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I was initially surprised, but then I saw this: > According to the rules of the experiment, the children had to explain the next day how they had coped with be
by witty_username 10y ago
I was initially surprised, but then I saw this:
> According to the rules of the experiment, the children had to explain the next day how they had coped with being alone under such conditions.
Title is misleading; the children didn't have access to any modern technology.
tl;dr no modern technology (no TV radio) and no other people.
> the today’s generation of young people are too often entertained by things not of their making, are incapable of finding ways to keep themselves busy, and are completely unfamiliar with the idea of the world of their imagination.
The experiment doesn't imply that.
Even yesterday's generation was also entertained by things not of their making (books, radio, TV).
Talking to an imaginary friend can't replace real human interaction, especially for 8 hours.
Plus with modern technology they are able to keep themselves busy.
- the-dude 10y agoEven more so: they were forced to be 'alone'. edit: parent comment has been editing and ammending post multiple times.
- satysin 10y agoEvery generation complains that the children of today can't entertain themselves are anti-social, etc. When I was a kid (in my 30s now) I remember people saying it about me reading/watching tv/playing videogames. Now it is smartphones/computers/internet. When my mum was a kid apparently it was listening to records. I am sure if you go back 1000 years you will find some record of an "old" person complaining about how the young ones have no respect for their elders and can't keep themselves entertained.
- mixedCase 10y ago>I am sure if you go back 1000 years you will find some record of an "old" person complaining about how the young ones have no respect for their elders and can't keep themselves entertained. Try 1000 years and some chage earlier: “The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise.” - Socrates
- rfrey 10y agoI see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on the frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words. When I was a boy, we were taught to be discrete and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise and impatient of restraint. - Hesiod, 8 B.C.
- chrisweekly 10y ago"The Blind Giant: Being Human in a Digital World" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13497021 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13497021 is a recent, excellent, balanced, well-researched and -written book on this topic from Nick Harkaway -- a first-rate, under-read author of literary sci-fi. It's his first and only work of non-fiction. In my experience, it's common for "us" (speaking to the HN core demographic constituency here, i.e. the educated, privileged, connected and technology-empowered) to be too hasty in dismissing potentially valid criticism or objections from "them", presuming (and reinforcing) a binary choice between polar worldviews. IOW, "progressives vs luddites". IMHO reality will always be subtler than that. Harkaway -- though obviously writing as one of "us" -- examines a broad spectrum of perspectives and maintains a rare degree of objectivity in his analysis of the cultural impact of what are undeniably profound changes in humanity's interconnectedness and technology-driven capabilities. I offer no particular "TLDR" summary of the work, other than to say it reminded me there is more insight to be gleaned when we resist the temptation to divide the world into simplistic categories.
- AstralStorm 10y agoCurrent generation of kids are hypersocial instead. What matters is channeling entertainment more into active forms. That has always been done with varying success.
- 4ndr3vv 10y ago> Talking to an imaginary friend can't replace real human interaction, especially for 8 hours. "It was forbidden to communicate with others according to the rules of the experiment" So no imaginary friends either ;) In all seriousness, I wouldn't be surprised if the outcomes had little to do with removal of technology, but were rather due to the removal of the ability to communicate with _anyone_.