7 ms·

Your comment (along with statements in the article) presumes that tech is the root cause of these problems but in my opinion this assumption is faulty. Concurr

Your comment (along with statements in the article) presumes that tech is the root cause of these problems but in my opinion this assumption is faulty. Concurrent to the rise in loneliness, depression, anxiety etc. we have experienced a rise in geographical mobility, single parent households, and the divorce rate. Which means that for many, the traditional social networks people relied on for support during hard times--family and lifelong friends--are more distant, geographically and emotionally, than ever before. People may turn to social media as a poor substitute just as alcoholics confronted by trauma turn to drinking, but this doesn't mean that booze or tech are the root cause. I think it's absolutely fair to compare social media to say booze or weed as something that's fine in moderation, but can easily turn into an escape/coping mechanism which has its own problems. Maybe tech can help, maybe not. But what troubles me is that we may be scapegoating tech because the real root causes of our growing mental illness epidemic are too difficult to face. As far as I know there has been no society in history prior to ours where families and lifelong, geographically proximate friends were not the central part of people's lives. Thus we have no proof in the historical record that such a society can even last more than a few generations.

trevyn 7y ago
>the real root causes of our growing mental illness epidemic are too difficult to face When this form of issue arises, it seems to be a recurring human pattern to attempt all of the possible alternatives before facing the root causes directly. It sounds like you're proposing that the actual root causes include a move away from families and geographically proximate friends. I'm curious to hear more -- if you have a deeper sense of other root causes, possible solutions, or how we might implement more family and geographically proximate connections, given technology's increasing power to increase geographic, emotional, and economic mobility.
- antupis 7y ago
  Labor mobility is actually declining https://equitablegrowth.org/declining-u-s-labor-mobility-is-about-more-than-geography/ https://equitablegrowth.org/declining-u-s-labor-mobility-is-...
watwut 7y ago
Divorce rates are going down and went down for years.
- apatters 7y ago
  Total numbers of divorces have trended down modestly in recent years, but as a percentage of marriages they are still at historic highs. Prior to the 1970s only a low single digit percentage of marriages ended in divorce. It then rose steadily and is something like 50% now. The marriage rate has also declined since the 1970s. Fewer marriages and more divorces have compounded to result in far fewer families per population (at least as families have conventionally been defined) than just two generations ago.
  - watwut 7y ago
    No, divorce rates are going down since 1980 or so. Rates, not just absolute numbers. It peeked sometime after divorces became easier and more socially acceptable. And when women could be trully independent after divorce (her having job makes her less likely to stay when things go wrong.) Another peek was after WWII when quick marriages made before war were failing. Also, single digit divorce stat of 1960 hides a lot of bad relationships with partners that hate each other, abuse each other, domestic violence and where one partner is alcoholic. The divorce there is an improvement. At the time, you effectively had to marry else be discriminated against. Single men were seen as neurotic and thus less promoted in work etc.
    - kerkeslager 7y ago
      > No, divorce rates are going down since 1980 or so. Rates, not just absolute numbers. Okay, apatter's claim without citation was bad enough, but if you're going to directly contradict something someone says, link your damn source! I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm saying nobody wants your opinion on what the stats are, when we can have the stats themselves!
      - watwut 7y ago

trevyn 7y ago

>the real root causes of our growing mental illness epidemic are too difficult to face When this form of issue arises, it seems to be a recurring human pattern to attempt all of the possible alternatives before facing the root causes directly. It sounds like you're proposing that the actual root causes include a move away from families and geographically proximate friends. I'm curious to hear more -- if you have a deeper sense of other root causes, possible solutions, or how we might implement more family and geographically proximate connections, given technology's increasing power to increase geographic, emotional, and economic mobility.

antupis 7y ago
Labor mobility is actually declining https://equitablegrowth.org/declining-u-s-labor-mobility-is-about-more-than-geography/ https://equitablegrowth.org/declining-u-s-labor-mobility-is-...

watwut 7y ago

Divorce rates are going down and went down for years.

apatters 7y ago
Total numbers of divorces have trended down modestly in recent years, but as a percentage of marriages they are still at historic highs. Prior to the 1970s only a low single digit percentage of marriages ended in divorce. It then rose steadily and is something like 50% now. The marriage rate has also declined since the 1970s. Fewer marriages and more divorces have compounded to result in far fewer families per population (at least as families have conventionally been defined) than just two generations ago.
- watwut 7y ago
  No, divorce rates are going down since 1980 or so. Rates, not just absolute numbers. It peeked sometime after divorces became easier and more socially acceptable. And when women could be trully independent after divorce (her having job makes her less likely to stay when things go wrong.) Another peek was after WWII when quick marriages made before war were failing. Also, single digit divorce stat of 1960 hides a lot of bad relationships with partners that hate each other, abuse each other, domestic violence and where one partner is alcoholic. The divorce there is an improvement. At the time, you effectively had to marry else be discriminated against. Single men were seen as neurotic and thus less promoted in work etc.
  - kerkeslager 7y ago
    > No, divorce rates are going down since 1980 or so. Rates, not just absolute numbers. Okay, apatter's claim without citation was bad enough, but if you're going to directly contradict something someone says, link your damn source! I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm saying nobody wants your opinion on what the stats are, when we can have the stats themselves!
    - watwut 7y ago