4 ms·

There's also something childlike about elders as they experience mental decline. There's a reason we try to protect people from "elder scams." Personally I hope

There's also something childlike about elders as they experience mental decline. There's a reason we try to protect people from "elder scams." Personally I hope if I'm found in front of the TV absorbing conspiracy theories for hours a day somebody clocks me on the head and drags me to safety.

waboremo 4y ago
Especially as more "elder scams" resort to tapping into their loneliness to encourage action, it's important families and communities pay more attention to this growing problem of elders attached to their screens.
- onecommentman 4y ago
  There aren’t more scams of that nature…they’ve been around forever. You’re just more aware of them, there are more elderly around and it is easier for anonymous scammers to target the elderly with today’s IT. Protecting the elderly is an IT problem worth working on. I hear there are several thousand FAANG types at loose ends at the moment…
  - MandieD 4y ago
    When every major mobile or desktop OS update comes with compulsory interface changes, hiding some routine action, it breaks down many users’ faith in themselves to figure out how to do things on their computers or phones, making them more susceptible to tech support scams and other online malice, but especially older users who patiently wrote down the steps for important but infrequent operations.
bumby 4y ago
I think this misses the productivity aspect of the parent's comment. Conceivably, there is a bigger productivity hit with young people since the assumption may be that retired people's most productive years are behind them * * I do recognize all the problems with this assumption, like the fact that older people can continue to be productive in retirement, even if it's not necessarily economically productive. I also cringe at the idea that a society is always hyper-focused on productivity. Despite all that, I also know it's a common viewpoint.
- bobthepanda 4y ago
  To some degree, we kind of caused this, because we’ve structured work society where we essentially burn out by the time we’re 65. Before the advent of old age systems like pensions or Social Security elders mostly suffered through high elderly poverty rates. The current system is certainly better, because elders are not starving or forcing themselves into sex work to pay for food and medical bills [1] but now it turns out being too idle might also be problematic. I know in Japan, there are attempts to address this with organizations that hire seniors to do part time jobs like sweeping and cleaning. It mostly serves as an optional supplement to income and it gets them out of the house if they’re alone. But the way we run cleaning operations in the US is also to run people down to the bone. [1] - This is a thing in South Korea where elder poverty is much higher than the rest of the OECD due to a very bare social net. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacchus_Ladies https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacchus_Ladies
  - bumby 4y ago
    In know this may be an unpopular take, but some of it comes across to me as an entitlement mindset. Retirement is viewed as something expected and a debt owed by society, rather than something prudently planned for. I’m in favor of a strong social safety net, but geared towards helping low-probability or unforeseen circumstances, not for avoiding a completely visible and very slowly approaching cliff.
onecommentman 4y ago
How many hours a day do you spend on various social media being manipulated by dark patterning, agitprop and echo chambers…eh, Sonny? :-) Are you sure you’re staying balanced and objective? Just easier to ID manipulative media when you aren’t the target demographic (and it isn’t your flavor of conspiracy). It’s not necessarily age-driven, but you’re right that the isolation of age and the relative lack of trusted feedback makes it worse. Please post your viewing habits so the Elders can assess whether they should send someone to perform preventive percussive maintenance on your skull. :-)
headsoup 4y ago
Yeah they really need to tune out those mainstay news channels! Oh wait, that's not what you meant is it... :p
- foundajob 4y ago

waboremo 4y ago

Especially as more "elder scams" resort to tapping into their loneliness to encourage action, it's important families and communities pay more attention to this growing problem of elders attached to their screens.

onecommentman 4y ago
There aren’t more scams of that nature…they’ve been around forever. You’re just more aware of them, there are more elderly around and it is easier for anonymous scammers to target the elderly with today’s IT. Protecting the elderly is an IT problem worth working on. I hear there are several thousand FAANG types at loose ends at the moment…
- MandieD 4y ago
  When every major mobile or desktop OS update comes with compulsory interface changes, hiding some routine action, it breaks down many users’ faith in themselves to figure out how to do things on their computers or phones, making them more susceptible to tech support scams and other online malice, but especially older users who patiently wrote down the steps for important but infrequent operations.

bumby 4y ago

I think this misses the productivity aspect of the parent's comment. Conceivably, there is a bigger productivity hit with young people since the assumption may be that retired people's most productive years are behind them * * I do recognize all the problems with this assumption, like the fact that older people can continue to be productive in retirement, even if it's not necessarily economically productive. I also cringe at the idea that a society is always hyper-focused on productivity. Despite all that, I also know it's a common viewpoint.

bobthepanda 4y ago
To some degree, we kind of caused this, because we’ve structured work society where we essentially burn out by the time we’re 65. Before the advent of old age systems like pensions or Social Security elders mostly suffered through high elderly poverty rates. The current system is certainly better, because elders are not starving or forcing themselves into sex work to pay for food and medical bills [1] but now it turns out being too idle might also be problematic. I know in Japan, there are attempts to address this with organizations that hire seniors to do part time jobs like sweeping and cleaning. It mostly serves as an optional supplement to income and it gets them out of the house if they’re alone. But the way we run cleaning operations in the US is also to run people down to the bone. [1] - This is a thing in South Korea where elder poverty is much higher than the rest of the OECD due to a very bare social net. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacchus_Ladies https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacchus_Ladies
- bumby 4y ago
  In know this may be an unpopular take, but some of it comes across to me as an entitlement mindset. Retirement is viewed as something expected and a debt owed by society, rather than something prudently planned for. I’m in favor of a strong social safety net, but geared towards helping low-probability or unforeseen circumstances, not for avoiding a completely visible and very slowly approaching cliff.

onecommentman 4y ago

How many hours a day do you spend on various social media being manipulated by dark patterning, agitprop and echo chambers…eh, Sonny? :-) Are you sure you’re staying balanced and objective? Just easier to ID manipulative media when you aren’t the target demographic (and it isn’t your flavor of conspiracy). It’s not necessarily age-driven, but you’re right that the isolation of age and the relative lack of trusted feedback makes it worse. Please post your viewing habits so the Elders can assess whether they should send someone to perform preventive percussive maintenance on your skull. :-)

headsoup 4y ago

Yeah they really need to tune out those mainstay news channels! Oh wait, that's not what you meant is it... :p

foundajob 4y ago