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‘Luddite’ Teens

nytimes.com

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Re: ‘Luddite’ Teens

#81

Post by rootusrootus »

lzauz wrote: post #58
barbinbrad wrote: post #30

I don't have a phone. It's fine.

In these discussion threads I always see people mixing call/gps functionality (which is genuinely useful, especially in case of an emergency, and not addictive) with social media. You can have one without having the other. Instagram didn't come with your phone, you installed it. So, don't.

There's a lot of people who show up in these threads whose only coping strategy is to go cold turkey. Maybe that's good advice, but it's not the only advice. There's no reason you can't carry a smartphone in your pocket without it becoming a pacifier.

Re: ‘Luddite’ Teens

#82

Post by verdenti »

nickthegreek wrote: post #69
verdenti wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You protect them by not giving them a smart phone. My daughter is 2 and she hasn’t seen a screen yet.

Sounds pretty easy to do at that age. But how long are you going to protect them? Until their 18? Or 16? Or 12? When do you see yourself allowing a phone. Are you keeping iPads away too? Some of my friends with kids gave them cell phones around 12-14. But most of the kids had iPads prior.

As long as I can, prob 12 unless school requires a laptop or something.

Re: ‘Luddite’ Teens

#83

Post by nonrandomstring »

sequoia wrote: post #41

This is interesting but I can't help but notice how intensely performative these kids are as well, at least how they're characterized in this article. They're wearing Carhartt (an unusual choice for a metropolis like NYC), reading Dostoyevski and gathering to "listen to the wind." I will say most teens are like this and I certainly was myself, but I hope they are careful not to cultivate their own "artisan" brand of…

I picked up on this a few years ago and mentioned it briefly in Digital Vegan. What struck me while researching was that the accusation of "Luddite" is levelled mainly against older (Boomer, Gen-X/Z) people and comes from the same group. Whereas younger people, glorified as "digital natives" by our older group, actually have more critical attitude towards gratuitous connection and consumption.

It made me realise that the mythologies of tech (an inevitable, ubiquitous force of progress and 'convenience' that we must slavishly follow or be "left behind") resides in my generation.

Re: ‘Luddite’ Teens

#84

Post by psychphysic »

antihero wrote: post #37
psychphysic wrote: post #35

These fads always remind me of this Ali G skit. https://youtu.be/xx5t5ps-bwc

How is wholesale rejection of the shitty companies and websites that prey on your attention span to sell adverts in favour of good literature and genuine connection a “fad”? I’ve deleted social media from my phone and it’s been…amazing. I don’t know what to do and end up staring into space instead of giving into my cravings for fresh content. You start to pay attention to your surroundings and think. It’s wonderful.

> fad

> /fad/

> noun

> an intense and widely shared enthusiasm for something, especially one that is short-lived; a craze.

Re: ‘Luddite’ Teens

#85

Post by overthemoon »

sedeki wrote: post #22

I want to start doing this too. I bought a flip-phone some time ago, but it never stuck. My usage is pretty much: listen to music, use (Google) calendar, texting, FaceTime. Any surfing is plain doom scrolling and not productive. Recommendations for me? Analog/simpler substitutes? For ppl that has gone down this path - how do you feel now?

I'd be curious as well. I realized in the last few months that I rarely enjoy looking at anything on my phone. I like it when my friends and family text me. I like the discord group I have with my friends, especially now that we all have kids and have moved away. I started by deleting apps that weren't essential, keeping the utilities or the things I don't do compulsively, or do situationally.

With Twitter in particular, I don't know a better way to find artists, writers, and podcasts. I have never enjoyed Twitter less than I do now, but it is unfortunately the best way I currently know. I guess it's time to start digging.

Re: ‘Luddite’ Teens

#86

Post by nickthegreek »

LarryMullins wrote: post #76
verdenti wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You protect them by not giving them a smart phone. My daughter is 2 and she hasn’t seen a screen yet.

You're doing the right thing. w.r.t. "what will you do when they get older and jealous?" , learning to deal with jealousy is a good lesson to teach kids. Giving a kid everything they envy and demand is how you raise an entitled brat.

They aren’t jealous of the tech. They are jealous of not being included. They might not get invited to events or understand their friends jokes because they weren’t part of the group chats. This can make them resent their parents and give them social anxiety. Kids can be very cruel and lack the empathy skills to understand why their friend isn’t allowed a phone.

Overdoing it either direction can be a serious mistake.

Re: ‘Luddite’ Teens

#87

Post by freemanofthewan »

wara23arish wrote: post #77
LarryMullins wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What did they wear? Sandals or something? I tried birkenstock sandals before but they only lasted about a year before they became too gross to wear. $150 doc martens seem like good value to me. They last about 5-8 years at the rate I wear through them, or about $20-30 per year. Certainly more efficient than any sneakers.

Maybe Im missing out but Ive never felt the need to spend so much on shoes. There’s countless of alternatives to boots/shows that aren’t name-brand Doc Martens with that aesthetic. Personally, I just shop at the clearance sections or sales (ive never seen doc martens there ime) I always feel like a fool if i drop money on something expensive. From reading On The Road, I just remember that they were always broke, drun…

Sir, please try a good pair of footwear, for your sake! If you need convincing, look up the Boots Theory. Personally, I live in my boots and have worn out many cheap pair. Sometimes 2 a year. Invested a little more, my body was never so happy, and I didn't need to replace them for 4 years. Easy math.

Re: ‘Luddite’ Teens

#88

Post by LarryMullins »

wara23arish wrote: post #77
LarryMullins wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What did they wear? Sandals or something? I tried birkenstock sandals before but they only lasted about a year before they became too gross to wear. $150 doc martens seem like good value to me. They last about 5-8 years at the rate I wear through them, or about $20-30 per year. Certainly more efficient than any sneakers.

Maybe Im missing out but Ive never felt the need to spend so much on shoes. There’s countless of alternatives to boots/shows that aren’t name-brand Doc Martens with that aesthetic. Personally, I just shop at the clearance sections or sales (ive never seen doc martens there ime) I always feel like a fool if i drop money on something expensive. From reading On The Road, I just remember that they were always broke, drun…

I've tried some other brands of boots, the quality is hit or miss but I've yet to find a brand that had a durability:price ratio better than Doc Martens. I'm sure such a brand exists, but I'd hate to find out how many pairs of boots I go through until I find that brand by trial and error.

I've sworn off sneakers entirely though. Unless you're buying sneakers for a specific athletic purpose, I think sneakers as a default footware is something of a scam. They're all built to fall apart after months, maybe a year or two max. They're usually made with fabric instead of leather, with thin and soft rubber soles. Even the ones made with leather still have thin soles that wear out fast. I've never had nor heard of a pair of sneakers that didn't disintegrate before two years of daily use.

As for the broke, drunk and drugs lifestyle, I think dependable boots are a great choice. Even if nothing else in your life is stable, at least you can rely on your boots.

Re: ‘Luddite’ Teens

#89

Post by Kon-Peki »

jjav wrote: post #27
LucyEverylove wrote: post #10

I've been experimenting with a "no phone" protocol for a few months now. It has been amazing. Only occasionally problematic/inconvenient, mostly miss the GPS and music. Most things I used to do on phone I simply do on a laptop. But not constantly grabbing for a phone and staring at a screen... priceless.

> mostly miss the GPS and music I mostly go phoneless if at all possible. I use an old ipod nano for music. It's much better at it than the phone because it is so tiny and thin (and has a headphone jack). For GPS my watch (Garmin) has GPS.

Yep, my 10-year old uses a 17-year old nano for music. I've stockpiled a few 30-pin cables. With a USB A-toC adaptor it works fine on M1 MBP and is fully supported! It blew my mind that just a year or two ago I plugged it in and it got a firmware update.

The only worry I have is whether I'll be able to replace the battery when it finally needs it.

Re: ‘Luddite’ Teens

#90

Post by Lammy »

ravenstine wrote: post #73
dieselgate wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does one always risk a bit of "pretentiousness" if they act/live contrary to the "main stream"? Just by having a flip phone, for example, someone will be called a "hipster" or whatever name. It's like a group social phenomena or something - just by being vegetarian (or being more "pretentious" by being vegan) people experience this sort of stuff

Basically, yes, because a lot of people don't really know what being pretentious or a hipster actually means. The passage of time has lead to both terms being misunderstood and simultaneously conflated. In order for someone to actually be pretentious, there has to be a pretense. Being purposefully non-mainstream doesn't make someone pretentious as much as a more normal individual would like to believe. Hipsters aren'…

> a lot of people don't really know what being pretentious or a hipster actually means

https://catandgirl.com/riddle-me-this/

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