Only 30 hours a week? Pussies!

Seriously, everyone is addicted to something. The Internet, TV, shopping, sleeping, whatever. Show me someone without an addiction and I'll show you a dead body.

Oh great. Just what I need -- another diagnosis. Sheesh.

mumbling numbers... ok, here are 8 hrs a day, 6 days a week, plus a few hours on sunday, that is, ummm, lets see, around 50-52 hrs on a computer... Ok, lets not admit publicly I am on the internets all this time... ok. yes, about right.

49hrs here.

Yeah, I've been trying to avoid it at work, but 4 years of college internet procrastination are hard to break away from.

Oh, what a pile of crap! First of all:

some people ... went online to cure foul moods in ways that mirrored alcoholics using booze

So, people that phone their friends to help make them feel better when they are down have an affliction as well? if not, what's the difference?

non-essential computer use

So, is surfing at work non-essential computer use? I mean, I would be using it anyway, right? That means that anything I do on a computer at work is essential, right?

Besides, I can quit anytime I want.

Meh. It's not like it's bad for your health or anything.

you take that back!

*swings at link, then falls to floor giggling and spasming*

yeah dg, I remember reading a study that was like, "People who use email and IM a lot to keep in touch with friends and family are more likely to call friends and family on the phone." And I was like, "OMG, social people are more likely to be social! OMG!"

Surfing 30 hours a week? Hell, while recovering from my first heart attack, I surfed for porn at least 30 hours a week.

OK, forget I wrote that.

This is the kind of thing that makes me sad that I did not really pursue science in school.

I mean I know a lot of serious researchers don't make a whole bunch of money but it seems you can make a decent living applying the scientific method to dumb-ass research that punches someone's buttons and makes for a mock scandalous headline.

I'd guess I'm online a minimum of 60 hours per week. It's just what I do during the day. Some people watch soap operas and talk shows, I surf.

I spent three hours tonight watching West Wing on dvd, which is a form of mental inoculation against the current state of politics, an alternative to drinking.

That said, I also acquired the procrastination skills I need during grad school and they carry into work too much. Thanks to wireless on campus I'm never unplugged. I mentally google things when I'm not online, and surf the imaginary results. It's frightening.

I miss reading for hours offline.

I used to get scared of the amount of time I spent online and how naturally I gravitated toward it when there was nothing else going on. I have seriously wondered about addiction. However, I've taken numerous vacations in the past few years to places that afforded no usage a-tall and did not miss it one bit. Though that first taste when I return is sweet. SWEET!

Besides, rather than having any ill effect on my life, I have found it has made me more useful and more likely to find solutions to practically any problem. Sure, one day when the grid goes dark and I have to learn to live off of rainwater and acorns, it will be a real bummer to have only my brain to rely on. In the meantime, I have to go learn how to make giant bird windows CYA!

People actually go offline? WTF!?

This is like saying "breathing is addictive", or more apt "driving is addictive". Yeah, thanks brainiac. It's a powerful, world-changing tool - perhaps even more so than cars, as at this point there's probably more people who have used the internet on a regular basis than there are people who have used cars regularly.

And people are going to use it more and more.

Surfing 30 hours a week? Hell, while recovering from my first heart attack, I surfed for porn at least 30 hours a week.

See, this is what I like about internet addictions, they allow you to combine several if you surf it right.