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The social animal bullshit is a myth. You can see it around you everyday. People in public places everywhere spending time on their phones rather than talking t

The social animal bullshit is a myth. You can see it around you everyday. People in public places everywhere spending time on their phones rather than talking to people around them

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
wruza 3y ago
Maybe it’s not a myth, in a sense that without a phone they had to interact and learn how to do it, but that is too bad compared to what phones give for free.
- Icathian 3y ago
  You ever see that old black and white picture of folks on the NY subway in the 1940s, all reading their own newspaper? Forcing conversation on random people you happen to be sharing a space with has always been psychopath behavior.
wtarreau 3y ago
It's true that we can see them everywhere but you'll probably notice that you don't know what jobs such people do and that those who you know and who need to benefit from others' experience typically do not do this. I tend to think there is a class (and a large one) of people who live only for their phone and social networks just because they have no life and they're trying to get one in such superficial stuff. Or maybe they just feel that nobody looks at them because they're not redefining the world and are not interesting, and they're trying to exist through groups of other people like them. It often makes me sad to see how they can be absorbed by these non-sense activities instead of simply being proud of what they are.
- Pannoniae 3y ago
  "It often makes me sad to see how they can be absorbed by these non-sense activities instead of simply being proud of what they are." ....because "being proud of what you are" doesn't work when no one cares about what you do or who you are. Then, your options are two-fold: you either become an isolated loner who doesn't care about socialising, or you participate in those superficial activities in hope of human connection.
  - tekknik 3y ago
    Third option, you focus on family. Not sure why this was left out.
    - wtarreau 3y ago
      because the phone was more important.
- zlg_codes 3y ago
  What happens when we swap phone with a hobby? I can't blame someone for feeling bad about themselves after putting themself out there and being ignored or hated on. On global networks, that feeling is somewhat amplified because it starts to feel like nobody would find you interesting, out of 9 billion people. Why should we feel interesting? Well, I personally would not want to socialize with someone who found me boring. The juice should be worth the squeeze. I am curious about your view on pride. The idea of pride is somewhat alien to me. What is there for an average Joe to be proud of? Most of us are trapped in an oppressive economic situation and are forever distracted from any meaningful goals in our lives by responsibilities and society's selfish expectations. The loss of third places exacerbates the problem. People don't belong in their own communities, and they feel it.
7952 3y ago
Phones and social networks are so heavily used because they are addictive.
- ekianjo 3y ago
  Hence that defeats the social animal myth if our minds can be captured by something inherently non human
  - 7952 3y ago
    No it doesn't, false dichotomy. Addiction can coexist with socialising, see pubs for evidence of that. Also, the instincts that drive us to be sociable may also make aspects of social networks enticing. In the same way that desire for sex drives porn use. We can not always tell the difference between artificial experience and real.
    - tekknik 3y ago
      How does this reconcile with learning and the internet? Or books? The assumption that someone is using the addictive apps or services is the flaw in your argument. Same with bars, people can go to a bar not for the purpose of socializing at all. They may simply want to get away from home and be left alone while drinking some beers at the bar. Maybe the in-laws are in town. I do this myself. Some people don’t need socialization and yet aren’t “loners”, their focus is just elsewhere. Trying to state all humans are social creatures is what a few posts up is about. Not everybody is the same, haven’t we learned that already?
goodpoint 3y ago
Completely wrong. People are glued to social networks & co precisely because it mimics social interaction.

The social animal bullshit is a myth. You can see it around you everyday. People in public places everywhere spending time on their phones rather than talking to people around them

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

wruza 3y ago

Maybe it’s not a myth, in a sense that without a phone they had to interact and learn how to do it, but that is too bad compared to what phones give for free.

Icathian 3y ago
You ever see that old black and white picture of folks on the NY subway in the 1940s, all reading their own newspaper? Forcing conversation on random people you happen to be sharing a space with has always been psychopath behavior.

wtarreau 3y ago

It's true that we can see them everywhere but you'll probably notice that you don't know what jobs such people do and that those who you know and who need to benefit from others' experience typically do not do this. I tend to think there is a class (and a large one) of people who live only for their phone and social networks just because they have no life and they're trying to get one in such superficial stuff. Or maybe they just feel that nobody looks at them because they're not redefining the world and are not interesting, and they're trying to exist through groups of other people like them. It often makes me sad to see how they can be absorbed by these non-sense activities instead of simply being proud of what they are.

Pannoniae 3y ago
"It often makes me sad to see how they can be absorbed by these non-sense activities instead of simply being proud of what they are." ....because "being proud of what you are" doesn't work when no one cares about what you do or who you are. Then, your options are two-fold: you either become an isolated loner who doesn't care about socialising, or you participate in those superficial activities in hope of human connection.
- tekknik 3y ago
  Third option, you focus on family. Not sure why this was left out.
  - wtarreau 3y ago
    because the phone was more important.
zlg_codes 3y ago
What happens when we swap phone with a hobby? I can't blame someone for feeling bad about themselves after putting themself out there and being ignored or hated on. On global networks, that feeling is somewhat amplified because it starts to feel like nobody would find you interesting, out of 9 billion people. Why should we feel interesting? Well, I personally would not want to socialize with someone who found me boring. The juice should be worth the squeeze. I am curious about your view on pride. The idea of pride is somewhat alien to me. What is there for an average Joe to be proud of? Most of us are trapped in an oppressive economic situation and are forever distracted from any meaningful goals in our lives by responsibilities and society's selfish expectations. The loss of third places exacerbates the problem. People don't belong in their own communities, and they feel it.

7952 3y ago

Phones and social networks are so heavily used because they are addictive.

ekianjo 3y ago
Hence that defeats the social animal myth if our minds can be captured by something inherently non human
- 7952 3y ago
  No it doesn't, false dichotomy. Addiction can coexist with socialising, see pubs for evidence of that. Also, the instincts that drive us to be sociable may also make aspects of social networks enticing. In the same way that desire for sex drives porn use. We can not always tell the difference between artificial experience and real.
  - tekknik 3y ago
    How does this reconcile with learning and the internet? Or books? The assumption that someone is using the addictive apps or services is the flaw in your argument. Same with bars, people can go to a bar not for the purpose of socializing at all. They may simply want to get away from home and be left alone while drinking some beers at the bar. Maybe the in-laws are in town. I do this myself. Some people don’t need socialization and yet aren’t “loners”, their focus is just elsewhere. Trying to state all humans are social creatures is what a few posts up is about. Not everybody is the same, haven’t we learned that already?

goodpoint 3y ago

Completely wrong. People are glued to social networks & co precisely because it mimics social interaction.