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I'm not a millenial so maybe the millenials on HN can explain it. I keep reading that millenials don't like human interaction. Things like prefering to wait in

by geomark 10y ago

I'm not a millenial so maybe the millenials on HN can explain it. I keep reading that millenials don't like human interaction. Things like prefering to wait in line at a kiosk to order food when there is an order taking human available with no waiting. Preference for online ordering a pizza so there is no need to speak to a human order taker on the phone. Stare at social media on a mobile device rather than socialize with physical humans. It's no wonder there's less sex going on. I used to think it was Facebook and the like that turned an entire generation into social retards. But the effect seems to predate social media.

majewsky 10y ago
That's more of an introvert-vs-extrovert thing, rather than an age thing, IMHO.
- geomark 10y ago
  Ok, but how is it that such a large fraction of an entire generation has become introverted? People whose business it is to pay attention to these kind of things have a lot of data showing that's the case. Andy Puzder, CEO of Hardee's and Carl's Jr says "Millennials like not seeing people"[1] That's based on observing lots of them in their stores. [1] http://uk.businessinsider.com/millennials-hate-interacting-with-people-2016-8 http://uk.businessinsider.com/millennials-hate-interacting-w...
  - cholantesh 10y ago
    There's no data in that article, but people have been deriding fast food and retail workers long before the millennial generation came of age.
whamlastxmas 10y ago
To be fair, those interactions are really hollow. When your cashier says "How are you?" both sides of the transaction know it's just a courtesy. I would much rather spend my time sending a text to a friend than have an empty conversation with someone I'll never see again and doesn't care. Even if one side made the effort to say something meaningful, what are the odds my cashier has anything interesting or meaningful to me that can be said in the context of a 5 to 30 second interaction? It's not that they don't value human interaction, it's just that they focus those interactions where it matters.

by geomark 10y ago

majewsky 10y ago

That's more of an introvert-vs-extrovert thing, rather than an age thing, IMHO.

geomark 10y ago
Ok, but how is it that such a large fraction of an entire generation has become introverted? People whose business it is to pay attention to these kind of things have a lot of data showing that's the case. Andy Puzder, CEO of Hardee's and Carl's Jr says "Millennials like not seeing people"[1] That's based on observing lots of them in their stores. [1] http://uk.businessinsider.com/millennials-hate-interacting-with-people-2016-8 http://uk.businessinsider.com/millennials-hate-interacting-w...
- cholantesh 10y ago
  There's no data in that article, but people have been deriding fast food and retail workers long before the millennial generation came of age.

whamlastxmas 10y ago

To be fair, those interactions are really hollow. When your cashier says "How are you?" both sides of the transaction know it's just a courtesy. I would much rather spend my time sending a text to a friend than have an empty conversation with someone I'll never see again and doesn't care. Even if one side made the effort to say something meaningful, what are the odds my cashier has anything interesting or meaningful to me that can be said in the context of a 5 to 30 second interaction? It's not that they don't value human interaction, it's just that they focus those interactions where it matters.