4 ms·

One of those old scares which seems a little quaint now, not because the fears were unfounded, but because the feared thing came to pass and is normal. Similar

One of those old scares which seems a little quaint now, not because the fears were unfounded, but because the feared thing came to pass and is normal. Similar to old fears that family time would turn into TV time.

s1artibartfast 5y ago
And in the meantime suicide and depression keep climbing
- OneTimePetes 5y ago
  Yes, but the source of that is not the symptom.
- xorfish 5y ago
  Suicide rates worldwide have been consistently dropping. The same is true for Europe. The US is an outlier, the suicide rate has increased by 10% between 1996 and 2017. Source: https://ourworldindata.org/suicide https://ourworldindata.org/suicide I'm not sure that there is comparable data available for depression since our understanding of it has changed over the last 30 years and getting consistent data is very difficult.
  - DanBC 5y ago
    Our World in Data is not a suitable source for suicide statistics, especially if you're comparing different countries across time. They don't tell you what populations they're using; they don't tell you how these different countries are counting suicide; they don't tell you whether the methods for counting have changed over time in these countries.
    - xorfish 5y ago
      The data source is the World Health Organization. The data quality from different countries is included in their report. The data for western Europe and the US is of high quality. Which data would be of higher quality?
  - s1artibartfast 5y ago
    If it is the case that suicide and depression is lower in the EU, then we would want to compare internet addiction in the US vs EU. If the US is higher, this supports the argument, not refutes it
agumonkey 5y ago
You could add the matrix. We used to wonder if we were living in a simulation. I run often into teens running after VR goggles and explain they want to live tethered into virtual life to enjoy whatever life is possible without fear of death. And just last week a dude was too proud to explain that playing video games was better than looking outside because his neighborhood was too sad. Talk about escapism.
toto444 5y ago
Back in 2009 some French website wrote an article about a man they call Marc L and they showed they were able to tell a very big chunk of his private life based on what he had posted on the internet. At the time everyone was shocked after reading this article. Nowadays everyone's life is out there on Instagram, FB, YT, ... Just an other of these feared things that came to pass and are now normal. Link to the article (in French) : http://www.le-tigre.net/marc-l.html http://www.le-tigre.net/marc-l.html

s1artibartfast 5y ago

And in the meantime suicide and depression keep climbing

OneTimePetes 5y ago
Yes, but the source of that is not the symptom.
xorfish 5y ago
Suicide rates worldwide have been consistently dropping. The same is true for Europe. The US is an outlier, the suicide rate has increased by 10% between 1996 and 2017. Source: https://ourworldindata.org/suicide https://ourworldindata.org/suicide I'm not sure that there is comparable data available for depression since our understanding of it has changed over the last 30 years and getting consistent data is very difficult.
- DanBC 5y ago
  Our World in Data is not a suitable source for suicide statistics, especially if you're comparing different countries across time. They don't tell you what populations they're using; they don't tell you how these different countries are counting suicide; they don't tell you whether the methods for counting have changed over time in these countries.
  - xorfish 5y ago
    The data source is the World Health Organization. The data quality from different countries is included in their report. The data for western Europe and the US is of high quality. Which data would be of higher quality?
- s1artibartfast 5y ago
  If it is the case that suicide and depression is lower in the EU, then we would want to compare internet addiction in the US vs EU. If the US is higher, this supports the argument, not refutes it

agumonkey 5y ago

You could add the matrix. We used to wonder if we were living in a simulation. I run often into teens running after VR goggles and explain they want to live tethered into virtual life to enjoy whatever life is possible without fear of death. And just last week a dude was too proud to explain that playing video games was better than looking outside because his neighborhood was too sad. Talk about escapism.

toto444 5y ago

Back in 2009 some French website wrote an article about a man they call Marc L and they showed they were able to tell a very big chunk of his private life based on what he had posted on the internet. At the time everyone was shocked after reading this article. Nowadays everyone's life is out there on Instagram, FB, YT, ... Just an other of these feared things that came to pass and are now normal. Link to the article (in French) : http://www.le-tigre.net/marc-l.html http://www.le-tigre.net/marc-l.html