A majority of US teens are taking steps to limit smartphone and social media use

Post by weliketocode » Wed, Aug 29, 2018, 7:29 PM UTC

burkaman wrote: post #63

weliketocode wrote: post #59

This underscores why I'm almost inherently biased against most regulations. In a lot (not saying all) of cases, we figure out what's bad for us and make decisions to help solve it. Social, legal, and economic issues in our society often appear to work themselves out when left to their own devices. Yet, so many have the opposite gut reaction: Teens using too much social media? Regulate the industry! Tax them! Take awa…

I genuinely don't think I've ever heard anyone suggest teenage phone use should be regulated. Generally regulations are suggested when bad actors are blatantly unwilling or unable to regulate themselves.

Post by JohnJamesRambo » Wed, Aug 29, 2018, 8:36 PM UTC

s3r3nity wrote: post #87

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #85

I just bought a Nokia 3310 3G and plan to curb my smartphone use completely. I'm sick to death of looking at my phone being the only thing I do. I used to do things at night, projects, hobbies, meeting people, and going places. I drive places now via GPS and have no recollection of how I got there. Driving without GPS makes you actually look at your surroundings and enjoy them and start making mental maps again. That…

I would LOVE to go back to a dumb phone like this, but three use cases really prevent me from doing so at the moment: 1) GPS / Maps for navigation: I agree with your sentiment, but I find that I"m _more_ likely to travel or take adventures when I know I can fall back to Google / Apple Maps as a safeguard for getting me from A-to-B, or finding new places around me. 2) Uber / Lyft / Ride Sharing: I can already use Siri…

Post by mattferderer » Wed, Aug 29, 2018, 8:44 PM UTC

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #55

rtpg wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like reading books, but there's nothing inherently good about getting knowledge through books. Especially a lot of the "entrepreneur" or "productivity" books, where you have 80% padding because nobody wants to buy a 40 page book.

> there's nothing inherently good about getting knowledge through books Strongly disagree. Reading a book requires patience and comfort with delayed gratification. Not only does it require it; I think it also develops it.

Post by modells » Wed, Aug 29, 2018, 8:50 PM UTC

krisroadruck wrote: post #75

kruczek wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'd be flat out surprised if books didn't have their detractors back in the day. They most certainly did have. This reminds me about Socrates' take on books: "for this discovery of yours will create forgetfulness in the learners' souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves. The specific which you have discovered is an aid not to…

And then we have this counter-quote from another great mind: "I never commit to memory anything that can easily be looked up in a book" - Albert Einstein

Post by modells » Wed, Aug 29, 2018, 8:53 PM UTC

anon08142018 wrote: post #72

vinceguidry wrote: post #4

It's important for people to remember that humans are still intelligent creatures that are capable of recognizing, eventually, what's good for them and what isn't. How many of you guys remember the 70s and 80s, when TV and video games were supposed to turn us all into zombies? What happened? We eventually learned how to see these things as the tools that they are. Humans get fascinated by the new and shiny. This fasc…

I agree. It seems we are just constantly moving from one moral panic to the next. It doesn't mean that there are no valid concerns, just that we need to stop and realize that overdramatizing everything isn't actually solving any problems. I would argue its just another problem caused by our inability as a nation to rise above a childish level of discussion on just about any subject.