this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2023
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Showerthoughts
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Tik tok is legitimately rotting their brains though.
They don't adapt, though.
There is a strong survivorship bias in this though. Some kids do adapt, maybe even most, but many still are harmed, and have been by unhealthy exposure to radio, television, videogames, etc. in the past. Social media is even wreaking havoc in the older generations right now.
It's easy to point at the survivors and the success stories and say see, there is nothing to worry about - but that's also a bit like pointing at the lifelong smokers who do not get lung cancer as an argument against promoting non-smoking.
Yes, the trend of making more and more mentally disruptive technology has been continuing. Yes, capitalists have managed to make more and more effective attention/brain drains…that’s exactly what we’re saying.
The kids “adapt” in that the world has changed and kids have no choice but to live in the world they grew up in. It doesn’t mean the above things aren’t true. It just means things change, and I dunno about you, but I don’t see things moving in the most positive direction. Angrier people, less and less able to have nuanced discussions, people becoming more entrenched and hostile about their views, more instances of thinking people with differing opinions are “evil…”—that shit is in large part due to social media, not to mention network news (both “advancements” of the exact type were discussing).I mean, shit, look how much radio has changed. From old timey radio broadcasts with the family sitting around the fire hearing tales of Redd McGibbon and Bullet to fuckin Howard stern making strippers do math so people can laugh at them and goddamn Rush Limbaugh. See what we’re saying?