Internet advice, helplessness and pill which cures everything, 1

On By Inese, visual artist, writer and life sciences bloggerIn happiness, health, healthy ideas, trend, truth

Part 1

Trendy trends, trendy you and trendy cures

Everything has a chance to become a trend nowadays. Whether a trend is genuinely worthy to engage in or pursue, is always questionable because in a trendy environment some aspects of our life are made more important simply for the sake of a trend. Self-care has become a huge trend. In reality, self-care has been always a number one aspect to address if you love yourself and if you care about yourself. Due to this trend, it feels like people have just woken up and suddenly realized there are things which nobody else can do for them. The one true thing which has never changed is that we have huge resources to help ourselves and we have a great ability to cure and straighten out ourselves, too. In fact, the only person, who can give the best advice and knows everything about you, is you.

The helpless person

If we have a question, we go to the internet. When we are unsure how to do something, we go to the Internet. My personal preference is Google. I do not take it to the level of nonsense. We have to admit that nobody knows everything about anything. However, Internet has developed the helpless person, who is lost if we take away their phone, laptop or other device. At times, it feels like the helplessness has reached such a degree where we have to start assuming this person has no experience in any area of their life, zero decision making ability and no imagination. That in turn leads to loss of brain flexibility and decreases the cognitive function even more. Our brain is no different from other parts of the body: we lose what we do not use. I would love sometimes to simply push somebody so that they start making their own decisions and start trusting their own judgement. We actually have all answers to our questions. We can find any solution to a problem we have. It’s just difficult to admit we have a problem. It takes courage to be honest to yourself.

Maybe don’t leave it up to apps

Devices can do so much for us nowadays; there is hardly any need to think. Every device and app wants to make suggestions. Yet, the base of our well-being is making our own decisions depending on our personal situation and experience. We do try to think instead of people around us, not to mention dictate our own principles as the best way to live. That could be the best way for that particular person, who claims having discovered a miracle diet or a miracle cure, but one size never fits everybody. We have to stop pretending that some expert knows everything about us. They do not; they cannot decide what is best and what isn’t for us if they never knew our background, our habits, our lifestyle, the conditions we have, the therapies we have applied, our work and financial situation, our food preferences or diet, our medical history and our ancestors. In the face of huge distinction from person to person, the ways we thrive can be very distinctive, too.

Globalization of advice and recommendations

The problem with any care, self-care and lifestyle advice is in its global nature. That is an aftereffect of self-improvement books. Some people are assigned the role of an expert or they have taken up this role. Expert nowadays is almost any ambitious person, who has explored something about the matter and feels like they can tackle anybody else’s problems. While any self-improvement book has some good core in it, it’s rarely that the same things will also help you to become and be a better person. Our life is so multifaceted, so is our personal history, medical history, environmental factors and family background which affect our life and its quality. Look at advice, weigh it out, consider what is good about it and fits you, but make your own self-care decision.

Internet advice

More in next post

26 thoughts on “Internet advice, helplessness and pill which cures everything, 1”

  2. Inspirational article Inese and thank you for sharing it into two parts. I’m not good with very long posts always.
    You are right, we need to be responsible for our own life. It is okay to listen to others and read about different topics, as long as we remember to think for ourselves.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Thanks! I’m not denying that. However, most inspirations go as trends because any search engine also ranks everything by trends and how many views inspirational articles attract.
      I am simply feeling sad that the ability to think and make a decision, as well as remember things without using phone is becoming past.
      I am sharing my own observations since I work with people and have done so for quite a few decades. Memory has become weak, decision-making ability is close to none.
      I am wondering sometimes what happens when there is no phone, no internet and no electricity for a while.

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      1. I grew up where a smartphone was a future dream , where internet was for the rich , & it was one of my happiest memories because I get to discover people & the world around me by myself , it was more real & exciting. Social media is not the same as personally connecting with someone in person .

        Liked by 2 people

      2. Good for you! I am also from another generation. I got the first camera when I relocated to Canada. I was 46 at that time which is many years ago. That is why I am so good with drawing and that’s why I developed extra good memory: to capture and remember everything. I have been working on a computer ever since the first ones were out. That was for my translations and research projects. I suppose that’s why I don’t like uselessly scrolling through the phone or internet. I’m used to do what work, advertising for classes and my sales require, and that’s about it.
        Technology is helpful, but I am seeing the disastrous effects of it, like total forgetfulness, lack of focus, inability to draw a conclusion, things like that. It gets worse with every year. Last year when there was lots of mental activity during lasses was 2013.After that point, it is very rare that i am seeing real attempt to grasp and remember things, as well as make conclusions based on ones experience or common sense.
        At some point, we all need to check out something or at least see hours and address of a store or place. I am just against the not thinking first and right away rushing into search in order somebody would tell what to do.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Thanks for sharing. I’m used doing things old school , like studying on actual books not computer , writing my notes on its pages , highlighting important things , & when it looks so used, I know I did my best to truly understand & learn . As for smartphones , I mainly use it for 3 things, taking pictures, listening to music, & communication with family & work. Lately been getting inspiration as well through the stories of bloggers via WordPress .

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      4. Well, I love reading real books, too. I read about 1 book within 2-3 nights, I don’t have time during the day.
        I also use phone for pictures, to advertise my classes on social media and calls. I do no listen to music, when I work, I want it to be silence, except like nature sounds outdoors.
        It doesn’t really matter whether one is a phone addict or totally in social media or similar things.
        I simply regret that with too many tasks delegating to devices, some people have stopped thinking and using their brain.
        I think teachers feel and see this firsthand.
        And how they try to sell things now: it says, it was featured there and there and this and that celebrity bought it. That’s exactly what I mean, it’s hilarious and it is too bad that it is good enough proof for lots of people.

        Liked by 2 people

  4. You make some very good points.
    I feel the same way.
    However my own family and I (husband and children) have always taken care of everything ourselves, so we’re used to that ans as a matter of fact the internet is for me a way to turn that knowledge into money, BUT you are so right… what about all the people who are making themselves more and more helpless, by purchasing everything, rather than making their own? Eventually they are completely helpless victims, who have degraded themselves to become slaves – just because they didn’t want to take responsibility for their own lives or because some fancy gadgets looked more fascinating.
    Like you wrote under one of your other posts: when you can’t even get simple plain and natural milk, how can you then make cheese?
    I guess, we will eventually just have to go back to the very basic and have our own cow or goats as well…

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  5. theburningheart

    Very true, however when you say people find themselves lost when lacking a internet connection, in reality how many of them are looking for something relevant to their lives?

    Most of my close friends, at least in front of me they call their portable phone, the magic mirror, by the countless times I had suggested when in doubt about something I just tell them:

    Why don’t you ask it to your magic mirror?

    Usually the first time they look at me puzzled, and tell me: “What are you talking about?”

    And point to the thing they are carrying mostly in their hand, some in their pockets.

    As you may well know, most people, do not use it but as an entertainment tool, not like a research instrument.

    Even wrote a post about it, some time ago.

    Great post Inese. 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Thanks! Well, there are many uses for phone and other devices. I am just talking about regular things, like mixing up a color, purple or orange, making simple soup, boiling potatoes, cleaning something, that’s when everybody started to click, scroll and google. I mean, there are so many common sense things, like very many. I’m not sure, but most people did not know what parallel or perpendicular lines are, and without basics like that, I cannot move ahead and tell how to create a perspective. With every years it is less and less knowledge and also less and less thinking, remembering, memorizing, recalling, building associative links in one’s head, so on. I have worked for many years at schools and now as a art teacher for not that large groups. At some point, I feel terrible because when the normal basic knowledge is not there and there is no memorizing things for the next time, we are stomping on one spot.
      Obsession and inability to part with a phone is another topic, also using it for entertainment.
      I just meant how one searches for everything instead of thinking and recalling it. I see it all the time before, during, after classes and events.

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  6. theburningheart

    Well, as a teacher myself I know exactly what you are going through, and have many anecdotes about it, on the past I had wrote some post related to it, and I may share some more on my next post, since your problems inspired me on that regard.
    Keep up, the spirit Inese. 🙂

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  7. I have just posted something in response to this and some of your other articles on my blog which touches the same subject and explains in detail how I see it – with a poem which is a little satirical. Hope you enjoy it – and don’t worry it’s not just in German, I also posted the English language version.

    Liked by 1 person

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