4 ms·
Even to the casual observer/thinker "screen time" being a concern is quite clearly "bollocks" For as long as I can remember "society worries about every change
by goldcd 8y ago
Even to the casual observer/thinker "screen time" being a concern is quite clearly "bollocks"
For as long as I can remember "society worries about every change" - but at least previously we focused on the content, rather than the conduit.
Online radicalization, porn addiction, violent videogames, video-nasties, metal music played backwards, Elvis's hips, fictional novels, .. , gnostic gospels, .. , overly-optimistic portrayals of mammoth attack on cave walls etc etc
My concern with "screen time" is that we seem to have taken a step back and have got even lazier in our "ill-conceived collective concerns about 'others'".
It blows my mind that a child today, anywhere on the planet, with a $100 phone can access pretty much every thought or concept humanity has ever produced - whether a thousand years ago, or 30 minutes ago.
I'm 42 and what's happened in my lifetime utterly blows away previous milestones like "writing", "printing" or "recording".
What really, really pisses me off is that this isn't celebrated - despite only happening "because of screens"
Now is everything on a screen good? No - of course not.
But maybe a better target would be "asymmetric engagement" or "prevalence of uncited facts" or "Kardashians"
"Too much screen-time" should be taken as the equivalent of "Reads too much" or "Discusses over a beer excessively"
- malvosenior 8y agoYou are not wrong, this is in part good old fashioned moral panic. It's more than that though... Old media likes to attack "screens" because they are an existential threat to their business model and monopoly on narrative creation. They certainly are using the "think of the children" angle but the reason they're attacking the medium and not the message is because the medium itself levels the playing field and takes the power from their hands.
- lucasmullens 8y agoWho are you quoting?
- goldcd 8y agoa fair point - but if it wasn't clear, all opinions expressed were anecdotally happening between a single pair of my ears. My apologies if you'd adjusted your personal realization of the world around you, based upon my post (although, I can't pretend my ego wouldn't have fluttered a bit)