Live data from Hacker News

On Aging Alone (2021)

thewalrus.ca

171–180 of 338 posts

Re: On Aging Alone (2021)

#171
post #42
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>They can't date older women because older women spot their bullshit a mile away and steer clear. I think you should stop demonizing men's natural sexual preferences. Key word here is natural, we don't choose what we like. Nature choose for us, and young women are better at having children. Same reason young girls choose tall, rich men, because they are better at surviving and have more resources for raising children…

We don't know what the default state of human attraction is because we don't have access to a control population of human beings without the same shared societal history of the rest of us. Which is to say, it's incorrect to broaden your personal attractions to all men, and especially incorrect to try and couch it in some argument of biological naturalism.

if you had to guess, what do you think people in that control group would be attracted to?

Re: On Aging Alone (2021)

#173

I'll add my own data point into the mix. I'm 49, have been married for 22 years, with kids who are either grown up, or well on their way. Throughout my life though, I have been an absolute loner in spirit. I grew up quite isolated, in the UK countryside, and learned to amuse myself early on. My first love was computers, which luckily has served me fairly well, career-wise. I haven't had many girlfriends, and felt ver…

Quoted post unavailable.

No post body was provided.

Re: On Aging Alone (2021)

#174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A supportive friend that is selling your data via Zuck and co.

How much does that matter? Like, if you had to choose between being old and lonely or being old with a digital friend and some megacorp having more of your data... Which would you choose? I notice a lot of people who use the phrase "selling your data" seem to think that you can't actually sell your data. As in, it's not a good choice to say "I want this service and am willing to share my data to get it."

[deleted]

Re: On Aging Alone (2021)

#175
post #50

AI companionships for the elderly is going to be a beyond massive market by the time we're all old. Sometimes we just need people to listen, and in that AI will exceed most humans, who are generally just waiting for their chance to have someone else listen to them. I'm starting to see the initial beginnings of that market, and already the reviews are eye opening. People gushing over how much of a difference a text-ch…

Short story idea:

An elderly person living isolated with their best friend. All amenities are delivered autonomously, so we only see these two the entire time. The friend starts acting strangely over time, as if he's developing the early stages of dementia. Slowly hint that the best friend is in fact an AI of some sort, but the protagonist has lived with them so long that they have forgotten. The protagonist eventually remembers and opens up the AI's control panel to fix them. The AI suddenly disappears or powers off. Protagonist looks at the control panel again:

  Suspicious activity detected on your device. Your Google ElderCare MyAI™ account has been permanently suspended. All of your device data will be deleted shortly - Google cares about your privacy.
  Please note this suspension is non-appealable.
  Have a good day.

Re: On Aging Alone (2021)

#176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A supportive friend that is selling your data via Zuck and co.

How much does that matter? Like, if you had to choose between being old and lonely or being old with a digital friend and some megacorp having more of your data... Which would you choose? I notice a lot of people who use the phrase "selling your data" seem to think that you can't actually sell your data. As in, it's not a good choice to say "I want this service and am willing to share my data to get it."

This is a false dichotomy. We can have - and should fight for - digital services that don’t siphon our personal info for other purposes.

Re: On Aging Alone (2021)

#177
post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much does that matter? Like, if you had to choose between being old and lonely or being old with a digital friend and some megacorp having more of your data... Which would you choose? I notice a lot of people who use the phrase "selling your data" seem to think that you can't actually sell your data. As in, it's not a good choice to say "I want this service and am willing to share my data to get it."

[deleted]

[deleted]

Re: On Aging Alone (2021)

#178

These are the life choices we make, whether through biology, mentality, or environment. For me, one of the key factors is that the signal-to-noise you have to endure with friends to get the few moments of gratification is so low that it's draining. Maybe it's a product of having a high bar for what constitutes new and interesting/entertaining for me (compared against spending time alone), combined with already being…

Listen to yourself. When you start talking about the signal to noise ratio and calculating the return on investment of social interactions, its time to step away from the keyboard and reevaluate your life. Your brain has been fried by hustle culture.

Wait, how are you making the jump to someone's brain being fried? They probably mean that they don't enjoy most of some interactions and the parts that the enjoy aren't enough to make the whole thing worth it.

I don't get why you're getting caught up on the language or what this has to do with hustle culture.

Re: On Aging Alone (2021)

#179
post #42
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>They can't date older women because older women spot their bullshit a mile away and steer clear. I think you should stop demonizing men's natural sexual preferences. Key word here is natural, we don't choose what we like. Nature choose for us, and young women are better at having children. Same reason young girls choose tall, rich men, because they are better at surviving and have more resources for raising children…

We don't know what the default state of human attraction is because we don't have access to a control population of human beings without the same shared societal history of the rest of us. Which is to say, it's incorrect to broaden your personal attractions to all men, and especially incorrect to try and couch it in some argument of biological naturalism.

Not assuming either point of view here, but just because you cannot run an experiment, doesn't mean that the result of the experiment will be negative. So you don't know if GP is incorrect or not.

Re: On Aging Alone (2021)

#180
post #160
post #88

I'm in my mid 50's and a number of peers from different circles have all come to the same conclusion: they want to create intentional communities of friends to age with. One couple purchased several acres of land and has two friends living in a tiny house with them. Another friend is trying to raise capital to build the type of apartments/dormitories that the majority of US city-dwellers inhabitied in the late 1880's…

> to eastern asian cultures and indian subcontinent where multi-generational families mean you're never really alone. It's high birth rates that create such culture. Europe and US are not comparable , and over time people will get lonelier and lonelier unless they decide to adjust their way of life around this issue and stop living with 20th century standards. Cities should be designed with the single-person in mind…

It's not just the culture. Young people are staying home more out of financial convenience and necessity in Europe. The market hasn't made enough affordable housing to keep the status quo running.
Post reply on HN