Oh No! Run And Hide! Kids Getting High With MP3s! Moral Panic! Moral Panic!
from the not-this-again dept
Two years ago we mocked a silly USA Today report “warning” parents about “digital drugs.” It was really about binaural beats, which are nothing new, and aren’t digital drugs at all. But it has all the typical elements of a moral panic. And what’s the best way to fan the flames of a moral panic? Concerned local news broadcasters. Enter Kansas Oklahoma News 9, reporting on the new fear: “i-dosing.” I bet many of you can predict much of the script of this news report before watching it:
Will future presidential candidates defend their i-dosing past by saying, “But I had it on mute”? Are we supposed to declare a war on cyberdrugs or a cyberwar on cyberdrugs? How will police know if a teen is with headphones on is i-dosing or just listening to Justin Bieber? Is the iPod the bong of the future? What would happen if some ne’er-do-well took over the console of the Super Bowl and dosed the entire country? What if kids smoked dried banana peels and listened to these trippy tunes at the same time — could they OD? What happens if someone sells a tainted MP3?
Perhaps most importantly, what will happen if the kids move onto harder stuff like Steve Reich, Philip Glass or even Janet Cardiff’s installation, “The Killing Machine”?
Of course, it appears that the TV news report first came out of a local newspaper report, where it quotes concerned anti-drug folks who say that it’s a bad, bad thing even if the bogus “digital drugs” don’t work. You see, if they don’t work, that only gives more reasons for kids to try real drugs. Or something.
Kids disappointed in their digital experience might try huffing paint or another chemical, or smoking marijuana or drinking alcohol, Forrest-Perkins said.
But, of course, all it takes is one moral panic to set off other moral panics in other places. A blogger for another newspaper points out that the lack of evidence that binaural beats do anything should make you worried. Seriously.
I’d say what’s more worrying is having reporters claim that a lack of evidence on something is reason to fear it.
Filed Under: binaural beats, i-dosing, moral panic
Comments on “Oh No! Run And Hide! Kids Getting High With MP3s! Moral Panic! Moral Panic!”
Sounds like a skit on the Daily Show.
Binaural beats
Ooooh! I heard about this story, but I thought they were saying “biennial beets”. Ba-dum-bum.
(A moral panic about smoking beetroot actually makes more sense than “i-dosing”.)
Re: Binaural beats
It looks like your pun….
*Puts on sunglasses*
….beets all the others.
YYYYYYEEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! We won’t get fooled again!
Re: Re: Binaural beats
Hey, this could be serious!
We need to get to the …root of the problem
*ba dum psh!*
Re: Binaural beats
See this is why I read the comments here. Now I know I can feel good and reduce the risk of heart disease at the same time. A long lived moral panic is the very best kind.
Now just how do I prep this smoked beetroot, chorizo and liver salad…
I’m pretty sure there’s something better than that… I call it “Good Music + Milkdrop viz”.
Excuses
Hey, starting a moral panic over music gives you an excuse the look thru everybody’s computer and mp3 player–at ALL their music.
Seriously, this is transparent. It’s an aside to ACTA. It’ll be “we didn’t find any ‘drug’ mp3s but you don’t have a license for 75 of these songs, here’s a fine for $1,125,000; and you’ll need to pay it to the Recording Industry not the courts. Have a nice day.
Re: Excuses
I went there too! But I took a footpath off into ‘when will the blehneenial beats makers start squawking about unauthorized sharing of their stashes’.
News 9 is actually out of Oklahoma City, not Kansas.
How dare those youngsters have any fun! They should be thinking of God and hating muslims, communists and gays!
I can’t stop laughing… This is serious business but I’m laughing my ass off.
Sweeeeeet
degenerate jungle beats
“Jazz music was offensive to Nazi ideology because it was often performed by Blacks and a number of Jewish musicians. They called it “Negro music” or “degenerate music”—coined in parallel to “entartete Kunst” (degenerate art).[1] Moreover, song texts defied Nazi ideology, going as far as to promote sexual permissiveness or free love.[1] Despite this, not all jazz was forbidden in Germany at the time.[3]” link
Mike, Did you run out of things to write about today?
Re: Re:
Man! Can’t a guy get a rest and take a break with some fun? I’m sure Mike gets tired of nothing but copyright junk!
Re: Re: Re:
Whats next mk-ultra stories?
Oh wait, I have a better one “President Obama elected to do Corporate Americas bidding” … wait that ones true never mind .. 😉
Re: Re: Re:
“Man! Can’t a guy get a rest and take a break with some fun? I’m sure Mike gets tired of nothing but copyright junk!”
It used to be that people would complain that too many articles were about copyright.
ACTA will never pass
its just too undemocratic
as to panic ya ok this affects the morons that listen to it
let them panic there kids are prolly the worst drugs addicts of all anyways
http://idle.slashdot.org/story/10/07/15/166220/Sound-As-the-New-Illegal-Narcotic
Reposting this from Slashdot because its too good:
Again, not my work and I take no credit for eldavojohn’s story.
Media
You know the problem with mainstream media and “serious journalists”?
They’re idiots that don’t have the necessary grey matter to not publish crap like this.
Anyone else noticed...
… that the ipod time was set to 4:20 LOL
Speechless
Facepalm!
Dead Milkmen
said it best…
Smokin’ banana peels, see how it feels
Living is easy with ice cubes
The world is swimmin’ with electric eels
Talk seriously to me brother
Smokin’ banana peels, savin’ the seals
There are four me’s living all together
Got to keep an even keel
You’ve got to take life serially
Smokin’ banana peels in between meals
I was all pumped up about the iron
Let’s all pray get down and kneel
Smokin’ banana peels sound like this
Re: Dead Milkmen
Finally, I Dead Milkmen reference.
Now I can go sit down with my Methodist Coloring Book and relax.
Oh, for cryin' out loud
ABANDON YOUR CARS NOW!
I bet Neil Stephenson is regretting Snow Crash at this point.
blog
Check out this comment from the linked blog (last link):
“There is documentation of just how influencial and potentially dangerous certain musical tones can be. Infact, some ancient cultures used similar types of tones and music to reach similar trance-like altered states of hypnosis inorder to hallucinate… In many of those cases actual drugs were used… Coincidentally, promoters of i-dosing encourage the use of drugs in addition to the music to enhance it’s effect. Since I know that such dangers are possible through certain types of music, I am careful with my choice of music inorder to avoid them.”
In other words, certain kinds of music plus hallucinogens can make you hallucinate, so watch out for that music!
Re: blog (Nasch)
I actually saw a show on the Science or Discovery Channel about Stonehenge that was about this. They hyphothesized that the stones are set where they are so that during ‘ceremonies’, by beating their drums at a certain tempo it could help everyone enter a trance-like state. They also found that the sound actually got louder the farther away from the speakers you went (while still in the circle). They said something about the tempo and the vibrations of the bass would actually help everyone’s heartbeats/other inner-systems sync together. They then compared the effects to bass heavy music often played late night in dance clubs.
Re: blog
“certain musical tones “
Like the brown note?
but but but
of course it is a high risk, we are only stopping the beat to ‘save the children’. so its OK.
Things will only get messier once these folks get wind of brown noting.
Re: Re:
Mythbusters already busted that one.
Re: Re: Re:
NASA busted it too, but I’d love to see a moral panic blow out of it anyway. 😀
Re: Re: Re: Re:
I’d love to see a moral panic blow out of it anyway.
Did you have to phrase it like that?
I was using Audio Files for Meditation 20+ Years ago in the Military, what a joke.
This is first video in a while that has made me actually laugh out loud, do you think I should turn myself in for I-dosing? I mean, I laughed really hard, it might have been the effect of the short bits of digital drugs played in the video.
On another note, maybe this wasn’t a complete hoax, she may have been under the influence of digital dub-step drugs.
Welcome to the 'party' Kansas
We definitely took a look at this in some psych grad classes when we first found out about it, 6 or 7 years ago. This kind of stuff (with really good equipment) can disorient you while you’re listening, but mostly these ‘dealers’ just take money from kids.
Re: Welcome to the 'party' Kansas
While I’m no authority on the subject matter I suspect that if this audio causes anyone any harm it’s not really the audio that caused them harm but it’s some preexisting condition. Being addicted to such audio could be a manifestation of this preexisting condition perhaps but if it weren’t for this audio it could be something else, like being addicted to turning on and off the lights for no good reason. That is no reason for us to have a moral panics against light switches.
Re: Re: Welcome to the 'party' Kansas
and lets say that these songs induce a heart attack or some other health problem. Seriously, chances are that this person had a delicate heart beforehand. But the fact that this sound could potentially trigger problems in people with preexisting conditions is no reason to condemn these sounds. Anything could potentially trigger the onset of a preexisting condition. Television, music, turning on the light switch. So should we condemn all of these potential triggers? No, of course not. Instead we attempt to treat the underlying condition.
I am so ashamed that I live in this state…
Fffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuu
I had my hopes up when reading this article, I was hoping we could be a step closer to the cyberpunk dystrophy I’ve been praying for!
Followed by political add
“i support cracking down on digital drugs!!!”
while i am commenting, i am also taking a hit on my bong.
Sweet, file sharing digital drugs.
The only dangerous thing I see here is that the media only presents one side of the story. It is evidence of a very institutionally controlled media and that is dangerous.
I can confirm (shamefully) that I-dosing does not work…
I tried out multiple audio files and its just high pitched noise. Of course I didn’t actually pay for anything which kind of invalidates my testing because I could have been listening to low quality stuff.
The real story here is that these kids are getting ripped off. Google I-Dose and go to their shop. Some of their “doses” go for $200 bucks! Yeah… beyond ridiculous
Copyright?
I would also assume that these kids are using those pirate pirate file-sharing sites to get these mp3s. They have to be stopped! Save the children! Oh – and the copyright on the mp3s should be protected! Sue these pirates! But wait – are the pirates the children we are trying to save?!
Protect out intellectual property! Save the child…DIV/0#ERROR…
Genius marketing
1. Make some sound files with a free tone generator, mash them up, store result as MP3.
2. Put up a cheap web site, mark as 18+ only.
3. Pay some kids in pizza and beer to make some vids for youtube.
4. Get some ignorant folks to put it on the news.
5. Make money out the wazzo!
These folks are making money without a record company contract or the RIAA! All the rest of this article is just marketing BS.
Did anyone notice...
Did anyone notice that at 2:05 in the video when they were talking about the crackdown on iPod use on campus, the time shown on the device was 4:20PM? I just started cracking when I saw that in a reference to drugs.
But as for this video, this reminds me of the South Park episode about “cheesing” off cat urine.
Psychology Today
Great little article about i-dosing and how it was invented in 1839! It has been used in clinical settings as therapy. Nothing to see here, move along.
i-Dosing Digital Drugs and Binaural Beats – Psychology Today
Shitty local TV station owned by Sinclair broadcasting and utterly absolutely 100% of it’s content controlled directly by SB in “utter shit drivel” nonsense shock!