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Kids These Days

smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net

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Re: Kids These Days

#21

Post by TFNA »

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 really true for the average young internet user today: the corporate platforms centered around phone apps seek to maximize engagement, not provide community.

It is a small number of people who will ever step outside the walled gardens and explore other spaces, but they might find even those other spaces unfulfilling as a sense of community. The fediverse has copied a lot of pathologies from corporate social media. Forums are ever fewer and with a graying demographic that won't necessary give a young person a feeling of connection with peers. Discord does offer some of the close-knitness of old-school IRC, but discoverability is a challenge.

Re: Kids These Days

#23

Post by BeetleB »

matchbok3 wrote: post #15
goolz wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I specifically do not want kids because it feels like I would be shortchanging them. I imagine all generations think it was better in their day. But you are right. Owning a car is absurdly expensive, public transit is pretty grim in the US and definitely not cheap, plus our food supply is literal slop. Even the cheap stuff is expensive now. It is truly depressing. I can’t imagine being a kid who has to navigate all t…

Shortchanging? Do you have any idea what a "typical" middle class lifestyle was like in the 1960s? (Not the romanticized one). Do you think they were eating organic avocados? Life and technology and healthcare and many other things are objectively better in many, many ways.

> Do you have any idea what a "typical" middle class lifestyle was like in the 1960s?

You mean the one where they could have 3 kids, send them to college, and graduate with no debt?

One of my professors went to UC Berkeley in the 60's. Inflation adjusted, his cost was $700 (I forget if this was per semester or per year).

Re: Kids These Days

#24

Post by TFNA »

jsisto wrote: post #3

> They have access to cheap travel, better food What cheap travel? Better food compared to when? Most kids are obese eating poisoned food.

It seems uncontroversial to say that young people now, and for the last 25 years, have access to cheaper travel than previous generations. The network of budget airlines in Europe, Asia, and MENA is extensive; I can often find a WizzAir flight for as little as 10€ if I'm willing to fly with just a smaller carry-on. As for long-distance bus travel, FlixBus in Europe sucks in so many ways and has a monopoly over whole countries, but its tickets (if you purchase well in advance) are often cheaper than the local operators that one had to use before.

Re: Kids These Days

#25

Post by EA-3167 »

hyperhello wrote: post #18

[flagged]

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.

Re: Kids These Days

#26

Post by ks2048 »

bluGill wrote: post #10
jsisto wrote: post #3

> They have access to cheap travel, better food What cheap travel? Better food compared to when? Most kids are obese eating poisoned food.

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.

Re: Kids These Days

#28

Post by ks2048 »

> Teenagers drink less, smoke less, and are less likely to die in car accidents.

Why would he put "drink less" is reasons why teens should be happier?

Re: Kids These Days

#29

Post by jimbokun »

ks2048 wrote: post #28

> Teenagers drink less, smoke less, and are less likely to die in car accidents. Why would he put "drink less" is reasons why teens should be happier?

The author discusses at length how the conclusions we reach about social media are strongly tied to our personal values and what we consider “good” or “bad” outcomes.

Re: Kids These Days

#30

Post by recursive »

ks2048 wrote: post #28

> Teenagers drink less, smoke less, and are less likely to die in car accidents. Why would he put "drink less" is reasons why teens should be happier?

Don't know about the research, but I've always assumed that drinking has some correlation with psychological pathology. I drink myself, and would self-diagnose myself as being happy. However, drinking, particularly heavy drinking seems correlated to problems.
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