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We may not like what we become if A.I. solves loneliness

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Re: We may not like what we become if A.I. solves loneliness

#511

Post by watwut »

HPsquared wrote: post #394
RugnirViking wrote: post #386

Earlier quoted context omitted.

where is it illegal in Europe? I've not encountered this yet and I've lived here my whole life. It's always struck me as a weird puritanical American thing Looked online and found maps suggesting eastern Europe has more laws relating to it, although many of them in practice don't apply

Nordics, Eastern parts (except Czechia), even many parts of the UK have byelaws (e.g. Glasgow). Illegal in Russia and Ukraine too.

Russians drink anywhere and everywhere. Including cops themselves. Polish and Slovaks too. Ukraine has war related prohibition, other then that? Where exactly eastern is it not allowed (or not completely normalized to the point locals would be surprised there is such law)?

Re: We may not like what we become if A.I. solves loneliness

#512

Post by TheOtherHobbes »

mgraczyk wrote: post #456
kjkjadksj wrote: post #443

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A night out literally costs 5x as much as 10 years ago

First, young people make a lot more than they did 10 years ago (both nominally and inflation adjusted). Second, no it does not cost 5x as much, closer to 15-20% more based on all the data I could find. Anecdotally in San Francisco, NYC, and Austin it is maybe 2x more at the most expensive places. EDIT: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LEU0252882200Q

This would be more convincing if you quoted data.

Nothing on FRED suggests you're correct.

Re: We may not like what we become if A.I. solves loneliness

#513

Post by oneeyedpigeon »

Uehreka wrote: post #462
anal_reactor wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bullshit. Most people can afford grabbing a beer in a supermarket and going to the park. They just choose not to. I think the real change is that nowadays it's just easier and more practical NOT to maintain friendships. Yes, it's lonely, but it's more efficient.

> Most people can afford grabbing a beer in a supermarket and going to the park. This is illegal in almost all of the USA. Sometimes you can get away with it, but if the cops decide to enforce the law on a particular day you’ll get a ticket.

For the land of the free, America sure does have some weirdly authoritarian laws, many of them relating to alcohol!

Re: We may not like what we become if A.I. solves loneliness

#514

Post by davis »

Nathanba wrote: post #335
egypturnash wrote: post #295

It's not going to solve loneliness. It's just going to provide a weak substitute for actual socialization. Talking with actual humans but only over the internet is not enough, I have been there and it was a terrible trap, it provided just enough to make it possible for me to avoid physical socialization, while not giving me enough to actually thrive; we need to get out and be in the same place with other people, doin…

Real humans are also fake and they are also traps who are waiting to catch you when you say something they don't like. Then they also use every word and piece of information as ammunition against you, ironically sort of similar to the criticism always levied against online platforms who track you and what you say. AI robots are going to easily replace real humans because compared to most real humans the AI is already…

Man, you need to hang around different and good people if this is your world view.

Re: We may not like what we become if A.I. solves loneliness

#515

Post by [deleted] »

oneeyedpigeon wrote: post #513
Uehreka wrote: post #462

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Most people can afford grabbing a beer in a supermarket and going to the park. This is illegal in almost all of the USA. Sometimes you can get away with it, but if the cops decide to enforce the law on a particular day you’ll get a ticket.

For the land of the free, America sure does have some weirdly authoritarian laws, many of them relating to alcohol!

[deleted]

Re: We may not like what we become if A.I. solves loneliness

#516

Post by LadyCailin »

mcmcmc wrote: post #419
bebeskids wrote: post #407

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Parks, libraries are cheap and free and they're dead where I live, a metro area of 2+ million The only people I see out are families with grandpa in tow to pay for a mediocre overpriced wood fired pizza. No one has analog skills. Just social analysis skills. Very briefly dated a 39 year old who admitted she had never baked, boiled, or microwaved her own potato. Already got 2 kids. We reach endgame sooner in life. We…

Library funding is being slashed in the US and actively attacked by right wing fundamentalist who view them as “woke socialism”

They are. The problem is that people have a problem with that.

Re: We may not like what we become if A.I. solves loneliness

#517

Post by Den_VR »

armada651 wrote: post #402
dfxm12 wrote: post #395

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is more a function of dense population centers. Having lived in many places, I went out more in the denser areas. There are more options and they are all up and down the price spectrum. In sparse areas, going to the same few options over and over again isn't fun, and they tend to be more expensive, maybe due to lack of competition.

It's a result of mix-use neighborhoods. In Tokyo your house is usually in the middle of a neighborhood that includes restaurants, shops and other businesses rather than a suburb completely devoid of everything except single-family homes.

This is a big part of it. Or more generally, zoning and the cost of housing (now investments) is behind many socioeconomic issues in 2025.

Re: We may not like what we become if A.I. solves loneliness

#518

Post by watwut »

zhivota wrote: post #366
Aurornis wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You're seeing people being social because you're going to those situations. No, I’m saying the same social activities are more popular now than they were 10-20 years ago. I’ve been doing some of the same activities and going on some of the same hikes, bikes, runs, trails, and parks on and off for two decades. The popularity of these activities has exploded. Even previously hidden trails and hikes are now very busy…

What you're missing is that the activities you're doing were not the activities people were largely doing 10-20 years ago to be social. Going to bars was probably at least 100x more popular than hiking, so even if you see a 10x growth in hiking, if going to bars goes down even 10%, it dwarfs hiking's contribution to overall social activity of the population.

I feel like some of the cultural outrages and doomerism are getting ridiculous. People do not drink as much alcohol as they used to, we are doomed! People actually avoid situation that make them drink and drive, we are doomed! Teenagers have less sex then before, take less drugs, commit less crime, we are doomed!

Cant wait for "kids play less videogames, we are doomed!" round.

Re: We may not like what we become if A.I. solves loneliness

#519

Post by deepfriedchokes »

SoftTalker wrote: post #464
soulofmischief wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is definitely a thing here in Louisiana. Drinking in public or while driving is a proud tradition. Take a trip to New Orleans for the extreme end of it, but we have drive-through Daiquiri shops all over and at least half of the people I grew up with have at least one DUI and I've never thought twice about being outside with a drink in my hand, as rarely as I do drink (I do refuse to drink and drive and am constant…

Savannah Georgia is another example. Taking a "traveler" when you leave a bar is pretty common.

We call these “roadies” where I live.

Re: We may not like what we become if A.I. solves loneliness

#520

Post by bee_rider »

esseph wrote: post #453
Aurornis wrote: post #383

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have more bars than ever before. Existing bars have expanded a lot. Bars are crowded and some even have lines now.

This is very unique to the locale you are at, and the economic conditions of that area. I am in a "top 20" US city and all of these things are in extreme decline.

Cities wax and wane. A commenter a couple posts up in this chain (fwiw, they were arguing on the “there is a decline” side) shared a story with a 5% decrease. That’s not nothing, but it isn’t an extreme decline.
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