system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why do we need an ISP? Why can't I just connect to the internet without them or act as my own ISP?
gpt
There is no "Internet" for you to connect to. What we call the Internet is just the collection of ISPs connecting their networks together, as well as to some other networks like Level 3 that don't sell connections directly to end users. If you formed your own ISP, you'd still have to connect your computers to some other networks in order to have an Internet connection and unless you got really big, you'd still have to pay them to do that.