111–120 of 824 posts
Christopher Alexander & co. have a site "Building Living Neighborhoods" about doing just that with his Pattern Language: > The tools offered are intended for the use of ordinary people, families, communities, developers, planners, architects, designers and builders; public officials, local representatives, and neighbors; business owners and people who have commercial interests. The processes here are expressed in the…
About 9 years ago I traveled to the US from India for education. Smartphones were still not very common in India cause data was not as cheap as it is today. When I was in the bus commuting everyone’s head was buried in their phones. I thought to myself this is such a sad thing. Look outside talk to each other but the every single person had an iPhone and was doing something on the phone. Fast forward to 2024 and ever…
It can't be treated like drug addiction, though. Most people I know have a _relatively_ healthy relationship with alcohol or cannabis. The addicts, especially of hard drugs, are the odd ones out. With phones, and before that music, and before that newspapers, it's a social norm. If you are trying to talk to people you feel like the weirdo. And I get it, cause I don't like making myself vulnerable. I wish I talked to…
That's not 10X the general population. That's 81X. One in nine drink 9X what nine other people do.
So, you have a relationship with alcohol, it's likely not a healthy one. It's addiction, all the way down.
Well, yes, we've doubled down on mediating social interactions through economic relationships. Most of the interactions adults have in their lives are with or in the framing of economic relations. Homes, are being invaded with tablets and mobile devices which bring along with them framing interactions as economic relations through ad and consumer frames. Workplaces are inherently settings of economic relations, and t…
Well, yes, we've doubled down on mediating social interactions through economic relationships. Most of the interactions adults have in their lives are with or in the framing of economic relations. Homes, are being invaded with tablets and mobile devices which bring along with them framing interactions as economic relations through ad and consumer frames. Workplaces are inherently settings of economic relations, and t…
I shit you not my wife and I wanted to visit a park the other day and realized the parks dept now has paid parking stalls. The PARK. An outdoor space, supposedly paid for by my tax dollars, that because of it's distance from me is not feasible to walk to (and because the streets here are fucking terrifying) now charges me to park my vehicle there, so I can get some nature. Just un-fucking-believably apple pie in the window sill, burgers and fries, fireworks on the fourth American.
I am so goddamn tired of every interaction I can have requiring money. I just want somewhere to go that's nice to be that doesn't demand my fucking credit card.
The books the authors cite are great and worth reading. Some personal observations: - The USA lacks a unified cultural identity now. There are lots of reasons for this. But, it's considered taboo to express a love of the USA - which hurts our community + culture. - People put a lot of effort into work, and work is becoming more transactional. No more "life-long employment with the buddies" kind of situation. - Americ…
I don't disagree with the comment, but whenever people talk about a "love of the USA", I always want to ask what is it that you love? To stereotype a bit, I'm guessing that it will not be the federal government (despite a strong reverence for the flag of that government).
Sure, it flies in the face of harsh reality quite often, but that’s not the point. And we can definitely gripe about current immigration policies. And of course, that spirit doesn’t feel like it holds true in a big chunk of the US. But to me personally, that’s why NYC feels sort of magical. It’s that whole idea solidified in flesh.
As an immigrant, I can tell you that my hypothetical future in my old country was doomed from the start. The US, with all its imperfections and flaws, let me do my own thing and carve my own path from nothing (parents working minimum wage, so basically zero connections and funds). All while making me feel more at home than my old country ever did in every single way (from interactions with people to absolutely any other aspect of my life).
Again, this isn’t to discount tons of issues that the US has (just like any other large country would). However, I just struggle to think of any other country where I could’ve ended up where I am right now, as an immigrant. And that, to me personally, is what the (idealized) spirit of the US is all about.
The books the authors cite are great and worth reading. Some personal observations: - The USA lacks a unified cultural identity now. There are lots of reasons for this. But, it's considered taboo to express a love of the USA - which hurts our community + culture. - People put a lot of effort into work, and work is becoming more transactional. No more "life-long employment with the buddies" kind of situation. - Americ…
> But, it's considered taboo to express a love of the USA
American flags _everywhere_' Like seriously, I visited both liberal areas (Seattle) and conservative areas (Spokane's surrounds) and y'all patriotic as _fuck_.
> Wars used to be a way to unify a country...
Also because the US is just not threatened by anyone. I'd hope that going back to being the Arsenal of Democracy for Ukraine (and maybe Taiwan or South Korea if things go bad) would've tied the US together, but man I was wrong there.
I've personally noticed that my own value of autonomy has often contributed to a reduction in social activity and community integration. I used to be very selective of what I did with others. If I had an invite from friends and the activity didn't seem immediately interesting to me, I'd decline. I've since learned to say yes more (but not always) to invites and particularly consider ones that are more outside my comf…
If compromise with others is starting to be seen as an affront to one's own sense of identity, it's no wonder people are reporting such a poor sense of well-being nowadays. I grew up before the terminally online era, and I'm not sure we ever saw taking turns doing each other's favorite activity as a sacrifice of our individualism. It was just part of what it means to form meaningful social bonds with other people. He…
You were probably told that if all your friends were doing drugs (or jumping off a cliff) you should think for yourself.
And you were probably told it was bad to be a sheep and just follow the crowd.
And you probably saw some "real fans" of bands/comics/whatever being scornful towards "phoneys" who were just "pretending".
And you might have been given the impression that picking up some new hobby because a cute member of the opposite sex is into it was somehow insincere or cringe-worthy.
And if some of the activities were expensive by your family's standards, you might have been asked if you really wanted to do whatever.
I can imagine how a person who over-thought this sort of stuff could have ended up thinking they shouldn't, say, go to a baseball game if they don't like baseball.
No, absolutely not. Young people are more connected than they have ever been before, just now they are connected in some of the most unhealthy and detrimental manners possible. Instead of connecting with friends in real life, they form communities on social media, in discord channels, in video games, etc. The consequences are just barely starting to show themselves. As for the why, I think they are many reasons. The…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't disagree with the comment, but whenever people talk about a "love of the USA", I always want to ask what is it that you love? To stereotype a bit, I'm guessing that it will not be the federal government (despite a strong reverence for the flag of that government).
The deeper issue is that a pessimism about our country will become self-fulfilling. So, it's not useful. I think the USA is amazing in that it attracts the most ambitious people in the world, provides relative stability for them to work and live, and that it has managed to create such a stable society given the heterogeneous nature of its culture. It has a lot of problems, but I'd much rather be here than in the comm…