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I totally agree, though I'd like to frame OP's argument a little differently in a way that makes more sense I think. I agree the "shit is just too expensive" i

I totally agree, though I'd like to frame OP's argument a little differently in a way that makes more sense I think. I agree the "shit is just too expensive" is a pretty lame excuse. I think to back when I was a poor ballet dancer around college age, and we always found lots of cheap things to do - a lot of it was like you said, usually just going over to people's houses to hang out, or doing stuff in the city that was cheap or free. Going out to restaurants was a rare treat, and it was almost always a cheap dive place. I had to laugh about the comment about the expense of "8 oz cocktails" - we weren't drinking cocktails, we were drinking 6 packs of Natty Light in someone's studio apartment. But what I think has changed is that it's so much easier to not be bored with modern tech, even if it makes you lonely. There is TikTok, YouTube, Netflix, multiplayer gaming, etc. It's just a lot easier to sit at home with these kinds of entertainment, so the "activation energy" required to go get up and plan things with friends just feels a lot higher.

bearl 1y ago
So you actually disagree, it’s not the prices, it’s the tech. I agree. The person you responded to claimed it was prices not tech.
- hn_throwaway_99 1y ago
  No, I responded to someone who said it was not the prices - I believe you are referring to the GP comment.
to11mtm 1y ago
> It's just a lot easier to sit at home with these kinds of entertainment, so the "activation energy" required to go get up and plan things with friends just feels a lot higher. Ding ding ding! > There is TikTok, YouTube, Netflix, multiplayer gaming, etc. With the one caveat that 'multiplayer gaming' can indeed be a proper socialization experience if you're playing with friends/etc (vs say just YOLOing in something like FPS lobbies etc.) Or, at bare minimum, it's still more effort than the other options you mention. In the last few weeks I've tried to be extra mindful about being more 'interactive' with other things in my free time. It's shocking how easy it gets to just fall into a Youtube video rabbit hole. It reinforces how sad I get about my partner's constant scrolling through Facebook. Heck even now I feel guilty about just doing HN, on the other hand I am still recovering from a good proper bike ride this morning so I guess there's that.
audinobs 1y ago
You also can't separate the social media part of this. An expensive cocktail is a cool social media post, Natty light is not. It is just a much more postmodern world than when I was young. There is a whole level of digital simulation on top of the activity that I never had to think about. The post about the expensive cocktail is the real social activity now. We may as well be comparing dating on tinder to a rural barn dance in the 1950s. Technology has moved faster than our language as these aren't even the same activities but the words are the same. "Dating", "socializing".

bearl 1y ago

So you actually disagree, it’s not the prices, it’s the tech. I agree. The person you responded to claimed it was prices not tech.

hn_throwaway_99 1y ago
No, I responded to someone who said it was not the prices - I believe you are referring to the GP comment.

to11mtm 1y ago

> It's just a lot easier to sit at home with these kinds of entertainment, so the "activation energy" required to go get up and plan things with friends just feels a lot higher. Ding ding ding! > There is TikTok, YouTube, Netflix, multiplayer gaming, etc. With the one caveat that 'multiplayer gaming' can indeed be a proper socialization experience if you're playing with friends/etc (vs say just YOLOing in something like FPS lobbies etc.) Or, at bare minimum, it's still more effort than the other options you mention. In the last few weeks I've tried to be extra mindful about being more 'interactive' with other things in my free time. It's shocking how easy it gets to just fall into a Youtube video rabbit hole. It reinforces how sad I get about my partner's constant scrolling through Facebook. Heck even now I feel guilty about just doing HN, on the other hand I am still recovering from a good proper bike ride this morning so I guess there's that.

audinobs 1y ago

You also can't separate the social media part of this. An expensive cocktail is a cool social media post, Natty light is not. It is just a much more postmodern world than when I was young. There is a whole level of digital simulation on top of the activity that I never had to think about. The post about the expensive cocktail is the real social activity now. We may as well be comparing dating on tinder to a rural barn dance in the 1950s. Technology has moved faster than our language as these aren't even the same activities but the words are the same. "Dating", "socializing".