mistake

[@sanchirkh6019]

fax

[@alejampi2]

Hideo Kojima was right. "Colonel: All this junk data preserved in an unfiltered state, growing at an alarming rate. Rose: It will only slow down social progress, reduce the rate of evolution. Colonel: Raiden, you seem to think that our plan is one of censorship. Raiden: Are you telling me it's not!? Rose: You're being silly! What we propose to do is not to control content, but to create context. Raiden: Create context? Colonel: The digital society furthers human flaws and selectively rewards development of convenient half-truths." AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

[@Holt0102]

Yep, he totally was : )

[@HGAMES69]

Reminds me of 1984.

[@jaydawg7]

I have the MGS ringtone & the (!) sound for my text alerts.

[@stefandemoll1478]

Came her for this.

[@youthemanbitch6134]

it was GW disguised as Colonel and Rose

[@CosmoviZionn]

The internet exposed what everybody really is.

[@TheTrueAdept]

Hobbes is surprisingly on the money when it comes to the human condition, especially on the macro-level.

[@biketickler65]

The Internet also distorts what everybody really is

[@einwd]

Cosmo ViZión no

[@TeenWithACarrotIDK]

I will defeat Bruhify so you’ve never met a person online that acts super rude, antagonistic and mean? They never would act like that in real life, but the internet allows them to be someone they truly are.

[@einwd]

Wolfpack clone Ark trooper yes

[@voshi2211]

And now the Bangladeshi government is cutting off the internet to prevent students from protesting about road safety and the government, exactly like in this video. Hopefully this has the same affect it did in Egypt becoming a matter of international attention

[@ShitakeMusromSociety]

my friend got his internet cut off of because of that

[@captainskeleton3994]

An Idiot government we have.

[@mushfiqrahman4557]

I hope so

[@XxXLeKaTXxX]

cmon man every time the tv says the people just start a revolution, is USA fucking the other countries, this is naive and beyond stupid that americans dont know their own country, a real revolution never appear on TV. la revolucion no sera televisada.

[@Rahulorock401]

That government won again with landslide victory again in Bangladesh. Wtf????

[@archer1116]

As far as I'm concerned, all of the pilots have turned out really well so far. This channel is one that I consistently find myself coming back to. Keep up the great work guys. You guys work hard to put out consistently great content and it shows.

[@OneManCast]

*It is almost like giving information to those who are mentally incapable of processing it, is inherently a bad thing.*

[@bindukopparapu2795]

I wouldn't say incapable. It's just that the average person won't go out of their way to read up on and properly understand why something bad is happening or why there is a problem somewhere and will just believe whatever Mr.InternetMan tells them. Plus memes capitalize on this by reducing everything into soulless dark "humor", which has the effect of desensitizing people to issues or news. In most comment sections you will find mindless, copy-pasted memes being upvoted instead of intellectual comments. This dumbs people down by not getting them to think very hard and reducing everything to laughter.

[@odysseuscruise5328]

To be fair, every new innovation is hailed as a "mistake." When books/scrolls were first used Greek philosophers hailed them as a mistake. Same with the television, newspapers, etc. in the end however, all of these innovations advanced society.

[@tomcho8221]

you pointed out like the most fixable issues if people cared enough to do something while ignoring all the massive progress made, or would we be better off without fire, farming, books, science-based medicine, electricity or economies of scale?

[@almita760]

Yes but everything can be corrupted from books to internet.

[@mordercainear9573]

Too bad humanity have a bad habit of abusing innovations, and twist everything that is meant to do good

[@isakwennstig6471]

Mordercai Near the road to hell is paved with good intentions my friend

[@what7287]

What happened to thug notes anyway?

[@fallout3fan623]

I think they ran out of books that the general public knows of that they could break down, which is pretty depressing.

[@dariocaporuscio8701]

stave I really don't think you could ever ran out of books...

[@leisiyox]

Dario Caporuscio i don't think so too but... Mainstream books ran out? It can "happen"

[@dariocaporuscio8701]

leisiyox I really don't think so. There are so many books, even in "mainstream"... I think that the reason must be another ons

[@xyz39808]

My guess is that the host is no longer with WiseCrack.

[@ElKabong3345]

You can tell right away even on youtube comments Where instead of something intellectual being upvoted? Memes copy pasted are the things most popular.

[@bindukopparapu2795]

@Know One It is worse because those people don't even think properly. When only the mindless comments are upvoted no one will think about the points in the video. I see this a lot in history videos, especially alternate history videos. Everyone just upvoting memes and paying little attention to what would happen or what something means.

[@marcoantino2920]

It has also happened that I watch a video about the Burn Out Society (society of restlessness) and the comments are "first" "no one:... Me:..."

[@Nangong123]

@@marcoantino2920 Those comments have drove me insane

[@marcoantino2920]

@@Nangong123 i thought i was the only one

[@omniscientomnipresent5500]

@@Nangong123 they are so horrible...

[@alecolson8360]

This is the best wisecrack video ever

[@xLanKx]

Completely agree

[@robspiess]

This is the best XKCD ever!

[@luciferangelica]

if you say so? who is this guy? where is everyone else?

[@randomgirll3123]

I’m seriously loving pilot season! This seems like a great concept for a show. :D I would love to hear more about current issues from you guys. You have a unique way of looking at things and talking about them.

[@Zonno5]

The internet must be destroyed.

[@omaryusuf4240]

Tuen How should we watch KZbin

[@d3c0deFPV]

I was feeling kinda motivated to get up and do something, but that cute dog placated me into just browsing youtube more.

[@lolman987654]

d3c0de maybe that is part of the message

[@heatherwade2373]

Yeah. I’ve watched everyone slowly lose their minds since the internet began. Now we live in a dystopian hellscape.

[@giovanni3690]

I am european and when article 13 was being discussed I was like oh shit pls no. Honestly today I wouldn't care that much because the internet has more negative things than positive things.

[@Mk7adxm]

I 100% agree

[@DAS_k1ishEe]

SPOILER: The internet was not a mistake. The internet doesn't even produce problems. The internet only makes problems visible that have been all along in society by fastening up the mechanisms behind them.

[@ncyclo106]

t1288 b

[@SomeCrazyMen]

damn, that is an interesting point

[@C25-150]

the internet has been producing problems because people continue to hurt others with knowledge they won’t get into trouble

[@DAS_k1ishEe]

@@C25-150 Please add a few words to that sentence for better understanding.

[@yuuri9064]

I really enjoyed the graphics on this! You obviously did a lot of research for this video too. Thanks for making this video!

[@mariasantos1534]

being a user on reddit happens to be the worst mistake in my life. i think the internet was a mistake because of that

[@ElDiosDragónNegro]

Yes, that thing (reddit) turns humans into monsters.

[@ElDiosDragónNegro]

KZbin is also horrible too. The comments section is garbage.

[@-----------g-]

Doggo on piano was worth it.

[@imanolutrera1945]

I wanna know the song tho

[@stiltzkinvanserine5164]

Screenslaver really has a point.

[@MrJameseder]

Stiltzkin Vanserine I know right!? I watched the movie and I was like uhhh is this person supposed to be the baddie? because they’re talking a lot of sense

[@MrJameseder]

Agreed. I think in some ways Incredibles 2 was a great film because wasn't so binary with the concepts of good and evil, something that hero movies do so easily. Although, I worry that people will lazily just assume all the baddie says is bad, rather than see that Screenslaver, while badly intentioned, is making some perceptive points about modern life.

[@Reliken]

First of all, this was great! Secondly, this video just makes me realize how much Wisecrack ought to make a "Philosophy of Metal Gear Solid 2." It's SO much up your alley!

[@ViktorNamuh]

The internet is a series of tubes

[@dubuyajay9964]

Tubes with cats.

[@egregius9314]

42 people know the reference.

[@MrStrawberryfields4]

This really is my favorite channel on all of the internet.

[@BellaCiaoCinemaGaming]

This is Wisecrack's best video. You guys articulated a concern about the internet for the last ten years, and broke it down brilliantly.

[@andreawalker8343]

I don't disagree with all of the video, but you can't blame the internet for people using it unwisely. Individual people should be held accountable for their own complacency and lack of research skills.

[@lionelnewman4749]

This is based on pure idealism. How is your suggestion possible in our current reality, where people are highly connected with each other and can flounder in their own "complacency and lack of research skills" together? How do you hold people accountable when there are so many individuals on an anonymous platform?

[@ssa6227]

Internet is a tool. But a technology that we were not ready for. Result chaos. Out of chaos extremist took hold. Voices we would laugh at pre Internet era are main stream and we are baffled when Trump like creatures hold our lives in their hands. I think there should be government regulation and studies before technologies can be introduced into societies. Technologies are so power now that they threaten the very existance of Humanity. In the case of Human cloning it was banned and still is. So should be AI Societies need to be educated , controls need to be in place and only then should the technologies be introduced.

[@lionelnewman4749]

You vastly misunderstood my comment. I did not claim that "every user is competent, stable, and sane," and in fact I implied the opposite. My point was that there are too many connections and too much anonymity to hold people accountable on the platform. So yes, exactly like you said, "Historically, there were less assholes because you can get your ass kicked for spewing bullshit." And now that is not the case at all. I don't get what you're trying to say in your comment.

[@Kinos141]

You say individual people should be held accountable for their own complacency but why should they care?

[@MacGuffinExMachina]

Also, it's not all bad. It's led to people reuniting more easily, especially on Facebook. It has given people a chance at a social life that some people wouldn't otherwise have. I can go on, but if anyone just thinks about it for a while, they'll realize the same thing.

[@wearblackclothes]

Why did you guys stop making Thug Notes and Earthling Cinema?

[@crunch1757]

You = bad

[@Amquacktador]

Or 8-bit philosophy.

[@NeverNedDead]

i personnally like the new material more. Expet thug notes. They were awesome

[@ACEDAD7]

I miss Earthling Cinema and Thug Notes too. But I like this as well.

[@fistoftheworldking3834]

Thug Notes are the reason I'm on this channel. I guess they quietly dropped it. I never liked Earthling Cinema though. Anyway, I only watch videos that seem interesting. I'm not really a "true fan" of all of their content.

[@BrianStyleDeath]

Hideo Kojima talked about this in mgs2. It wouldn't have to be so if there weren't people who intentionally wanted to dumb down and mislead people. Or even if there weren't as many such people.

[@jamyx643]

The man is a prophet

[@reiko57]

he must have a time machine

[@saint_silver]

Put your sources in the description

[@IamSamys]

This is the first time I disliked a video for a looong time and it's because a paywall for sources. Interesting. Edit: Dislike retracted, added a like. Thanks, guys!

[@WisecrackEDU]

Sorry, we meant to add them to the description! The research on our Patreon is all the background research we did, including stuff we don't explicitly mention in the video.

[@LAZERBEEEMZZZ]

Also, that last song

[@marcocisneros8643]

I'm quitting the internet and technology for a few days and see how my mind feels, Maybe I'll end up quitting permanently I really have nothing important on the internet

[@ElDiosDragónNegro]

The Internet was a good way to find information and knowledge but now it is only misinformation and echo chambers.

[@uchepowers]

I LOVE YOU WISECRACK!!!!! YOUR POINT OF VIEW IS NEEDED IN THIS WORLD!!!

[@thatguynoonelikes4865]

Well that was depressingly true

[@erupendragon7376]

Missed the best theory. “Internet Changes nothing”. Mechanics might change slightly, but it is all the same. In the ancient democracies information was available, people just didn’t care. The people has always been an educated mass political devise. From Marc Antony rallying the masses to brexit it is all the same. People being herded for reasons not to complicated, but beyond the interest of the masses. Internet makes being anonymous simply different. There was a time when you could simply change your name. Print flyers and simply don’t sign them. The ability of organizations to track down individuals has increased proportionally to individuals ease to anonymity. There is not a single internet problem or advantage that did not exist before. It all simply grows proportionally. During the enlightment it was perfectly normal for the world wide intelligentsia to exchange letters and telegrams. It was perfectly normal for common people to only talk to their church group and not give a fuck about the rest of the world. Today is exactly the same. The people in academia are a single world community far better communicated. Regular people never see beyond their small community perspective. That community got bigger compared to 200 years ago, but proportionally the same.

[@erupendragon7376]

Jackson DeCourcy accessibility, and exclusivity are not the same thing. The myth of only the elite knew how to read and write is stigmatized on us due to the dark ages. The ancient world (Egypt, Persia, Greeks, China, etc) was magnitudes bigger than the medieval world. Because it was so big, most people (by that meaning citizens, not slaves) knew at least basic reading and math. If you are a Christian you have no need for those skills. If you are a small pastor in a small town who trades with Persepolis; then you absolutely need to read and write. You need to know basic math, how to sign their version of money orders. Romans had something similar to what we call futures contracts. Baths, circus, markets, agora, they all required people to read signs. Any middle class citizen making a deal on the forum was expected to write and sign a contract. Lawyer was a common profession in the Greco-Roman world. It is painful to realize that for 1,500 years people looked backward for progress, but true. Information was widely available. For the time period. Rome had an urbanization of 27%. A number that no one achieved until the 20th century. At the turn of the century the USA only had 17% urbanization rate. To be realistic. Let’s say about a third of the people in ancient cities had relatively easy access to any kind of information. It seems really low compared to the ilusión of accessibility today. But we have to remember how things have been for most of our history. Small note about China. In China they had the largest literate population for the longest consecutive time. Because managing big bureaucracies requieres a lot of paperwork; a big chunk of the population had access to free state education.

[@perezsilva1797]

Edgar A. 亚瑟 Ollervides dude i would love to know where u get these informations bc I personally thought your "theory" was eye opening

[@perezsilva1797]

Before reading your commentary I thought the same way as Jared expressed in the video But now I can see why what u wrote makes a lot more sense, specially if u see how the story kinda repeats itself

[@erupendragon7376]

Perez Silva I am really glad someone is thinking about it. (I Spent 4 years in post-grad trying to build a consistent economic development model. I made a lot of progress studying world economic history and compiling other papers. Eventually I got to a point where I needed a lot of funding and a big team, but no one would pay for it. So instead I published a book with the previous ideas and future theories) The important point to take out of this, is that civilization does not need masses of free thinking people. All human progress has been achieved by a very small group of people. The trick is that small group of people needs two things. 1.- they need a society that allows them to innovate. The more complex a society is, with more competent institutions the easier it is for a few to dedicate their lives to projects that most people would censor. (Think about Muslim countries. Even if you put all the most brilliant people there with unlimited money, they won’t achieve anything. They will be censored by society and institutions). 2.- Mobility and accessibility for the greatest number of people. Human progress has been so slow because most people with the potential to do good never had the opportunity. For most of human history only people who happen to haven natural critical thinking, and happen to be born in the right family had a chance to do something. The internet is there to be mostly useless for most, and to facilitate access to the few. (Again think about a super Muslim country. Half their population is completely useless towards progress. Then more than half of the men are so poor that they have other things to worry about even if they have potential to be good. Finally the last group gets censored). FYI: book is called. “6World Lessons We Were Never Taught”

[@ThomasTheFapEngine]

Edgar A. 亚瑟 Ollervides I'll be checking out your book. You have a very interesting theory that I've heard expressed in many other ways but never to the full extent you just laid out. I'm 20, turning 21. For many years I just thought if I'm innovative, creative, and see another side to the internet that most people don't get to see, why can't I just enforce it on others until they start seeing how it's changing the world too. But it seems no matter what, the likelihood of the person I'm trying to teach being interested enough to care is low. Always very low. And I'm not trying to teach people that already know what they want to do with their life, far from it. I've always struggled in understanding why, if we're living in such a drastic time for development of technology, and if technology covers such a broad spectrum nowadays, why are the creative intuitive and awesome people not showing themselves from what I can see, and 95% of the time, the only time I ever get that hope restored, is from something I see on the internet. Because it's so densely populated with the intuitive people. In conclusion, your words give me hope too. Because if nothing else you're right in saying that the creative people don't need millions of other creative people, we just need good community, good communication, and the ability to keep doing what we love doing most. proportional growth.

[@CraigMyran]

Wisecrack: The Internet Was a Mistake CIA: Am I a humurous anecdote to you?

[@freedomdude5420]

Craig James Myran me: Yes, Pedo rapes. Using kids for blackmail.

[@xtieburn]

Really quite pessimistic. Ive seen people reference Kierkegaard and they always seem to laud his future sight and seem to entirely miss the fact that he was wrong in this instance. I mean, he was _fantastically_ wrong. The rise of the press accompanied a rise in democracy, and the reduction in power of aristocratic, religious, and dictatorial power. (Religions diminished power being one of the things that Kierkegaard was specifically worried about.) Removing, censoring, or controlling the press is a hallmark of fascism and totalitarianism. For all its myriad issues the benefits of a free and regular press have _massively_ outweighed the draw backs, and so far Ive seen little convincing evidence that the same wont be the case with the Internet. The earlier examples in the video are similarly flawed, the assumption being that cutting off the Internet removed the distraction. It totally ignores the idea that a more informed populace could sway society towards better things and that when you pull that mechanism away it leaves only more radical means. All of which is a *ahem* net improvement over a completely uninformed populace held in check for generations as is the case for some dictatorships even now. So sure, it might make the bear sleepy, but the fact their actually is a bear should make any wannabe dictator very careful about poking it. Ill take the echo chambers and the Dunning Kruger effect of Internet knowledge over cutting the whole thing off and returning to what we had when I was young, which in hindsight was like feeling around in the pitch-black.

[@gin3868]

Taking down echo chambers is good but if anything the internet has created many and even made them profitable. It has also made crazy fucking ideas that have no factual evidence to support them an equal opinion to ideas that do, I'm not for taking shutting shit and never will be but I can see the setbacks.

[@Mlafleur1864]

(( armchair intellectuals ))

[@jotabeas22]

Poon Jutsu oh, wow. Here, too.

[@Mlafleur1864]

As I am an armchair intellectual myself, I can identify the philosophy and ideaology of natural armchair intellectuals

[@jotabeas22]

Poon Jutsu Sure thing buddy. Back in the echo chamber.

[@hiheyletsmate5336]

You want my feedback. You got it. I loved it! Keep 'em coming.

[@pavelarroyo1621]

Thanks for making this type of videos and for taking the time to do the research

[@akirawang6275]

you guys are the good part of the internet. Because of the interneit I can sit in my sweet home in China and watch this video about why I shouldn't have too much internet.

[@sammosaurusrex]

You can try to crop out that office dog, but we all saw it What’s it name? Does it like to play fetch? Does it want a belly rub? The people demand to know!

[@Bradley_Lute]

Was it the dog in the keyboard music video in the end?? That dogg had mad skills🐶

[@mr.pavone9719]

"This series does not focus on media." EPISODE COVERS THE GREATEST MASS MEDIA THING EVER.

[@scattaredlight]

I don't know if one should claim that "the internet" (people using the internet or that's how I understand what "the internet" means. That's why I wrote it in quotes) creates knowledge. Universities create knowledge, for example. This knowledge then is spread on the platform or medium known as the internet. I would say that "the internet" spreads information but the information that is spread isn't always knowledge. In regards to the polarization in the field of politics. I will do more research, but the interaction on the internet only showed us that "echo chambers" exist it didn't create them. I think that these "bubbles" have always existed. Before the internet people just ignored the people that didn't belived or held the same political views. People have always had arguments about politics. In think that it is misleading to claim that this political divide was created by the internet. We just became hyper aware of the fact that reality is very diverse and that our perception, our reality isn't the be all end all. This is just a small critique of this video. I hope Wisecrack does read the comments and start to do more research. I would love to see a video that not just feed the common held ideas of our time and be more critical.

[@-haclong2366]

In the Netherlands we had something called "the 4 pillars of society" which were the far-left Socialists, the centre-left Catholics, the centre-right Protestants, and the far-right Liberals, all these people had their own political parties, their own (public) radio stations, their own schools, their own social clubs, Etc. You were born into one of these pillars, all your friends were from the same pillar, you married into one of them, and you died into one of them, in our history books we learn that it was public television and the access of information that destroyed them. The claim that people can't change their mind is an exaggerated one, however people also don't just adopt whole new ideas en masse without resistance either.

[@MrJosephdrummond]

you misinterpreted that line in the video, my man. the internet DOES create knowledge... about you. there is now a record of everything you've ever been told, a nearly complete list of all your interests, people you know and everything you buy. the internet isn't "free". the business model goes like this: they let you use something for free, watch and record how you use it, then advertise to you specifically based on your behavior. over half of everything that happens on the internet is just a computer program doing market analysis and sending spam. the internet is created and maintained by entrepreneurs and businesses that are trying to make money. it's not a research tool or a university, it's a giant commercial that's driving a global economy. my point is, you aren't in a bubble that you found. you're in a bubble that was created for you to influence your spending. that hasn't really happened before

[@ChaosDesigned]

Joseph is on point! This bubble was specifically catered to your needs, and knows exactly what you like more and more every day. They pray on the psychology of your brain to know what sounds and colors they need to make you react how every they want, what sounds or patterns will make a top hit. This is new territory for sure, about finding out how to get you exactly what they say you should have.

[@mikehudgins8545]

The plot of this video reminded me of the extended monologue in incredibles 2

[@austinmitchell2652]

This was by far my favorite pilot so far!!

[@Golwen_]

Liking this feels wrong, now

[@jesuisahmedn]

shit I just liked your comment, FUCK IM PART OF THE PROBLEM

[@antihero105]

*This is what I've been telling people for years!! Tv, the Internet, it's kept us complacent*

[@backyardmech]

Well done . They even tell their sources - like an old school bibliography ; from days when where you got your info was important . Subscribed - and I haven't subscribed to anything in years !

[@RickKasten]

The Internet was a mistake. Know where I learned that? On the Internet.

[@barrettvelker198]

So glad that you guys actually cited your work!

[@PorthoGamesBR]

For me, the internet is the greatest tool for evolution, but we still didnt learn how to use it. When we realy learn how to use internet, basically, when we learn how to actually live in society and overcome our instincts, we will be in the epitome of mental evolution and then humans will be no longer animals.

[@ElDiosDragónNegro]

No. The Internet Was A Mistake

[@Inspirator_AG112]

The double-edged sword of the Internet is that content of any interest exists. Social media is best used for interest-based communities, not addiction.

[@sidgeaberration]

The philosphy of the Hannibal TV series. You could go on forever. Cheers guy. Great video.

[@thetrumpnewsnetwork7503]

I'm dropping the internet from my life after the election. I have been planning this for over a year. I gave up my cell phone over a decade ago and my life is better because I did so I kinda figure my life will be better without the net too.

[@magicsocks4031]

I respect that. I wish everyone was like that.

[@thetrumpnewsnetwork7503]

@@magicsocks4031 I wish I could have followed through but I do spend much less time here.

[@windows10-8bitproce..6]

Cute dog

[@chanceDdog2009]

[@SagemeisterGeneral]

If we don't take this with a pinch of salt then we haven't been paying attention. Excellent channel, long time viewer/first time commenter.

[@bricejohnson4272]

We could look through a Guttenberg point of view. There were debates about books, even back in ancient Greece, talking about if more information is good or bad. Overall, more information was more good than bad. Let's say that the benefit of the internet has a 2 to 5 ratio for being bad. 40% of the internet makes the world worst off than before, and 60% makes the world better off than before. Sometimes it is easy to get hung up on the 2/5th and ignore the net advantage that the internet gives us. The internet isn't 100% good nor is it 100% bad. It has pros and cons, just like books; just like the Guttenberg press, and frankly, just like any other technology.

[@OlPalJoe]

brice Johnson the internet doesn't spread information though, it's a perpetual dopamine machine at best and a way to bunker down in your own echo chamber FOREVER at best. I see why you make the Guttenberg comparison but that's a false equivalency in my opinion. Your argument centers around comparing a tool meant for spreading information (the printing press) and the internet. The internet isn't used for information it's used for connecting to things that already agree with your point of view and to get hollow validation for putring on various social masks. You have to absorb info from a book, you have to fight to just to pay attention to anything on the internet.

[@phoebebinder4426]

Joseph Mavero The internet's main and intended use if for information, what you're talking about is a major problem but I feel that fits into the 2/5. Obviously it's going to be misused virtually every tool has been misused, I know I've seen people try to open beer with a mallet. It's impossible to survey something like this because it would all be based on the opinions of the people interviewed what I can tell you is that college classes are being taught online and the internet is being used as a resource in schools at almost every grade level.

[@OlPalJoe]

The Intended use doesn't really come into play when the objective fact is that it only impedes the spreading of accurate information as opposed to people choosing their favorite flavor of reality. I myself have benefitted from uses the internet as an academic tool. I can see a positive there. I personally see the cons outweighing the pros for our democracy. I could very easily be wrong though, I am just a college student lol

[@davidnotoki8803]

College drop out here, I think the comparison is actually pretty fair. While books are meant to spread information, they could and have been twisted to spread out information (albeit with more expenses) to the same effect that the internet has. I think a good example of this are Trumps political books which are tailored to people who share his views(not that I speak for/against the books). Politically biased books aren't really new either, just search up any president/king/leader's writings and you'll find the same. To be fair to you though, the internet's spread of information is at such an unprecedented level that the cons have magnified exponentially. In my opinion, I think the internet's cons outweigh the benefits simply because it's such a versatile and expansive tool that it's benefits and cons are determined by how any given individual uses it. I believe most people don't use the internet properly and like the video states, lets them get complacent as spectators to a world built around their opinion, me included.

[@bricejohnson4272]

I think your point is fair but I find myself disagreeing with you. The internet is apples; books are oranges, and what brings them together is information or, should I say fruit. Books have a dark history of writers forced to write for a White, Christian, Geocentric, European, audience that only want to hear things that agree with their point of view. In other words, books are what we could consider an echo chamber. Books also had a history of fake news. Just look up yellow journalism and you will see that fake news has been a problem for hundreds of years with the help of books. I will not ever say that books are a slower form of the internet. Like you were implying, the internet has many niches that books can never duplicate. But sometimes we get stuck in the nuances that lead us to become more pessimistic about this new technology when in fact, throughout history, the problem we have been talking about isn't really that new. We are only talking about it because it is relevant. In my opinion, we will never really know if the internet is socially good or bad until about 100 years from now. In about the year 2118, I will get back to you and tell you who is right. The pessimist, or the optimists. Maybe this perpetual dopamine machine will suprize us somehow.

[@kentuckyfriedchildren5385]

Everything has disadvantages and advantages, the internet is no different. It's up to us to weigh those in order to determine whether something has improved our lives or not.

[@astrosci8864]

Good points! It is we who choose to be addicted to endless distractions.

[@aIkaIi]

@@astrosci8864 "Endless distractions" is not what makes the internet a mistake...Social media and such is

[@einwd]

Wise words

[@The_M0G]

Please, continue! I live in Brazil and this kind of content is exactly what we need right now

[@AnotherDante]

When are you guys are going to make the philosophy of Marquis de Sade? I've been waiting forever

[@MarijaKovac]

Well, let me tell you... As I was a child in the middle of Blakan countries becoming hostile... My father was very politically active, and since there was no internet or mobile phone, he used a portable radio station to stay in touch with other activists, and my mom. We still have that radio station, and after the zombie apocalipse, it will be more usefull than internet :D

[@ibrahimkurdieh3728]

Very insightful and superbly organized and presented. More please!

[@nch8]

"why challenge your perspective when you can find sources that think like you do". The internet does not "generate isolation" the isolation was already hard wired into the physical infrastructure of car dependent cities and suburbs. The internet is just a reflection of that isolation. This is nakedly apparent to me because Ive been living in New Orleans for the last 8yrs, a city that is older then the colonies themselves; a city where interpersonal socialization in a requirement, not an option, for comfortable existence. -Believe it or not, social capital can get you pretty far in this place. The internet is only an extension of our interpersonal lives. Unlike in the disconnection of the suburbs where facebook, youtube and twitter might literally be the only social interaction people have, we in New Orleans face each other in the street and in bars and in impromptu parties to discuss our personal grievances, politics, staff infections and odd yet plausible cash generating schemes.

[@bigcepsz2174]

I've lived here in NOLA my entire life as well. Love it

[@aeroslythe6881]

Isolation via geography is an excellent point I hadn't thought of. Thanks for the perspective

[@mako1181]

Once its safer to travel again, I think I will make New Orleans my next USA city to visit. Your comment just pushed your city up on my list, thanks!

[@nch8]

@Know One you ain't nobody ¯\_(⊙_ʖ⊙)_/¯

[@nch8]

@@mako1181 glad I had a positive effect on someone. Look me up when you get here.

[@LokiBeckonswow]

Hey there Jared, great video man, I really appreciate the amount of information and ideas present in this video, really thought provoking - I'm currently in the process of researching a lot of these concepts and ideas, but there is a lot of content and time (past few centuries in particular) to work through to get to a conclusion, which your video is helping with. For me, the main thing that will help is if you and your channel, in its knowledge and wisdom, could put forth your own conclusions and ideas for solutions - I really appreciate you putting so much information out there for us to view, and it is helping me find a better direction with my research, but I would also really appreciate you guys stating your opinions (perhaps on other platforms depending on appropriateness for this channel) about what the solutions could be to these problems - I understand that this is risky to take stances on these things, but I do really respect your understanding and would love anything that puts us that one step closer to figuring out what to do about these problems of disconnection. Again, I really appreciate your work, and I really appreciate your time in working towards talking about such complex and important issues. I am worried about where this is all going, but I am certain that videos such as this one are part of the process towards figuring out how to proceed through the next few decades. Cheers, Lachy

[@snowballandpals]

Thanks for articulating what I've been thinking for awhile

[@codymoreland4496]

In my opinion the internet will one day be the worst thing to ever happen to humanity. I don't know how, but one day we will look back on the internet as we know it today, and just facepalm.

[@Mexalen81]

So, if I like this video and scroll through the comments, upvoting all of the nice ones, am I not creating my own echo chamber? Enforcing and propagating my feelings of this video. Or is it okay, because I am one of the good guys?

[@risingraisings7012]

@Gobblarr the comment i was looking for damn.i a legit seeking my echo chamber

[@astrosci8864]

Since you are even questioning yourself, no, you are not creating your own echo chamber.

[@Lululululula]

@@astrosci8864 How questioning your self or not has anything to do with creating an echo chamber? Legit question

[@astrosci8864]

@@Lululululula Questioning yourself indicates that you are somewhat open to having your beliefs challenged by others. Therefore, it is unlikely that you are part of an echo chamber.

[@Nicdehouwer]

This is becoming one of the best channels on this site

[@astrocrowbeats]

I was a mistake

[@lilpuppy7]

I demand to know where I can find: 1. The full video of that cute dog playing the piano and 2. The song that the cute dog was playing

[@MichaelRye-q9i]

The Ending of a dog playing keyboard and singing is hilarious. That's what the internet should be for 😂

[@newalighieri3421]

9:02 cue matpat

[@derpmcgerp8062]

Art Of Life that's just a theory. A WISECRACK THEORY! Thanks for watching.

[@newalighieri3421]

Covfefe IV YES 😂

[@ThatXavier]

I think there is a balance between no Internet at all and being connected online. It is true that with the internet we've grown more tolerable with disturbing news and horrific issues that we see day after day, but it helps us to be more aware of these issues for our growth. To me the decade that had the balance of online and off-line activity was the 2000s-2010. There wasn't so much internet for people to still engage in society, and there wasn't so little internet that people can still connect with one another. I don't know what to say on this conflict, all I can do is hope for the best for humanity and our integrity for the future.

[@cansabaner6352]

Agreed so much with this. 2000 to 2010: Facebook and Myspace were there, so you could reconnect with your childhood friends and connect with other people. A ton of forums where you could meet new people with similar interests. But offline interaction was still a thing. I think something turned when these sites became "social media" sites. When Facebook wanted me to come and stay not just for connecting with friends but also for news, entertainment, political activism, etc. I go to only three sites now: Facebook, Reddit, and KZbin. Maybe that's why I'm in an echo chamber?

[@elisecairo]

Until humanity points the finger at itself instead of social media and the internet, we'll forever stay in this cycle

[@DiddlePuss]

this is pretty funny because it implies that social media and the internet are naturally occurring, non-man-made things

[@elisecairo]

@@DiddlePuss which is precisely how people act about it. Notice the wording when people point their fingers to blame social media and the internet overall

[@CloakedSpie]

I kind of disagree with those closing statements. While social media might have driven politics and divisive topics, things such as video games and online forums have allowed users to connect in ways that were before impossible. It's strange to say, even in the modern era, that i have friends around the world. One of them that came from Britain actually slept on my couch while he was vacationing. I feel that saying that all the internet has accomplished is to drive a wedge between people in a "virtual clique" is misleading and ignores the other more social aspects of the internet and focuses too heavily on social media. It gives the impression that anything outside of social media isn't considered connective. Anyway, i love the video Wisecrack! This is very well researched for the points given, just felt it lacked some of those opposing views you usually give.

[@xxo-deathshot-oxx2047]

And what this guy from Britain had some insight knowledge or personality that someone in your state in your county wouldn't have you do know were all just a bunch of 1 and 0 your bound to find someone with your same dumb ideals and interest you having to go online and look for someone all over the world says a lot about you

[@CloakedSpie]

Xx O-DeathShot-O Xx - I'm not sure if you're insulting me or not because of your broken English. I'm not sure what you mean by we're all composed of 1's and 0's because binary is just a mathematical language. All my post said was that this ignores the kind of relationships that can form from the internet outside of social media. If actually connecting with people around the world says bad things about me, what does that say about someone who can't even form a basic argument let alone a proper English sentence?

[@DarkAngelEU]

Just forget bout Xx, someone who believes life is binary has obviously never heard of quantum mechanics. I too like the idea of using Internet to enrich one's mind and as a tool to progress in life. People that get stuck by using it only for consuming media are often the ones complaining about it being useless because they never understood its potential beyond that. The world is truly what you make of it and comparing it to binary machinery just shows they do not understand how that media is affecting their point of view. The world is not and either/or situation, it's and/or. Quantum. Not binary.

[@deviousj5868]

Omg Ghost in the Shell Standalone Complex was right! Also I love the song at the end with keyboard pup.

[@John-vp1ej]

fantastic stuff guys (y) keep it up, the more of this kind of content the better! :)

[@TheRetroReplay]

I don't think that it's the internet's fault for echo chambers that people are flocking too, I think it's very much the school systems that lay the foundation for people to stay in their own little bubble. When I was in middle school, the school heavily discouraged the students from thinking for themselves, the kids who fell in line and gave the teachers what they wanted would get As while those who questioned things would average in the low Cs. Those who thought freely were bullied non stop and the school would do nothing to stop it. But if you saw how the kids acted there was this strange dichotomy, the kids who were A students had almost no common sense at all, they would do whatever it was they were told while the other students would stop and think about something instead of just going along with it. Fast forward to today, all these people in their echo chambers don't question anything. For example the 2018 She-Ra reboot, it won't be out until November but people have already decided that they hated it because they think that "SJWs" ruined She-Ra because they redesigned her from an adult to a young teenager and made her look like a tomboy. Even when you tell these people to give it a chance, they refuse, falling back on things their echo chamber is talking about. These would be the people who, in the middle school I went to, would get As because they fell in line with everything they were told to do and were told to not question anything. Because they weren't taught to question things or go outside their comfort zone and were rewarded for staying in the place they were assigned, it's easy to see why people now fall into echo chambers on the internet, because they get that reward of validation, they have that chance of being noticed by the high ranking members of that chamber. But those who are free thinkers, those who question the "facts" are still ridiculed because they're challenging the status quo, they're harassed because they're asking the questions. You question the followers of fake news like Alex Jones, they think less of you but provide no evidence if Jones is correct or not, they just believe him because he echos their feelings and offers an explanation as to those feelings, so when you tell someone that he's wrong and show evidence that he is wrong, guess what? You become the enemy, they don't believe you at all. The internet has probably made the situation worse, but I don't think it started it, society starts people down that path at an early age. George Carlin said it best, they don't want free thinkers, they want obedient workers who won't question things.

[@aimansafwan1997]

The video doesn't say the Internet created echo chamber, it says that the Internet facilitate it. More and more netizens are growing distant from themselves because, as mentioned before, when we gain knowledge, we gained in breadth, but lost in depth. What that quote meant is that we know all the informations, but too much to that we are either lack of understanding or misunderstood of those informations. It doesn't help with identity politics becoming a trend in the Internet, do we see the dark side of humanity, always claiming their own opinions true with informations at face value. All in all, the Internet is just a tool, that's just about it, and we only see it as a viable weapon to fuel division like, thus creating a 'Cyber-Balkans' environment. But hey, at least we have videos about cats and dogs doing weird things.

[@elrojogrande744]

They very well might be right to hate it preemptively. Do i need to remind you of Ghostbusters 2016? They arent necessarily wrong. SJWs do ruin pretty much everything the try to "improve ". More inclusive isnt synonymous with better. Actually i think identity politics ruins everything it touches on second thought.

[@BasemanW]

I would like the show if it gave a more conclusive answer rather than simply presenting an Idea. It doesn't have to be something concrete, but proposing something like, "This indicates that [---], and as such a solution would be to [---]".

[@mayafoxwitch]

BasemanW I agree with you. Whenever you research something you know the topic well and have the opportunity to show various options or at least very own option to solve the issue. It’s not about being cliche optimist, it’s more about trying to make changes by suggesting how to improve the world we are living in. It’s only natural to strive to do more and achieve than doing the same thing because it’s easy and “works just fine”.

[@MrOvipare]

I loved the format! Very interesting video! On the subject of the video I ask : what now? Some hard working people must have come up with plans or ideas to balance things out... ?

[@nyxmugen]

METAL GEAR SOLID 2

[@ShehuStebe]

The coming of Solidus is upon us

[@namnmerkki]

That game was way ahead of it's time. And it's pretty much the only game that has made me get creeped out by the REAL world

[@elwen8525]

the one thing I didn't like was that there no conclusion

[@jakefoster5611]

sometimes in life, there's just no conclusion except death.

[@thememetheorists8458]

The Revolution continues at WiseCrack

[@RundFyrkant]

Actually the internet was a pretty friendly place before June 29, 2007 when Steve Jobs company started to supply everyone with "smart" phones.

[@ryry20002]

But how does this relate to Rick and Morty?

[@Lucifer-sn9ir]

Ryan Notyourbusiness I'm sorry but did you really think this was all they were about because of the sheer amount of videos they have relating to Rick and morty? I'm pretty sure they existed before that even aired for the first time I can't tell if your joking but if you are not you have to be like 12 or something or at least the kind of kid who when you kill him on any fps ever they call you a cheater and fling insults at you like a monkey's shit

[@daveteves]

Blue Skull Games hey dude calm down. Clearly you didnt get the joke. Lol

[@ryry20002]

To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Rick and Morty. The humour is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of theoretical physics most of the jokes will go over a typical viewer's head. There's also Rick's nihilistic outlook, which is deftly woven into his characterisation- his personal philosophy draws heavily from Narodnaya Volya literature, for instance. The fans understand this stuff; they have the intellectual capacity to truly appreciate the depths of these jokes, to realise that they're not just funny- they say something deep about LIFE. As a consequence people who dislike Rick & Morty truly ARE idiots- of course they wouldn't appreciate, for instance, the humour in Rick's existential catchphrase "Wubba Lubba Dub Dub," which itself is a cryptic reference to Turgenev's Russian epic Fathers and Sons. I'm smirking right now just imagining one of those addlepated simpletons scratching their heads in confusion as Dan Harmon's genius wit unfolds itself on their television screens. What fools.. how I pity them. 😂 And yes, by the way, i DO have a Rick & Morty tattoo. And no, you cannot see it. It's for the ladies' eyes only- and even then they have to demonstrate that they're within 5 IQ points of my own (preferably lower) beforehand. Nothin personnel kid 😎

[@ryry20002]

Thank you Dave

[@vgold4286]

The internet really was a mistake in retrospect.

[@acdc2468]

WHATS THE SONG AT THE END WITH THE CUTE PUPPY :(

[@goodjohnjr]

Hello ༺ ཉལཧཔད ༻, it is: Anders Bothén - A Real Bad Dream. -John Jr

[@Nrev973]

John Jr you’re a GOD

[@goodjohnjr]

Hello Nathaniel Revolus, if only, thank you. :) -The Mortal John Jr :D

[@damianstruiken2728]

How dare you

[@dannypeixoto8435]

thanks so much, loving the work!

[@liusam651]

With your point made at around the 4 minute mark, the shortage of internet is similarly to providing with food and then cutting it off. Once people uses this tool to learn about the injustices, cutting it off makes people mad, gives the signal that what people are doing is right, and hence lead to the revolution. The decentralization of revolution is only seen as such cause people knew that they are not alone, through the internet. The decentralization of it could very easily led to no revolution at all, which is much more common.

[@contranymph]

I just smoked, and while watching this, every three minutes or so I would go to hit the like button and realize I already had. I have a total love-hate relationship with the Internet but if I was forced to choose I would probably lean towards hate. But then no wisecrack:(

[@bottomtext]

This was one of your most interesting videos yet, please keep up this show!

[@astrosci8864]

The Internet and Social Media were no different from the telephone, radio, television, and satellite communications in a very important way: They were all sold to us in the guise of making us smarter and more connected. That was always the hook. Nobody who was selling it cared about what the Internet contained, just as long as it made tons of money, which it did. The exact same thing can be said of Social Media and all other forms of communication. However, they used the same selling point to get us hooked: "It will revolutionize the way we live and how we connect. Therefore, it will solve all of our problems". This is what they imply, anyway. What did we get instead? Of course, the selling points for the Internet and Social Media had to be intensified as time wore on. They do that by pointing to some major event (the Arab Spring) and declaring (without much evidence) that the Product made it happen and that the event would not likely have happened without it. Therefore, the Product is good for us. Basically, the Arab Spring gave Social Media the perfect excuse to masturbate in front of us and tell us to like it, or else... Well, humans are not that easily defined. Humans are always afraid that technology will destroy their lives and their freedom of choice. Quite the opposite, actually. Despite all of the mile-high promises of technology and telecommunications, it is the human species that assimilate them, and not the other way around, as people believe. What happened to AM and FM radio? They became horrible versions of themselves. AM radio is now a haven of wack-job talk radio and religious zealots (including short wave radio), while FM is so watered down and commercialized it might as well be homeopathic. Humans tamed radio to become nothing but a mouthpiece of the insane and corporate censorship. Mission Accomplished? What happened to television? It began as Jackie Gleason, Ernie Kovacs, Rod Serling and Edward R. Murrow and ended up as Honey Boo Boo and Sean Hannity. How far we've come! Television was assimilated by humanity and corporate greed to serve the lowest common denominator. Serling already knew that would occur and told us live on air. We didn't listen because that wasn't an entertaining enough message. What happened to the Internet? Well, it began with the same promises to humanity, but ended up as a gossip factory and a major time waster and distraction (see: PornHub and KZbin). What happened to Social Media? Well, it just became the CB radio of the 21st century, just chock full of whiny, uneducated fools bitching about everyone and everything while pretending to be the greatest humans who ever lived. Meanwhile, the "geniuses" who created it are laughing and tinkering with it just enough to keep you hooked on it forever, kind of like TV was in the 1960s onward. The Internet and Social Media turned out to be nothing more altruistic than radio and TV. Humans (the worst of them) assimilated the Internet and Social Media, instead of the other way around, so that they both reflect the black tar pool of humanity, rather than the shining stars of humanity. The only question I have now is, should you be surprised anymore? The next time some slick salesman tries to offer you something that promises the world, maybe you won't be so quick to pay everything you have to possess and keep it. Who am I kidding?...of course you will!!!