Baby Boomers and the Internet

[Kanada]

My kids are Millennials...4 boys and all educated and working!

The youngest had a birthday  yesterday and reason for a phone call! We got talking about how he had left Facebook and a lot of other social media outlets because he simply couldn’t stand the arguing about Covid, religion, vaccinations etc. that really never go anywhere!

He observed that my Baby Boomer generation really had a problem recognizing how the Net works...how it follows your searches...figures out your interests and feeds you the information that you want to hear!

Very true actually....if you are a flat earth(er)...a growing group the net is the place to be because any time you do a search on that subject the internet will feed you all the pages of sites that agree with your opinion “first”....so you can say “see everyone agrees with me” which is in fact what we want to hear!!

Its called an “echo chamber” and if you stand there and yell hello....you will here hello, hello, hello and confirm that everyone does in fact subscribe to your opinion so you must be correct!

of course if you choose to “look further which we don’t, on page 15 you will start to find the opposing views!

The internet needs you busy and searching all the time...they survive by selling advertising and the busiest sites make the most money so they push the vaccination sites the religious sites and anti government sites (as examples) really hard....they play us!!

you’re not alone...they play all of us including me!

**Our generation had to ease into the computor age and most went in kicking and scratching all the way...my kids jumped into it early and those born 20 years ago and later (I don’t know what generation that would be) grew up with it from birth!

They do recognize what’s trash...their brains recognize with out blip and they just move past it with out thinking...it’s an automatic for them!

A lot of Baby Boomers have a little more trouble with that...

if they see a well groomed man in an office with a white coat on and a stethoscope hanging around his neck “he’s a doctor” and they connect in their minds immediately!

we grew up in an age where we respected our Drs advice and our Bankers and even our politicians.

If they get an email from their bank or the Govt. with the correct insignia they pay attention....close attention...it must be my bank I can see the insignia etc. and it’s signed by the CEO himself!!

Now I agree...I see it everyday...people spouting opinions they read on line and were confirmed by all the “likes” and “hell yeahs” you could count!

Thats ok if that’s what you want but if you really want to have the facts you have to dig deeper and it takes a little work????

Its comfy in the “Echo Chamber”...I’ve been there but beyond here there be dragons!

Rooms full....communities full...1000’s and tens of 1000’s of people much smarter than we are every day they go off to work and their job is to keep us active on the internet!

I love the internet...but I’m a pessimist by nature and particularly with the opinions (rather than facts) found so readily????

 

cheers everyone...just food for thought????

 

Kanada

[bwpage3]

Before the internet, learning was accomplished by reading published books. With footnotes and bibliographies to the sources of the data and information.

 

There is so much mis-information, wrong information, or politically swayed information on the internet, which young person knows for sure what is true and what is not? 

 

Ask any young person what was the last book they read and they won't have an answer because they do not read.

 

Look back to all the wonderfully cool inventions developed before the internet and ask yourself exactly how people developed those things?

 

We sent a man to the moon before the internet!

 

 

[Kwasaki]

5 minutes ago, bwpage3 said:

Before the internet, learning was accomplished by reading published books. With footnotes and bibliographies to the sources of the data and information.

 

There is so much mis-information, wrong information, or politically swayed information on the internet, which young person knows for sure what is true and what is not? 

 

Ask any young person what was the last book they read and they won't have an answer because they do not read.

 

Look back to all the wonderfully cool inventions developed before the internet and ask yourself exactly how people developed those things?

 

We sent a man to the moon before the internet!

 

 

The invention for me was motorbikes anything else is not important.????

[covidiot]

I'll admit that I've been duped a lot over the years by a lot of things. 

 

Burying your head in the sand and staying off the internet is one way to go ...

 

[Kanada]

55 minutes ago, bwpage3 said:

Before the internet, learning was accomplished by reading published books. With footnotes and bibliographies to the sources of the data and information.

 

There is so much mis-information, wrong information, or politically swayed information on the internet, which young person knows for sure what is true and what is not? 

 

Ask any young person what was the last book they read and they won't have an answer because they do not read.

 

Look back to all the wonderfully cool inventions developed before the internet and ask yourself exactly how people developed those things?

 

We sent a man to the moon before the internet!

 

 

I have to disagree....that’s a huge generalization and simply not so!

I read most of the books in our small school library and my boys are readers....they use the internet mostly for work and reading books...but they prefer hard copies and their friends do too!

Every book you ever read is on the internet!

Young people are a lot smarter than we were....now that’s a big generalization too but their schools were better...their teachers were better...their universities better equipped!

I think lot of things have happened since we sent a man to the moon as great an accomplishment as that was it didn’t feed a single person or benefit any one I know???? but just my opinion.

[Kanada]

52 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

The invention for me was motorbikes anything else is not important.????

Me too....CR250’s and Super Blackbirds CB1100XX and I have a few scars to remover them by

[Kanada]

54 minutes ago, Kanada said:

Me too....CR250’s and Super Blackbirds CB1100XX and I have a few scars to remover them by

Haha come to think...Blackbird scared me but never hurt me but the CR’s did both ☠️☠️

[OneMoreFarang]

I think if people, of any age, think a little about what the do on the internet then it's not so bad.

Is it possible to get accurate information: I think in many cases yes. Visit well known media like the BBC and others.

And for technical and other info there are many good websites. One of my favorites is stackexchange.com with all their sub groups. People ask questions and others answer. And good answers are voted up. It works.

Wikipedia is also pretty good.

And then there are special forums i.e. for specific motorcycles, maybe audio equipment, and and and.

Even YouTube has channels from experts from many fields.

Just don't believe the first thing you read in the first line of a search. It might be right - but maybe not.

It's like books. Also not every book tells the truth. The difference with the internet is that every idiot can publish anything. It's up to us if we believe those idiots.

[RichardColeman]

Like to see anyone born after 1990 tackle a logarithm book calculation !

[Jingthing]

Baby boomers invented the internet! Of course we understand. Silly millennials. 

[bwpage3]

10 hours ago, Kanada said:

I have to disagree....that’s a huge generalization and simply not so!

I read most of the books in our small school library and my boys are readers....they use the internet mostly for work and reading books...but they prefer hard copies and their friends do too!

Every book you ever read is on the internet!

Young people are a lot smarter than we were....now that’s a big generalization too but their schools were better...their teachers were better...their universities better equipped!

I think lot of things have happened since we sent a man to the moon as great an accomplishment as that was it didn’t feed a single person or benefit any one I know???? but just my opinion.

Do you have an advanced degree?

 

Your boys read which is great.

 

What percentage of the Thai population reads anything other than comics or they face stuck to a mobile phone watching Youtube or Soaps?

 

No sir, schools are not better. Sorry. Todays schools photo copy a few pages for the students. Unheard of back in the day when every student had 50 pounds of text books in their book bags.

 

Harvard is still Harvard, Yale is still Yale, Oxford is still Oxford.

 

I 100% disagree that young people are a lot smarter and Thailand is a good example. 2021 Thailand has no space program, no advanced manufacturing and are the slave labor for Japan.  The country has not advanced education at all for the longest of time. 

 

Looking something up on Youtube does not make a person smart.

 

And common sense and reasoning? Forget that.

 

 

[Kanada]

1 minute ago, bwpage3 said:

Do you have an advanced degree?

 

Your boys read which is great.

 

What percentage of the Thai population reads anything other than comics or they face stuck to a mobile phone watching Youtube or Soaps?

 

No sir, schools are not better. Sorry. Todays schools photo copy a few pages for the students. Unheard of back in the day when every student had 50 pounds of text books in their book bags.

 

Harvard is still Harvard, Yale is still Yale, Oxford is still Oxford.

 

I 100% disagree that young people are a lot smarter and Thailand is a good example. 2021 Thailand has no space program, no advanced manufacturing and are the slave labor for Japan.  The country has not advanced education at all for the longest of time. 

 

Looking something up on Youtube does not make a person smart.

 

And common sense and reasoning? Forget that.

 

 

I’m so sorry that’s been your experience...????

[robblok]

14 hours ago, bwpage3 said:

Before the internet, learning was accomplished by reading published books. With footnotes and bibliographies to the sources of the data and information.

 

There is so much mis-information, wrong information, or politically swayed information on the internet, which young person knows for sure what is true and what is not? 

 

Ask any young person what was the last book they read and they won't have an answer because they do not read.

 

Look back to all the wonderfully cool inventions developed before the internet and ask yourself exactly how people developed those things?

 

We sent a man to the moon before the internet!

 

 

Sorry but you guys are just way of base so old fashioned. But then again there is a big generation difference between me and you guys. E learning perfect through the internet. Websites with business information (tax laws) available for me. I just pay to get the right information.

 

If you use the internet right you are way ahead of the babyboomers. I think its just too hard for your generation to accept that most of you are just out of touch with the new way of learning and gathering information.

 

I agree about the misinformation but people who use the internet well know where to look for the right information. If i am looking for tax news I go to a paid for tax website from a well known party. I would not go to advice from some unknown entity.

 

Must be terribly hard to admit that your outdated.

 

Young people are much smarter now as the old generation. We are much better at problem solving. I am so happy i was raised with computers. We now know how to collect and apply information. We have far more information available. (if you know where to look and that is what babyboomers don know)

 

I know im generalizing as there are some quite bright babyboomers on this site who do know how things work. Evidently in the IT part of the forum. But you also see a lot of not so bright people who hate things like banking apps and food apps. 

 

Only those that adapt will get better. I read countless books in our local library but it does not come close to what kind of information i got now. If i knew what i know now for instance about fitness (all from the internet) then i would have trained much better when young. Sure there is a lot of misinformation. But that is where real inteligence comes in to seperate the two.

[colinneil]

2 minutes ago, robblok said:

Sorry but you guys are just way of base so old fashioned. But then again there is a big generation difference between me and you guys. E learning perfect through the internet. Websites with business information (tax laws) available for me. I just pay to get the right information.

 

If you use the internet right you are way ahead of the babyboomers. I think its just too hard for your generation to accept that most of you are just out of touch with the new way of learning and gathering information.

 

I agree about the misinformation but people who use the internet well know where to look for the right information. If i am looking for tax news I go to a paid for tax website from a well known party. I would not go to advice from some unknown entity.

 

Must be terribly hard to admit that your outdated.

 

Young people are much smarter now as the old generation. We are much better at problem solving. I am so happy i was raised with computers. We now know how to collect and apply information. We have far more information available. (if you know where to look and that is what babyboomers don know)

 

I know im generalizing as there are some quite bright babyboomers on this site who do know how things work. Evidently in the IT part of the forum. But you also see a lot of not so bright people who hate things like banking apps and food apps. 

 

Only those that adapt will get better. I read countless books in our local library but it does not come close to what kind of information i got now. If i knew what i know now for instance about fitness (all from the internet) then i would have trained much better when young. Sure there is a lot of misinformation. But that is where real inteligence comes in to seperate the two.

You will be old 1 day, then the younger generation will be able to have a go at you.

Ok thinking you are better than old folk, Baby boomers as you call us, just remember if not for the baby boomers you would not be here to make fun of them.

[robblok]

1 minute ago, colinneil said:

You will be old 1 day, then the younger generation will be able to have a go at you.

Ok thinking you are better than old folk, Baby boomers as you call us, just remember if not for the baby boomers you would not be here to make fun of them.

I am not making fun Colin, just stating facts. Its funny to see the dinosaurs here putting down technology because they can't use it. Its a common occurrence on the forum. 

 

Just remember you can stay in contact with people because of IT, life has improved a lot because of it. But its so hard to admit for the babyboomers that they can't work with stuff that they must put it down. GPS google maps all great inventions. Skype line whatsapp you can keep in contact with family in ways that were never possible. Now with lazada and stuff you can get everything you want even if you live in a small isarn village. I can only say that technology has made life easier and easier.

 

I am really bad at home improvements but unlike the people on the forum I don't put the people who are capable down. That is the big difference. The big difference is accepting the truth and ones weaknesses instead of acting like new things are bad.

 

My dad for instance accepts that there is loads of knowledge on the internet does not put it down. Tries to go with the times when possible. But admits he can't do certain stuff.Big difference from the babyboomers i see complaining about technology on the forum.

 

 

[faraday]

Bloomin' heck Rob... what a generalisation!

 

It really is not about being a baby boomer, but the personality of some of them, especially on here where there does seem to be rather a lot of very odd characters. 

 

My acquisition of knowledge since the internet, has improved markedly. I may not have all the skills that you possess in using the internet, but as I am retired, I don't need to. 

 

Just look at the way, so many younger people slavishly follow FB, & believing so much of the rubbish on there. 

The vacuos (sp) idolisation of celebrity; & they way they are all divided into groups to attain some sort of 'identity', so they feel they belong.

 

There seems, in many cases a complete lack of critical thinking among them.

 

You have fallen into the trap of thinking that somehow, the last 40+ years of our lives have accounted for nought, & you are 'better'.

 

 

[Kanada]

41 minutes ago, faraday said:

Bloomin' heck Rob... what a generalisation!

 

It really is not about being a baby boomer, but the personality of some of them, especially on here where there does seem to be rather a lot of very odd characters. 

 

My acquisition of knowledge since the internet, has improved markedly. I may not have all the skills that you possess in using the internet, but as I am retired, I don't need to. 

 

Just look at the way, so many younger people slavishly follow FB, & believing so much of the rubbish on there. 

The vacuos (sp) idolisation of celebrity; & they way they are all divided into groups to attain some sort of 'identity', so they feel they belong.

 

There seems, in many cases a complete lack of critical thinking among them.

 

You have fallen into the trap of thinking that somehow, the last 40+ years of our lives have accounted for nought, & you are 'better'.

 

 

I do t think he’s saying that at all...he’s saying what my Sons say...they are better at dealing with internet and recognizing trolls and foolishness than we (Boomers) are as they well should be....they were introduced to it far sooner in their lives. I took my first computor course in 1997 just to get the basics and it has helped me but I still struggle with the technology rather than slide their it as the Millenials and next generations do!

They automatically know which sites provide info you can trust to be accurate and which you can’t and I struggle with that...usually scrolling thru until I see National Geographic or another name I’d recognize!

Educated and young people have long long ago abandoned Facebook and the like and moved on to much better social media sights where they connect with their peers!

Im on Facebook  and not one of my four kids is on there...they can’t stand the bantering and intolerance since Baby Boomers have taken it over!

 

It amazes me where some people get this view of the younger generation....must be looking in a different place than I am!

[ivor bigun]

I may be a baby boomer ,but when computers started i had one ,,i met my Thai wife a long time ago and she could use a computer so helped in our office in BKK for a while untill we got a full timer 

when i go on the internet i search for "proper sites" medical or otherwise ,not just the rubbish ,  To be honest i feel many of the new generation dont have a brain of their own any longer ,just drivel thats injected into them by teachers that are stupid .

also when i see people "following" "celebrities" and "influencers" i despair ,

I am so glad i grew up in the real world ,where i had real friends ,stayed out all day ,lived through the swinging 60s in London and had a real life .

as for Facebook ,you can stick it where the sun dont shine.

[robblok]

40 minutes ago, faraday said:

Bloomin' heck Rob... what a generalisation!

 

It really is not about being a baby boomer, but the personality of some of them, especially on here where there does seem to be rather a lot of very odd characters. 

 

My acquisition of knowledge since the internet, has improved markedly. I may not have all the skills that you possess in using the internet, but as I am retired, I don't need to. 

 

Just look at the way, so many younger people slavishly follow FB, & believing so much of the rubbish on there. 

The vacuos (sp) idolisation of celebrity; & they way they are all divided into groups to attain some sort of 'identity', so they feel they belong.

 

There seems, in many cases a complete lack of critical thinking among them.

 

You have fallen into the trap of thinking that somehow, the last 40+ years of our lives have accounted for nought, & you are 'better'.

 

 

That is why i stated with exceptions, im not saying what you guys did does not count. I am saying that technology changes and that those who adapt have an advantage. I am saying it has improved our lives (or at least from those who embraced it)

 

I don't do FB but others do they like it, its just a hobby like how some people like soccer. I don't see it any other way.

 

I am also saying that we have access to far more information, does not really matter if your a babyboomer or not you can make use of it instead of constantly putting it down (some people). 

 

Those that use and adapt are ok those that keep thinking the old ways are better are misguided in my opinion. The wealth of information available is so large far larger as it ever has been.

 

But it takes some critical thinking to sort good from bad

[Kanada]

1 minute ago, ivor bigun said:

I may be a baby boomer ,but when computers started i had one ,,i met my Thai wife a long time ago and she could use a computer so helped in our office in BKK for a while untill we got a full timer 

when i go on the internet i search for "proper sites" medical or otherwise ,not just the rubbish ,  To be honest i feel many of the new generation dont have a brain of their own any longer ,just drivel thats injected into them by teachers that are stupid .

also when i see people "following" "celebrities" and "influencers" i despair ,

I am so glad i grew up in the real world ,where i had real friends ,stayed out all day ,lived through the swinging 60s in London and had a real life .

I’m also proud to be a Baby Boomer and lived their the 60’s right along with you ...damn we had fun and our kids would have had fun too but the 60’s weren’t there for them...the 80’s and 90’s were their time.

just makes us different and as I pointed out early on...makes them a little better at dealing with the net and it’s problems

World Wide Web (www) has only been available to the public since 1997!

[Kanada]

1 minute ago, robblok said:

That is why i stated with exceptions, im not saying what you guys did does not count. I am saying that technology changes and that those who adapt have an advantage. I am saying it has improved our lives (or at least from those who embraced it)

 

I don't do FB but others do they like it, its just a hobby like how some people like soccer. I don't see it any other way.

 

I am also saying that we have access to far more information, does not really matter if your a babyboomer or not you can make use of it instead of constantly putting it down (some people). 

 

Those that use and adapt are ok those that keep thinking the old ways are better are misguided in my opinion. The wealth of information available is so large far larger as it ever has been.

 

But it takes some critical thinking to sort good from bad

I probably search the net for information 6-10 times a day and I’m 71....my Dad since passed away would have loved it 

[robblok]

2 hours ago, Kanada said:

I probably search the net for information 6-10 times a day and I’m 71....my Dad since passed away would have loved it 

Its a great tool. It takes some time to find true information at times. I am still <deleted> off about the gym thing. ????

 

So little information when i first started and looking back so many mistakes made and all that information is now freely available on forums and stuff.  You can basically learn about anything get reviews of products before buying them. (again have to look at where information comes from). But its such a good thing to be able to find information. 

[BritManToo]

18 hours ago, bwpage3 said:

We sent a man to the moon before the internet!

........ maybe ..........

 

As for boomers and computers.

At university I played 'Colossal Cave' on a PDP10, some of the labs had Commodore Pets, and after graduation I bought myself a TRS-80.

[Kanada]

15 minutes ago, robblok said:

Its a great tool. It takes some time to find true information at times. I am still <deleted> off about the gym thing. ????

 

So little information when i first started and looking back so many mistakes made and all that information is now freely available on forums and stuff.  You can basically learn about anything get reviews of products before buying them. (again have to look at where information comes from). But its such a good thing to be able to find information. 

Agreed...it’s a great tool once you learn to use it!

My original point was that “as in everything else”....people don’t take the time to learn how things work and how easily anyone can be deceived 

My Dad was a fan of Encyclopedia Britannica so we grew up with an original set and then a second set revised that came with a 12 column set of children’s books called My Book House which I read start to finish over the years growing up!

Id hate to lug all those volumes around today especially when the information would be dated by the time I looked it up!

[Kanada]

2 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

........ maybe ..........

Oh no....not one of those...please not one of those????

[robblok]

3 minutes ago, Kanada said:

Agreed...it’s a great tool once you learn to use it!

My original point was that “as in everything else”....people don’t take the time to learn how things work and how easily anyone can be deceived 

My Dad was a fan of Encyclopedia Britannica so we grew up with an original set and then a second set revised that came with a 12 column set of children’s books called My Book House which I read start to finish over the years growing up!

Id hate to lug all those volumes around today especially when the information would be dated by the time I looked it up!

Read an Encyclopedia too when young it was in the home. And yes info is dated that is the problem.

[gamb00ler]

3 hours ago, ivor bigun said:

as for Facebook ,you can stick it where the sun dont shine.

As with most inventions, FB is fine if used properly.  It is actually great for staying in touch with family and old friends who live far away.

 

To excise the FB annoyances (cr4p), I highly recommend the FBP extension.  I don't see a single ad and I'm not pestered with some of the idiotic things my less sophisticated friends want me to try.  Over time you will learn how to use FBP to trim FB down to only those things you really want to see.

 

caveat: FBP is only available for computers, not smartphones.  It's donation-ware.

 

F.B. Purity is compatible with Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Edge, Safari, Opera, Brave and Maxthon. It should also work on any other Chrome / Chromium based browsers (such as Slimjet, Yandex etc).

[Kanada]

41 minutes ago, robblok said:

Read an Encyclopedia too when young it was in the home. And yes info is dated that is the problem.

Wow congratulations...that’s a big read...32,640 pages????????

[robblok]

3 minutes ago, Kanada said:

Wow congratulations...that’s a big read...32,640 pages????????

Not sure if it was Britannica. Just an bunch of encyclopedia's. It was in Dutch

[Rampant Rabbit]

21 hours ago, Kanada said:

I love the internet...but I’m a pessimist by nature and particularly with the opinions (rather than facts) found so readily

I  just  listen to this for  exactly 43  seconds from this  point and  nothing else  matters,