"I believed people would become smarter and make better decisions. I mean, you have access to all this scientific research and things like Wikipedia. You do not have to go to the library and find some obscure research paper - you can just go online. If a politician says something, you can research if it is true. Did crime go up? Did they really cut spending like they said? Instead, people listen to Joe Rogan for medical advice and Alex Jones for political advice, and everyone is dumber for it. People started taking horse dewormer and shunning vaccines because some idiot conspiracy theorist online told them to."
"My dad thought that if I played a music CD on the computer while playing Sim City, I would break his computer somehow. He yelled at me, so I bought my own computer. He would then accuse me of things anytime he got a pop-up or some kind of notification, and I would have to tell him, 'I have nothing to do with your computer - I have my own.' It was intense."
"That the increase in productivity the computer age would bring would also result in tremendous amounts of leisure time for humanity."
Early internet use produced many myths and superstitions about how computers and online life would change society. People expected massive leisure gains from productivity improvements and assumed universal access to information would make the public better informed. Instead, misinformation and charismatic bad-faith sources led to poorer decisions, medical misinformation, and harmful behaviors. Many adults developed irrational fears about everyday computer use, blaming games or CDs for crashes and instability. Other persistent myths included faster connections spreading viruses faster and chain emails promising money from wealthy founders. Nostalgia includes both technical misunderstandings and cultural surprises.
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