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‘Luddite’ Teens

nytimes.com

131–140 of 297 posts

Re: ‘Luddite’ Teens

#131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

>They are jealous of not being included.

It's better to instill in kids early that it's important to cultivate deep rather than wide social connections. Teaching your kid to stand up for themselves and make friends that don't care about blue chat bubbles or fashionable clothes is necessary. Because there's always gonna be some group you're not going to be cool enough to be a part of. Maybe you're not pretty enough, athletic enough, maybe your parents aren't rich enough to send you on the holiday trip the other kids can go on, sooner or later everyone's going to learn the lesson that this isn't how you build genuine connections.

I noticed this even as an adult in my 20s, people who hadn't ever learned to deal with social rejection carry that teenage group behavior into their own adult life and can't deal with exclusion.

Re: ‘Luddite’ Teens

#132
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 think there's a selection bias here; the ones who are performative are more likely to cross paths with a NYTimes journalist than the ones who aren't. People who keep it low key don't often rise to the notice of others.

Look up their parents. It's not a coincidence they crossed path with NY Times reporters looking to profile them. Nepotism teens doesn't have the same ring though.

Re: ‘Luddite’ Teens

#133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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'…

Rejection of the mainstream / establishment properties is the pretense. It isn't that you like something, it's that you don't want to be associated to some other things. And you don't want to be associated to those other things because of some pretense about what associating to those things means.

That's not a pretense. The word you're looking for is pretext. Rejecting the mainstream is completely a legitimate position on its own. The only way it can be a pretense is if it's done for appearance only. Well, maybe there are other ways, but that's the only one I can think of at the moment.

Maybe this is confusing because of the phrase "false pretense", which is redundant and can lead to some people thinking that there's such a thing as a pretense that isn't false-ish.

Re: ‘Luddite’ Teens

#134

What flip phones work now that 3G is getting dropped?

While not, strictly speaking, a dumbphone, this one sold under various branding can be used as one, and my never-smartphone-using dad and aunt are satisfied with it:

[0]https://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phone/schok-flip

[1]https://www.consumercellular.com/shopping/details/link_II/vi...

It has proven reliable in middle-of-nowhere West Texas over the past few months on both T-Mobile and Consumer Cellular, likely using T-Mobile’s network.

I have no idea how any of the other functions stack up, but neither my dad nor my aunt care about anything other than making and taking dialed phone calls.

Re: ‘Luddite’ Teens

#136
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?

All I do is put the phone on vibrate and put it in my pocket. Other than taking out the phone to capture a photo, I never really feel the urge to pull it out and waste time on it unless I am actively waiting and there is nothing else to do. I like to be 100% engaged in what I am doing whether that's socializing with friends, enjoying a hobby or walking somewhere. Maybe that's my secret? The desire to feel fully engag…

This describes my usage too, I also am on a computer all day long, its also where I waste my time. I see my phone as a less useful computer, with the worst typing interface possible and try to use it as little as possible.

I'd be totally content to replace my physical phone, with a virtual one on a computer, provided I could make calls and send/receive text messages. Maybe I need to look into Google Voice...

Re: ‘Luddite’ Teens

#137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Carhartt often moonlights as a streetwear brand.

"Streetwear" itself has a snobbish connotation as of late.

I don’t know what the nature of the culture is these days, but in hindsight, it’s always been.

Re: ‘Luddite’ Teens

#138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've got a theory that the TV show Firefly is appreciated today because it got cancelled before it was popular; they quit when they were ahead and before popularity ruined it. But most Firefly fans seem to hate my theory.

I think you're absolutely correct. The show was campy, and in time, would have become grating and fallen apart. Star Wars, once lauded, has been milked dry. There are a few good works, but by and large they're beating a dead horse. The same thing is happening to Marvel. People checked out after Endgame. Game of Thrones was so near to perfection. It had an unusually large cast of a hundred characters and an expansive…

> The same thing is happening to Marvel. People checked out after Endgame.

First, it would be weird to say that was because Marvel was falling apart. It was the conclusion of a decade long movie franchise. Of course people might watch something else once the story they had been following was done. It doesn't mean they won't come back or didn't like the new movies, it means they wanted a break.

But mainly, it's also not true. Leaving aside 2020 (when Marvel released their movies all online), let's look at 2021. 4 out of the top 10 movies were Marvel movies (including number 1).

In 2022, they have 3 of the top 10 slots. They were beaten out by the Top Gun reboot and the latest Jurassic Park

Re: ‘Luddite’ Teens

#139
This is a unique form of privilege. Most people don’t have the choice to “disconnect”. It’s engage or die. Not that I think technology is the be all and end all, but I think we are lucky if we are in the position to be able to shun it. That’s all I am saying.

Edit: OK, I am probably wrong about this. Sorry for the stupid opinion :(

Re: ‘Luddite’ Teens

#140
post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've got a theory that the TV show Firefly is appreciated today because it got cancelled before it was popular; they quit when they were ahead and before popularity ruined it. But most Firefly fans seem to hate my theory.

Well yes, most people react poorly to "The reason you love the thing you love is not because it is good, but for "

No, I'm saying that Firefly is and was good. It never got a chance to become bad.
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