16 Comments
User's avatar
Andy Futuro's avatar

I have searched the internet for the most innocuous of topics and come away with scars on my eyeballs.

Expand full comment
Andrew Smith's avatar

That's a good way to put it! Likewise, there is a lot of scar tissue behind my lenses.

Expand full comment
Ken Barber's avatar

There was a Seinfeld episode, years ago, in which Jerry and ... I don't remember if it was Kramer or George ... did something - maybe swimming - that required them to take their clothes off in front of each other.

Elaine asked, "Did you peek?" to which Jerry replied:

"No. There are some things that you just don't want to know."

Expand full comment
Andrew Smith's avatar

THERE WAS SHRINKAGE!

Expand full comment
Michael Krantz's avatar

I'm a writer. I google everything. BUT I do try to avoid spoilers. I've blocked countless Star Wars and Marvel pages on Facebook because they'll make posts before even finishing the episod. There's no chill whatsoever. 😆

Expand full comment
Andrew Smith's avatar

Agreed! I've managed to stay away from mainstream social media (this place notwithstanding), and that has been a huge benefit of late.

Expand full comment
A.C. Cargill, All-Human Author's avatar

I've been online as long as you. So many things I'd rather not see, but a lot I do want to see. And I don't google anything. I use Smartpage.com. Hee!

Expand full comment
Bill Hiatt's avatar

Instead of taking the position that knowledge led to suffering, Aeschylus took the position that suffering led to knowledge.

Expand full comment
Andrew Smith's avatar

The "Father of Tragedy" did this? No way!

I really like how you inverted that, by the way.

Expand full comment
Daniel Nest's avatar

I definitely try to avoid spoilers for shows I'm watching or books I'm reading. I'm halfway through the Bible now and I'm really digging this Jesus dude. I sure hope nothing bad happens to him.

Expand full comment
Rudy Fischmann's avatar

Ah, Dr. Google! Knower of only terrible news while never noting the viewer is possibly suffering from anxiety and paranoia in the middle of the night.

Expand full comment
Andrew Smith's avatar

"I see that you're super duper worried. Here's the opposite of anything that will put your mind at ease. Enjoy not sleeping tonight!"

Expand full comment
Andrew Sniderman 🕷️'s avatar

I’m down for all the internet cringe; pass on violence

Expand full comment
Andrew Smith's avatar

I have no interest in seeing anyone get hurt. However, if there's violence I need to know about, I definitely want to know the details ASAP.

Expand full comment
David Perlmutter's avatar

I definitely don't spoil others' viewing experiences and hate it when others do it to me. Usually it's fans of a TV show I'm interested in who obsessively analyze every detail of it under the assumption that everyone knows what they mean, when some of us do not. (The fan sites for these shows on Reddit can be really obtuse about that).

Expand full comment
Andrew Smith's avatar

I tend to have the same experience. Also, I really don't like to start watching a season of a show until it's nearly done (I want the option to binge), so I have to be extra careful.

Expand full comment