51–60 of 79 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I managed that before r9k debuted... and I'm still socially bankrupt. There is no escape.
Exactly. You can keep going back and it was always happening on the Internet. I was doing this on various forums before 4Chan was a thing. People were doing it nearly a decade before I was born, on BBSes in the late 70s.
There certainly is a crisis that social media and greedy online platforms (greedy for your time and ad dollars) prey upon. And yes the breakdown of social relationships with family, community and neighbors is certainly a big part of this. But consider historical factors in the USA. The breakdown of church - this was the de facto center of many communities for generations up until the post-vietnam era and the culture…
These issues aren't limited to the USA, either. I've experienced them in several other countries.
There certainly is a crisis that social media and greedy online platforms (greedy for your time and ad dollars) prey upon. And yes the breakdown of social relationships with family, community and neighbors is certainly a big part of this. But consider historical factors in the USA. The breakdown of church - this was the de facto center of many communities for generations up until the post-vietnam era and the culture…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You touch on an important factor: land-use and transportation policy. The lack of "walkability" in the typical suburban neighborhood is certainly not helping. I don't mean the ability to go out and take a walk for the exercise, I mean being in a place where walking is the best way to get to useful places and do things... the grocery, the doctor, the hardware store, and ideally, your job. Dense cities have this, to so…
For me it's not just the walkability of the suburbs that's the problem, but the lack of places to go... other than stores, bars, and restaurants. It's a cultural wasteland. I'd just much rather stay inside, and often do. Cities are not much better for me, as most of places there are to go and things to do tend to cater towards the lowest common denominator.
What do you mean by this? Are there not museums, art galleries, chess clubs and a variety of other venues that are adequate for your high standards?
There certainly is a crisis that social media and greedy online platforms (greedy for your time and ad dollars) prey upon. And yes the breakdown of social relationships with family, community and neighbors is certainly a big part of this. But consider historical factors in the USA. The breakdown of church - this was the de facto center of many communities for generations up until the post-vietnam era and the culture…
In modern Western culture we've killed God and I think we're learning what the consequences of that mean.
Source connecting the two? I think most here would argue the the decline in magical thinking (at least as it influences policy and society on the whole) is a good thing
Atheists and agnostics don't get together every week to talk about God not existing.
There are meetup groups and such now but usually there is some common interest, activity, etc. which is a higher barrier to entry than "I'll come and say we mostly believe in the same thing that neither of us can prove."
A church community does have the unique characteristic that anyone can participate regardless of age, personality, or talent.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You touch on an important factor: land-use and transportation policy. The lack of "walkability" in the typical suburban neighborhood is certainly not helping. I don't mean the ability to go out and take a walk for the exercise, I mean being in a place where walking is the best way to get to useful places and do things... the grocery, the doctor, the hardware store, and ideally, your job. Dense cities have this, to so…
I used to live in some of the burbiest burbs imaginable. I lived a bit out of the way but many of my schoolmates were right in the thick of it: tract homes, manicured lawns, the whole bit. Back then -- I don't know about today -- going to the store may have been a chore that required a car, but visiting your neighbors was easy. You were bound to see some of them as you went out to get the paper or water the lawn. Car…
Also, the suburbs tended to have more kids and generally be safer (not as much traffic). As a result, I spent most of my youth just hanging out with neighborhood kids. And my parents hung out with neighbors.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
For me it's not just the walkability of the suburbs that's the problem, but the lack of places to go... other than stores, bars, and restaurants. It's a cultural wasteland. I'd just much rather stay inside, and often do. Cities are not much better for me, as most of places there are to go and things to do tend to cater towards the lowest common denominator.
>"Cities are not much better for me, as most of places there are to go and things to do tend to cater towards the lowest common denominator." What do you mean by this? Are there not museums, art galleries, chess clubs and a variety of other venues that are adequate for your high standards?
Chess. I used to be really in to that, but have spent so much of my life playing chess, that I've weaned myself off of it and in to other pursuits.
Theaters tend to have the most trite, lowbrow plays imaginable. Most movie theaters are the same, and for the handful that aren't, they play somebody else's movie selections, not mine. I'd just rather choose my own movies and watch them at home, and save some money.
I just don't like musicals or parades. I sometimes go out dancing at clubs, but almost none of them play music I like, and anyway do cater mostly towards what's really popular.. which around here seems to be house, EDM, and drum and bass.. none of which I like.
Then there are bars. I'm just not a bar person. Haven't had much luck in making connections with random people I meet there, and am anyway almost always way too shy to even try. Other than that, I don't want to go somewhere to just sit and pay for overpriced drinks.
I've gone to a bunch of events organized on meetup.com, and way too many of those are poorly attended moneymaking operations trying to get you to pay money for classes or events. Most of the rest I just don't find even remotely interesting. Despite that, I've gone to a bunch of events that seemed kind of remotely interesting, and those have been largely disappointing.
I sometimes go to lectures at the local university, but most of the ones they have are pretty uninteresting too.
Overall, I guess there are options, but most of them just aren't for me, for one reason or another. Also, it takes effort to seek out things to do, and for me the payoff is so low that usually I don't even bother.
I haven't completely given up, and I still force myself to go out anyway, but mostly it's a chore and not worth it. Usually, I'd rather just stay home and read a book, make some music, paint or draw something, surf the web, or maybe go to the library. All solitary pursuits that I usually enjoy much more than the various "event" options in the city.
There certainly is a crisis that social media and greedy online platforms (greedy for your time and ad dollars) prey upon. And yes the breakdown of social relationships with family, community and neighbors is certainly a big part of this. But consider historical factors in the USA. The breakdown of church - this was the de facto center of many communities for generations up until the post-vietnam era and the culture…
Right -- Fads and technological gadgetry aren't necessarily the root cause, as much as a (maladaptive?) kind of treatment for the symptoms.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Source connecting the two? I think most here would argue the the decline in magical thinking (at least as it influences policy and society on the whole) is a good thing
The original statement is ridiculous but the decline in magical thinking does lead people to stop going to church which has no obvious replacement. Atheists and agnostics don't get together every week to talk about God not existing. There are meetup groups and such now but usually there is some common interest, activity, etc. which is a higher barrier to entry than "I'll come and say we mostly believe in the same thi…
Many churches still have little to no female clergy. Some have dress codes, some don't. And what you have to choose from depends on where you live: They all might be pretty conservative.
Your barrier of entry is set too low. It isn't that we say we mostly believe in the same thing: It is that you must act like you believe it and not be any of these sorts of people. If you don't fit in the mold, you can't be yourself here. This makes it a bit difficult to form bonds with others if you aren't in their mold.