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I'm a subscriber of Noah's, really like his writing, and think this is a pretty good take. However, he doesn't have kids, and probably doesn't get a full dose
by JPKab 4y ago
I'm a subscriber of Noah's, really like his writing, and think this is a pretty good take. However, he doesn't have kids, and probably doesn't get a full dose of some of the nuance as to some further observations that would give his claims higher confidence.
He misses the tipping point:
Kids on phones and highly addictive, social/collaborative video games (think Fortnite) means less kids in any given OUTSIDE space hanging out. The less kids hanging out in those spaces, the less likely a kid encounters peers their age in a given outdoor/social space. The less likely they encounter peers in those spaces, the less likely they'll even TRY to go to those spaces. It's a tipping point that executes the network effects of growth in reverse. And it's entirely a cascade caused by lazy, overly permissive parents who use screens as babysitters and rationalize it away with either learned helplessness ("I'm too old to understand this tech, how can i regulate it") or the utter BS of "they're learning technology for a future career", as if scrolling tiktok for 7 hours a day teaches kids to code.
I have a 16 year old son. It's hard to emphasize how little they socialize in person nowadays. If a kid spends the night, he'll complain about us having only one Xbox and TV, and how he can't play Fortnite at the same time as the other kid. They PREFER to be in their room at home, playing the same game while talking to my son over a headset.
- xthrown1 4y agoI wonder if these people ever talked to friends on the actual telephone. I remember spending hours in the 90s talking to friends there because I was so bored of the TV. Then in the 00s with voip we could talk to more than one person at a time. Reading this I wonder if this is some sort of baby like forgetting or if I was truly so out there.
- MikeTheRocker 4y agoYour anecdote about your son's behavior is the kind of insight that convinces me that parents have a window into the future the rest of us don't. I'm relatively young (mid 20's), but even still it's clear to me the even younger generations are developing fundamentally different ways of operating in the world than I did. I think phenomena like the reverse network effect resulting in isolating young people are terrifying. I don't know what will be the ripple effects, but I'm inclined to think they won't be good. I also don't know what to do about it, but I get the feeling this is going to become a huge problem modern society hasn't paid enough mind.
- zeroonetwothree 4y agoWhen I was 16 I played video games the entire time I was visiting my friends too and yet I didn't have these issues. So I suspect video games are not really problem. If anything, socializing while gaming is pretty healthy.
- ravagat 4y agoYes yes yes. I have similar experience and sentiment. The youth today socialize too little. Fortunately, I've found success holding events/hangouts/hosting for both the kids and parents, sometimes separate and together. It's simple but not easy or hard, effort goes a long way.