5 ms·
How are those two examples even remotely comparable? Uninstall social media from your phone, delete your social media accounts, put your phone in a box when yo
by parkingrift 5y ago
How are those two examples even remotely comparable?
Uninstall social media from your phone, delete your social media accounts, put your phone in a box when you get home, etc, etc, etc.
These “problems” are trivially easy for an individual to solve. They are so easy to solve that I disagree with the basic premise that we even have a problem.
I think we could rewrite this article from the perspective of any generation. Just replace the phone with whatever hysteria was happening in that era. Music, video games, comics, or whatever.
The author of this article seems to just throw her hands up without having tried even a single thing.
“No, I cannot manage my own behavior. It is society that must change!”
- saiya-jin 5y agoWell, in same vein, you can tell addict to 'just drop that needle', yet few do. Or cigarettes. Addictive behavior is, well, addictive, and few in population have the mental will to shed it off themselves once they get hooked. Tobacco clearly kills you (and people around), ruins you and make you stink like pile of old crap. We still allow it, but regulate it heavily since bad effects are out there, everywhere. TBH I don't mind some regulation on too-powerful social media, they've enjoyed their free pass for way too long and so far they definitely didn't make the world a better place, in contrary.
- jdgoesmarching 5y agoHN and many tech-minded forums struggle the most with arguments that require empathy. For people who probably don’t consider themselves religious, their outlook is extremely Puritanical. “I see you explaining why x is difficult for most people, but I don’t struggle with it so the difficulty is invalid.”
- parkingrift 5y agoIt’s not an empathy gap. It’s collectivism vs individualism.
- parkingrift 5y agoDo you have any links to share that would corroborate your suggestion that social media is as addictive or hard to quit as heroin or tobacco? That’s quite a statement. I find these two examples particularly interesting because the regulations have done absolutely nothing. Heroin has never been more popular or more regulated. Tobacco is lightly regulated and the declines in usage are almost completely attributed to campaigns against smoking, not the regulations themselves.
- thegrimmest 5y agoI'd start by questioning why you think addicts should discontinue their habits? Why do you think you know what's good for someone more than they do? If an addict says "I like my addiction, thank you very much", what gives you the right to intervene?
- bllguo 5y agothe societal cost is why intervention is justified. you know, the basis of all laws? we don't live in an anarchy. unless you live completely sustainably with no dependence or impact on others' resources, society has a right to intervene.
- thegrimmest 5y agoI don't think mitigating societal cost is source of the government's authority. It seems to be more about defending our inalienable rights.
- Apocryphon 5y agoCertainly societal costs can be a threat to our inalienable rights.