# People who don't understand technology continue to be frightened of it **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 14, 2009, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-understand-technology-continue-to-be-frightened-of-it/521167 "2009-12-14T01:34:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-understand-technology-continue-to-be-frightened-of-it/521167/21 "2009-12-14T19:34:33Z")
“If you get infected you’ll wish you had never been born So before it e-mails your grandmother all of your porn …” (‘Weird Al’ Yankovic, _[Virus Alert](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvfD5rnkTws)_) ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-understand-technology-continue-to-be-frightened-of-it/521167/22 "2009-12-14T20:06:08Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > “I don’t rape little girls!” Ha ha ha! “Or little boys!” I was wondering how long till Grandma found out they were filming her. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-understand-technology-continue-to-be-frightened-of-it/521167/23 "2009-12-14T20:52:23Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > Why do you think universities were often located in small towns far away from the cities. Because “big cities = evil” In the case of American state colleges and universities, also because agricultural support, extension, and research were often an important component of their original missions, so they were often founded in small agricultural market towns. IN the case of California and Berkeley, though, this doesn’t seem to hold up. I don’t think the town of Berkeley was very agricultural even in 1868. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-understand-technology-continue-to-be-frightened-of-it/521167/24 "2009-12-14T20:56:55Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > But this is just another variation of the old “afraid of the unknown” syndrome. > > Why do you think universities were often located in small towns far away from the cities. Because “big cities = evil” Or maybe because land is cheaper in small towns than it is in big cities. ---
**Author:** ![\_cc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/e19b73/32.png) [@\_cc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_cc)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-understand-technology-continue-to-be-frightened-of-it/521167/25 "2009-12-17T12:07:44Z")
I wish the old and technologically inept had the same attitude when automobiles were concerned. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-understand-technology-continue-to-be-frightened-of-it/521167/26 "2009-12-17T12:55:23Z")
Grandma isn’t just ignorant, shes not the sharpest cookie in the drawer either. Parroting this stuff over and over is not a sign of someone making an argument. Shes stupid, or drunk, or both. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-understand-technology-continue-to-be-frightened-of-it/521167/27 "2009-12-17T12:58:13Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > I’ve never heard of THE NEST so I googled it and bopped on over to the forums. The very first thread? “_Is Anal sex bad for you??_” Too funny! Just play nice, we don’t want a board war with a bunch of hormonal mommies to be. It would probably make the stormy visitiors from certain fronts look like lollipops at 10 paces. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-understand-technology-continue-to-be-frightened-of-it/521167/28 "2009-12-17T13:03:06Z")
> [@Daddypants](#): > > Yesterday, my mother-in-law asked me how she can cancel her Facebook account. In her own words: “I’ve just heard too many bad things about it, and people getting in trouble.” So I offered to help her adjust her privacy settings. She said, “No, I just want to get rid of it. I don’t like it, I don’t trust it.” This is actually a pretty good instinct, as Facebook has about a billion privacy settings which they are constantly munging. If the founder of Facebook [can’t even manage his own privacy settings](http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/12/zuckerberg-facebook-privacy/), I guarantee with near certainty that you have something unsecured on Facebook that you didn’t intentionally set that way. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-understand-technology-continue-to-be-frightened-of-it/521167/29 "2009-12-17T20:34:37Z")
> [@drachillix](#): > > Grandma isn’t just ignorant, shes not the sharpest cookie in the drawer either. Parroting this stuff over and over is not a sign of someone making an argument. Shes stupid, or drunk, or both. Or nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-understand-technology-continue-to-be-frightened-of-it/521167/30 "2009-12-17T23:10:45Z")
> [@Cosmic Relief](#): > > This is actually a pretty good instinct, as Facebook has about a billion privacy settings which they are constantly munging. If the founder of Facebook [can’t even manage his own privacy settings](http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/12/zuckerberg-facebook-privacy/), I guarantee with near certainty that you have something unsecured on Facebook that you didn’t intentionally set that way. Yeah, they just made it so that you can no longer restrict access to certain information. And that’s aside from all the sketchy apps that can get your info anyway if your friends are using them. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-understand-technology-continue-to-be-frightened-of-it/521167/31 "2009-12-18T09:49:46Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > Yeah, they just made it so that you can no longer restrict access to certain information. And that’s aside from all the sketchy apps that can get your info anyway if your friends are using them. You can turn that off in **Privacy Settings\> Applications and Websites\> What your friends can share about you**. You can check off as many or as few items as you want to be shared. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-understand-technology-continue-to-be-frightened-of-it/521167/32 "2009-12-18T10:07:22Z")
> [@'\[cc](#): > > ;11897775’]I wish the old and technologically inept had the same attitude when automobiles were concerned. The people who felt that way about automobiles are all dead, and most of the horse-and-buggy industry died with them. The people who are old and afraid now grew up with autos and have just as little fear of them as any other group. They’ll die off in the next couple decades and they’ll take TV with them. (Newspapers, too, unless something big happens.) ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-understand-technology-continue-to-be-frightened-of-it/521167/33 "2009-12-18T12:16:36Z")
> [@'\[cc](#): > > ;11897775’]I wish the old and technologically inept had the same attitude when automobiles were concerned. I’m old and I’m sick and tired of all this old = inept = stupid = mentally challenged crap. It amounts to ageism and I frankly wish its use would be prohibited on the SDMB. I’ve intended to post something similar to this for quite a while. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-understand-technology-continue-to-be-frightened-of-it/521167/34 "2009-12-18T12:24:49Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > And because nobody has ever, ever, ever, met a predator in a bar or at work. Nope. Not ever! Don’t bring logic to a gun fight. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-understand-technology-continue-to-be-frightened-of-it/521167/35 "2009-12-18T12:36:40Z")
> [@Kaio](#): > > You can turn that off in **Privacy Settings\> Applications and Websites\> What your friends can share about you**. You can check off as many or as few items as you want to be shared. And don’t forget to uncheck the box at **Settings\> Other Settings\> Legal Settings\> Send Federal Agents To Arrest Me On Sexual Offences Charges**. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-understand-technology-continue-to-be-frightened-of-it/521167/36 "2009-12-18T13:05:35Z")
I have a couple of older friends who insist that I’m “good with computers” and who call me to come over whenever they need to do something online. I’m good at computers because I can navigate. That’s it. I keep showing them how to do simple tasks, but they don’t believe that they’re “good with computers” so they don’t even try. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-understand-technology-continue-to-be-frightened-of-it/521167/37 "2009-12-18T15:54:35Z")
> [@jali](#): > > I have a couple of older friends who insist that I’m “good with computers” and who call me to come over whenever they need to do something online. > > I’m good at computers because I can navigate. That’s it. > > I keep showing them how to do simple tasks, but they don’t believe that they’re “good with computers” so they don’t even try. There’s an [xkcd](http://www.xkcd.com/627/) for that. (Which I really need to send my mother.) ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-understand-technology-continue-to-be-frightened-of-it/521167/38 "2009-12-18T18:23:56Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > Don’t bring logic to a gun fight. This is getting dangerously close to sig line territory. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-understand-technology-continue-to-be-frightened-of-it/521167/39 "2009-12-18T18:34:31Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > There’s an [xkcd](http://www.xkcd.com/627/) for that. (Which I really need to send my mother.) Dagnabbit, beaten to the punch. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-understand-technology-continue-to-be-frightened-of-it/521167/40 "2009-12-18T18:38:45Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > And don’t forget to uncheck the box at **Settings\> Other Settings\> Legal Settings\> Send Federal Agents To Arrest Me On Sexual Offences Charges**. You have to be careful with that though. The mere act of unchecking it alerts Them to your shady and perverted activities. Uncheck with caution. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-understand-technology-continue-to-be-frightened-of-it/521167.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-understand-technology-continue-to-be-frightened-of-it/521167.md?page=3)