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Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? (2017)

theatlantic.com

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Re: Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? (2017)

#81

Post by CriticalCathed »

iliketosleep wrote: post #79
pojzon wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What a great summary. Tho I think the part about issues our society faces is a lot bigger than those few examples. Educated people have more than ever reasons to be depressed now: - pollution - economic stagnation - inflation - antibiotics failing - global warming - debt - automation and artifical intelligence - politics failing to tackle those issues (its a circus in some countries) - issues like Brexit - natural di…

> automation and artifical intelligence Isn't this supposed to be good for us and make people's lives better? If that's not the case, then it's really something to be worried about.

Only if its paired with concurrent wide scale changes to society. That seems unlikely given the worldwide political order.

Re: Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? (2017)

#82

Post by tapland »

axilmar wrote: post #80

No smartphones for my kids until they reach 18. Human interaction cannot be replaced by a screen and a keyboard.

Human interaction outside of school is coordinated by kids with smartphones, using smartphone apps, to other kids who have smartphones.

No joke a child without a smartphone would seem weird to the rest of the group and risk alienation bases solely on the lack of that smartphone.

Re: Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? (2017)

#83

Post by petronio »

iliketosleep wrote: post #79
pojzon wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What a great summary. Tho I think the part about issues our society faces is a lot bigger than those few examples. Educated people have more than ever reasons to be depressed now: - pollution - economic stagnation - inflation - antibiotics failing - global warming - debt - automation and artifical intelligence - politics failing to tackle those issues (its a circus in some countries) - issues like Brexit - natural di…

> automation and artifical intelligence Isn't this supposed to be good for us and make people's lives better? If that's not the case, then it's really something to be worried about.

People still fear the "robots will take all of our jobs!" dialogue. Many societies still have work as a core component of personal value, so the idea of people having to work less doesn't translate to "Great, I can let these robots do the work and I can enjoy myself" but to "I can't find work and so I'm a worthless disgrace."

Re: Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? (2017)

#84

Post by jhanschoo »

sytelus wrote: post #7

More than a mental health crisis or go outside more, the biggest harm that social+smartphone has ever done is end of creating things . The new generation is spending huge amount of time in consumption and very little in creation. This is going to be a boon for the producers (book writers, movie makers etc) who will be in short supply for much larger consumption crowd. This will eventually be reflected in massive weal…

Isn't this just observation/ignorance bias? We have a generation raised on Minecraft, and on secondary and tertiary content around Minecraft. Even with Fortnite, children don't just want to play the game, they want to stream and make videos around Fortnite. Or take social media where creative decisions about expression (filters, gifs, memes) are made all the time. "Creative work" is far more accessible now than ever before and children are participating in it.

Re: Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? (2017)

#85

Post by detaro »

petronio wrote: post #83
iliketosleep wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> automation and artifical intelligence Isn't this supposed to be good for us and make people's lives better? If that's not the case, then it's really something to be worried about.

People still fear the "robots will take all of our jobs!" dialogue. Many societies still have work as a core component of personal value, so the idea of people having to work less doesn't translate to "Great, I can let these robots do the work and I can enjoy myself" but to "I can't find work and so I'm a worthless disgrace."

It's more that most societies have "doing work" as a core component of obtaining money, and requiring money for things like food, housing, ...

Re: Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? (2017)

#87

Post by petronio »

detaro wrote: post #85
petronio wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People still fear the "robots will take all of our jobs!" dialogue. Many societies still have work as a core component of personal value, so the idea of people having to work less doesn't translate to "Great, I can let these robots do the work and I can enjoy myself" but to "I can't find work and so I'm a worthless disgrace."

It's more that most societies have "doing work" as a core component of obtaining money, and requiring money for things like food, housing, ...

That is also true, but that is something that can be mitigated and resolved with government policies. However, that is unlikely to happen effectively in societies that have a work as a core component of personal value as they will say "they're not working? Why should we help them?" At some point the policy changes will NEED to happen, but the societies with that core value will have a very difficult time adjusting as value systems can't be changed overnight like laws can.

Re: Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? (2017)

#88

Post by Invictus0 »

petronio wrote: post #83
iliketosleep wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> automation and artifical intelligence Isn't this supposed to be good for us and make people's lives better? If that's not the case, then it's really something to be worried about.

People still fear the "robots will take all of our jobs!" dialogue. Many societies still have work as a core component of personal value, so the idea of people having to work less doesn't translate to "Great, I can let these robots do the work and I can enjoy myself" but to "I can't find work and so I'm a worthless disgrace."

I'm sitting in a McDonald's right now in the Netherlands. There are about 30 unfilled orders on the TV and only 1 cashier. How is that possible? The other cashiers were replaced by touchscreen ordering kiosks, which there are 4 of in this restaurant. This has happened in McDonalds worldwide, easily eliminating hundreds or thousands of jobs. It is only a matter of time before these ordering kiosks become commoditized. I'm surprised I can't already order on a tablet at restaurants.

Re: Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? (2017)

#89

Post by newsgremlin »

learnstats2 wrote: post #48

This article/researcher makes claims that: a) there is a mental health crisis among teenagers which is not parallel to other comparable generations, and b) that crisis is linked to mobile phones. I'm not convinced by either claim. In my experience of working with teenagers over the last couple of decades, there is a general trend that they are now better at communicating their emotional needs and emotional state. If…

My crucial concern is whether the newer generations are expressing themselves in meaningful ways. Social media is ok for talking about ones emotions and sharing experiences through it. But what about expression through music, art, literature? Are they being hampered by consuming media instead of creating or are we just unaware of the vast creative talents that go unnoticed? Given uncertain economic times I'd expect authority figures are still pushing them to follow paths for lucrative careers.
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