41–50 of 108 posts
This bit strikes me as rather stuck in the past and oblivious to 2026: "the internet offers an escape from solitude for those rejected in the real world, allowing weirdos, nerds, and the painfully shy to make social connections in ways that would have been impossible for their counterparts in earlier decade." That statement might have been true in 1995-2012 about forums, IRC, early social media, and Tumblr. It is not…
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Mad stuff, especially when he reached the “top problems in school” graphic. Does the author really think that kids weren’t doing terrible things back then? It just wasn’t dealt with, victims were blamed, problems ignored. It’s like racism around the world, the countries that least acknowledge it as a problem are the biggest offenders.
In fact, the sentences around the graphic reinforce this reading:
> in the 80s, people were complaining that things had gone to hell. Here’s a popular list (the facts are totally fabricated, by the way) distributed at the time
> None of this means that the worriers are mistaken or that we are in the grip of a moral panic (though I might make this argument in another post). But it does suggest that the popularity of despair can’t be taken as good evidence that this despair is warranted.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
When was the last time you met somebody who only walked all thier life? Never rode a horse because only the rich could afford such things. When was the last time you had no food? Starvation used to be a real problem. I'm not taking about running short at the end of the month, I'm talking about there isn't food for even the wealthy people. Food today is safer than ever. You talk about poison, but that is pure lie, it…
> You talk about poison, but that is pure lie I think it's fairly well accepted that the high obesity rates are caused by the shifting American diet. Yes it's more available than the 1950s (although I suspect not terribly so), but the effect it has on public health has been a nightmare.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
When was the last time you met somebody who only walked all thier life? Never rode a horse because only the rich could afford such things. When was the last time you had no food? Starvation used to be a real problem. I'm not taking about running short at the end of the month, I'm talking about there isn't food for even the wealthy people. Food today is safer than ever. You talk about poison, but that is pure lie, it…
He seems to focused on what happened in the last few decades. Your points seem to apply to a much longer time-scale.
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Earlier quoted context omitted.
The article intentionally is giving an overly optimistic view of the modern day, when giving the argument that "kids these days" are better off, and it's quickly contrasted with a pessimistic view: > children and adolescents are more likely to spend their time alone; they devote hours each day to staring at their phones; they play less, sleep less, and read less for pleasure.... Our children are living in a time of c…
I think this is the first time on HN when I've been one of those people who didn't adequately look at the linked article before commenting, and boy is my face red.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Same happens in the USA all the time. Don't let media impressions fill you.
Walking or riding my bike to school was certainly not an option. I know very few people (no one?) for which those were options. It was difficult to visit my friends as well so I spent a lot of time alone.