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With teen mental health deteriorating over five years, there’s a likely culprit

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Re: With teen mental health deteriorating over five years, there’s a likely culprit

#291

Post by debt »

djsumdog wrote: post #228

Before I even started reading, I knew it was going to be an attack at the phone. A few centuries ago, they'd attack books. Look back at videos from the 1950s and people didn't talk to each other on the train back then either, their noses were in books, magazines and newspapers. By the 80s, the nerdy kids had headphones and cassette players. By the 90s, people had discmans. The trouble with articles like this is they…

“...information makes kids more nihilistic. And nihilism isn't a bad thing. The universe is absurd, we have no meaning...”

Lotta leaps in such a short span of text.

Re: With teen mental health deteriorating over five years, there’s a likely culprit

#292

Post by mLuby »

orasis wrote: post #250
djsumdog wrote: post #228

Before I even started reading, I knew it was going to be an attack at the phone. A few centuries ago, they'd attack books. Look back at videos from the 1950s and people didn't talk to each other on the train back then either, their noses were in books, magazines and newspapers. By the 80s, the nerdy kids had headphones and cassette players. By the 90s, people had discmans. The trouble with articles like this is they…

Nihilism is the scourge of our age. It takes courage to create meaning and love life.

That second part sounds pretty nihilist to me. Life has no meaning, so it's up to you to create it (if you want).

Re: With teen mental health deteriorating over five years, there’s a likely culprit

#294

Post by [deleted] »

mLuby wrote: post #292
orasis wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nihilism is the scourge of our age. It takes courage to create meaning and love life.

That second part sounds pretty nihilist to me. Life has no meaning, so it's up to you to create it (if you want).

[deleted]

Re: With teen mental health deteriorating over five years, there’s a likely culprit

#295

Post by Retra »

debt wrote: post #291
djsumdog wrote: post #228

Before I even started reading, I knew it was going to be an attack at the phone. A few centuries ago, they'd attack books. Look back at videos from the 1950s and people didn't talk to each other on the train back then either, their noses were in books, magazines and newspapers. By the 80s, the nerdy kids had headphones and cassette players. By the 90s, people had discmans. The trouble with articles like this is they…

“...information makes kids more nihilistic. And nihilism isn't a bad thing. The universe is absurd, we have no meaning...” Lotta leaps in such a short span of text.

You're looking at a list of assumptions and wondering why it doesn't suffice as a chain of related conclusions?

Re: With teen mental health deteriorating over five years, there’s a likely culprit

#296

Post by cwyers »

Let's look at the OECD stats for teenage suicide worldwide:

> Teenage suicides rates have, on average, declined slightly over the past two decades or so (Chart CO4.4.A). While in 1990 there were, on average across the OECD, 8.5 suicides per 100 000 teenagers (15-19), by 2015 this rate had fallen to 7.4. Much of this decline occurred during the 2000s. Between 1990 and 1999 the OECD average teenage suicide remained fairly stable at around 8.4 suicides per 100,000, but this average fell across the 2000s before reaching a low of 6.3 per 100,000 in 2007. With the exception of 2008, the average rate remained lower than 7.0 until 2014, although it increased slightly in 2014 and 2015.

https://www.oecd.org/els/family/CO_4_4_Teenage-Suicide.pdf

Re: With teen mental health deteriorating over five years, there’s a likely culprit

#297

Post by sago »

eli_gottlieb wrote: post #269
djsumdog wrote: post #228

Before I even started reading, I knew it was going to be an attack at the phone. A few centuries ago, they'd attack books. Look back at videos from the 1950s and people didn't talk to each other on the train back then either, their noses were in books, magazines and newspapers. By the 80s, the nerdy kids had headphones and cassette players. By the 90s, people had discmans. The trouble with articles like this is they…

>The trouble with articles like this is they don't explore the other factors. Maybe the simply access to information makes kids more nihilistic. And nihilism isn't a bad thing. The universe is absurd, we have no meaning except what we give to ourselves (through religion or belief of whatever). Maybe kids are just realizing this, and it has nothing to do with technology? Maybe they're realizing that because of technol…

I think it is no coincidence that in your final paragraph you don't specify the question. Can you formulate a specific question in such a way that an nihilist might answer "No", but you feel that the correct answer is "Mu"?

"What is the meaning of life?" - a nihilist would answer 'mu'.

"Is there any intrinsic meaning to life?" - a nihilist would answer 'no', and it seems to me that 'mu' would be an obvious copout.

Is your point that the word 'meaning' itself is meaningless?

Re: With teen mental health deteriorating over five years, there’s a likely culprit

#298

Post by c8d3f7b49897918 »

thinkloop wrote: post #273
c8d3f7b49897918 wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And nihilism isn't a bad thing. You aren't taking nihilism seriously enough.

Nihilism can be liberating and a source of joy. Why does there have to be "meaning", whatever that is? Perhaps the issue is that we don't prepare young people properly for it and have an over-reliance on "god". Realizing that you can live your life as you wish is amazing.

> Realizing that you can live your life as you wish is amazing.

You aren't taking nihilism seriously enough.

Re: With teen mental health deteriorating over five years, there’s a likely culprit

#300

Post by whateveruser »

Mandatum wrote: post #215
limaoscarjuliet wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For my son (17 y.o.) it is online games and phone use in general. He has - I hope - mild depression, which - I believe - is caused by his online habits. His mom and I thought taking his PC away from him would fix it. But then he falls into school-sleep cycle, that looks like full-blown depression. Yes, his grades are affected and in not a good way. What works for now is to participate in his life with him. As of now…

My parents went through the same thing with me. Turns out I just really, really like computers and I get really, really anxious around new people. That time of your life when everything is awkward and you're full of hormones certainly doesn't help. He's 17 which is the "I think I'm an adult" area. Every 2 years he'll be looking back and thinking, "wow, I was really young". Tread cautiously, treat him like an adult an…

As someone who went through prolonged depression and still barely keeping it at bay, I sometimes get worried sick what I would do if my own (future) kids go through the same.

Looking back, my parents were just too busy and struggling on their own so were just late in trying to help me.

Thank you, this advice will really help me.

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