Might as well face it, you’re addicted to Search.
More than a year ago I discovered that there were other search engines than Google. I don’t remember which one it was, but I started looking for others in my spare time until I finally had a list of 100. I then recruited some ‘List Masters’ to help me get that number up to 1,000. After the Top 100 list was published on ReadWriteWeb a few times, Richard proposed setting up a daughter blog devoted to alternative search engines. So I quit my day job as a Search Engine Optimizer (SEO) and started AltSearchEngines (ASE) on June 1, 2007.
Since then I have continued to look for more search engines, finding approx. one new one every single day. Since we launched, 828 posts about Alt search Engines have appeared: 71 global posts, 174 reviews, 156 announcements and 53 updates. There were debates, CEO profiles, Guest Authors, and much more. My hours expanded to 8 - 8. Some nights when my wife was asleep I would sneak back into my office… People started calling to share the latest with their search engine or to find out about others. I went to my first conference, and then another, and another in two weeks. Then we organized our own conference. I bought a new laptop with a cellular card so I can be online almost anytime and anywhere.
Could it be that I’m addicted to Search?
The American Journal of Psychiatry, in Am J Psychiatry 165:306-307, March 2008: Issues for DSM-V: Internet Addiction, Jerald J. Block, M.D. argues that Internet addiction appears to be a common disorder that merits inclusion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V).
Conceptually, the diagnosis is a compulsive-impulsive spectrum disorder that involves online and/or offline computer usage (1, 2) and consists of at least three subtypes: excessive gaming, sexual preoccupations, and e-mail/text messaging (3). All of the variants share the following four components:
1) excessive use, often associated with a loss of sense of time or a neglect of basic drives,
2) withdrawal, including feelings of anger, tension, and/or depression when the computer is inaccessible,
3) tolerance, including the need for better computer equipment, more software, or more hours of use, and
4) negative repercussions, including arguments, lying, poor achievement, social isolation, and fatigue (3, 4).
Some of the most interesting research on Internet addiction has been published in South Korea. After a series of 10 cardiopulmonary-related deaths in Internet cafés (5) and a game-related murder (6), South Korea considers Internet addiction one of its most serious public health issues (7). Using data from 2006, the South Korean government estimates that approximately 210,000 South Korean children (2.1%; ages 6–19) are afflicted and require treatment (5). About 80% of those needing treatment may need psychotropic medications, and perhaps 20% to 24% require hospitalization (7).
Footnotes:
1. Dell’Osso B, Altamura AC, Allen A, Marazziti D, Hollander E: Epidemiologic and clinical updates on impulse control disorders: a critical review. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2006; 256:464–475[CrossRef][Medline]
2. Hollander E, Stein DJ (eds): Clinical Manual of Impulse-Control Disorders. Arlington, Va, American Psychiatric Publishing, 2006
3. Block JJ: Pathological computer use in the USA, in 2007 International Symposium on the Counseling and Treatment of Youth Internet Addiction. Seoul, Korea, National Youth Commission, 2007, p 433
4. Beard KW, Wolf EM: Modification in the proposed diagnostic criteria for Internet addiction. Cyberpsychol Behav 2001; 4:377–383[CrossRef][Medline]
5. Choi YH: Advancement of IT and seriousness of youth Internet addiction, in 2007 International Symposium on the Counseling and Treatment of Youth Internet Addiction. Seoul, Korea, National Youth Commission, 2007, p 20
6. Koh YS: Development and application of K-Scale as diagnostic scale for Korean Internet addiction, in 2007 International Symposium on the Counseling and Treatment of Youth Internet Addiction. Seoul, Korea, National Youth Commission, 2007, p 294
7. Ahn DH: Korean policy on treatment and rehabilitation for adolescents’ Internet addiction, in 2007 International Symposium on the Counseling and Treatment of Youth Internet Addiction. Seoul, Korea, National Youth Commission, 2007, p 49
March 6th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
A Jungian believes their is a symbolic dimension to all things human. I believe that the symbolic dimension is the Myths of the Labyrinth as well as Sisyphus. At the center of your search is a Minotaur who will eat you alive so keep searching as the alternative is to find what you seek and to be consumed.
The Myth of Sisyphus is the guy who must roll a rock up a hill. As soon as it gets to the top it rolls down again and again and again.
So one way or another your addiction symbolically speaking sounds like lots of fun from which you will be condemned for all eternity,.