In my humble opinion, you have mindless YouTuber entertainment, misuse of iPhones and Android phones (ie. 'checking' every minute which turns into unnecessary fiddling sesion), constant social media maintenance, and an over abundance of cheap videos games (like Fortnite and smartphone games) which require significantly more amounts of time than those 'old' games up through the PS1 era. Also an extreme over-abundance of something-else too which I'm not going to list here. At the end of the day though, it probably always circles back to the level of effective parental engagement and presence.
This isn't just a millennials vs Gen X'rs (me) vs. Boomers thing either.
This isn't just a millennials vs Gen X'rs (me) vs. Boomers thing either.
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All kidding aside (HAH) the Advanced Placement courses kids are taking in high school are pretty remarkable, the science projects my wife has judge for high school kids -- some are on the par with grad students in biology and chemistry.
Just my worms-eye view, but the high school kids on the upper part of intelligence spectrum are getting phenomenal education while those between around the mean are probably just "satisfactory".
One "C"-student friend of my sons blossomed unbelievably in robotics for applications in pharma, another nephew got kicked out of college, spent a couple quarters at junior college while stocking grocery shelves, back in an engineering program -- now has two patent application in biomechanical devices, and he's only 23!
Just my worms-eye view, but the high school kids on the upper part of intelligence spectrum are getting phenomenal education while those between around the mean are probably just "satisfactory".
One "C"-student friend of my sons blossomed unbelievably in robotics for applications in pharma, another nephew got kicked out of college, spent a couple quarters at junior college while stocking grocery shelves, back in an engineering program -- now has two patent application in biomechanical devices, and he's only 23!
Agree, many people are attracted to intelligence, sure. But we must also recognize that people are attracted to physical strength (the high-school jock, professional athletes), to the capacity for violence (many women, in particular, are attracted to cops and soldiers), to wealth, political power, influence, social standing, et cetera. Lots of things other than intelligence, in other words.
Many of the smartest people I know live lonely lives, while half-witted football jocks are mobbed by would-be friends and would-be partners. It seems that a little bit of intelligence may be attractive, but a lot of it is usually disconcerting.
-Gnobuddy
A few years before I left Los Angeles for good, the city experienced an extreme weather anomaly: tornado-force winds that felled hundreds of trees, downed dozens of power lines, and even ripped the roofs off gas-station forecourts.
Part of the aftermath was that many areas experienced several days without electricity; my doctor's office was shut down for five days, for example, with no electricity, no computers, and no access to their (fully computerized) medical records.
During those five days, I met with a friend at a local restaurant, a few days before she and her husband were scheduled to move to Oregon. The restaurant was packed as I'd never seen it packed before. There were even people standing around outside the restaurant, several feet deep, waiting to get in.
Inside, virtually everybody was poking at their phone, and most of the phones were awkwardly plugged into the nearest wall outlet. That's when I realized what was going on: the restaurant was running on a generator, and all of these desperate people were there to charge their phones, not to eat. They had no power at home, hadn't been able to charge their phones, and were suffering the usual withdrawal symptoms that plague all addicts who've been forced to go cold-turkey.
Along the same lines, I read about a research study conducted on college-age students a few years ago, in which volunteers were asked to place their phone inside a bag, move away, sit down, and report how they felt at various intervals. As time went by, increasing numbers of subjects reported feelings of anxiety, fear, the feeling that they had become disconnected from the world and nobody cared about them any longer, et cetera.
What was truly shocking was that many of them began experiencing these withdrawal symptoms within fifteen minutes. About as long as it might take a toddler separated from mommy to become anxious, in other words. Only these were adults, not babies, and it wasn't mommy that was missing, it was their 'phone.
We definitely live in a strange new world; people are different than they used to be in some significant ways, there will soon be more plastic than fish in the ocean, et cetera.
-Gnobuddy
And Gen Y and Z will blame the boomers for filling the oceans with plastic. A lot of younger people are very pissed off with the mess their parents have left the world in. Rightly or wrongly....
Gnobuddy:
We are mainly latin, and it is said that latins are more adept to cultivate friendship than anglo. Still so, ultimately happens that when some friends join together in a restaurant, a bar, a pub, to share a mate or an asado, most younger people are adhered to their (supposed) friend(s) in the social nets than those with who are sharing a moment face to face. Very strange from my point of view.
We are mainly latin, and it is said that latins are more adept to cultivate friendship than anglo. Still so, ultimately happens that when some friends join together in a restaurant, a bar, a pub, to share a mate or an asado, most younger people are adhered to their (supposed) friend(s) in the social nets than those with who are sharing a moment face to face. Very strange from my point of view.
I'll ramble on a bit here....
The hidden evil master is what appears to control the masses.
Causing dependency on tiny little glowing screens.....
Whipping up "feel good" drugs designed as "apps" for these vulnerable masses to become addicted to.
Dependency - something addicts with weak minds succumb to easily.
It doesn't matter if it's drugs, alcohol, or that tiny glowing screen.
But that tiny glowing screen is a bit different monster.....
It's controlling factor is manipulative, by the app gods.
I'll say again "control of the masses".
And the pathetic thing about it all is that IF the social media/internet sites go down, these poor souls will be lost, scrambling for something to replace their addiction.
Because they've allowed thermselves to become addicted zombies.
I'd do just fine should a global internet go down.
I did fine before it came along, and my pre-internet experience, along with my self-taught common sense and good upbringing will get me through.
The hidden evil master is what appears to control the masses.
Causing dependency on tiny little glowing screens.....
Whipping up "feel good" drugs designed as "apps" for these vulnerable masses to become addicted to.
Dependency - something addicts with weak minds succumb to easily.
It doesn't matter if it's drugs, alcohol, or that tiny glowing screen.
But that tiny glowing screen is a bit different monster.....
It's controlling factor is manipulative, by the app gods.
I'll say again "control of the masses".
And the pathetic thing about it all is that IF the social media/internet sites go down, these poor souls will be lost, scrambling for something to replace their addiction.
Because they've allowed thermselves to become addicted zombies.
I'd do just fine should a global internet go down.
I did fine before it came along, and my pre-internet experience, along with my self-taught common sense and good upbringing will get me through.
IMHO, it behooves us to deeply understand what's being discussed in these last few posts. These devices are like a disease on one hand, an indispensable tool on the other. How to keep the tool part without acquiring the disease?
Its not just the young people today, and never having experienced anything beyond their little plastic screens. It seems like the whole planet is just dumber now. Hardly anyone seems to know how to get around without their new-fangled automobiles and jets. In the old days people walked, rode their horses or took a boat across the ocean. Now days almost everyone is too stupid to know how to ride a horse...just wait until all of the cars break down.
I am not a millennial, I am almost 50, but that is pretty much what this thread looks like. There was a recent study that showed that Millenials are actually more patient than older generations. Other studies show that every generation thinks the previous generation is lazier and dumber but has very little self-awareness of their own position when they were the younger generation. All the older people I know can't figure out how to use the universal remote to turn on the TV, DVD and Receiver at the same time or how to link their Nest Thermostat to their Smart Home Hub. What a bunch of dummies. Is knowing how to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together the sign of real genius, or stocking up on waterproof matches?
I am not a millennial, I am almost 50, but that is pretty much what this thread looks like. There was a recent study that showed that Millenials are actually more patient than older generations. Other studies show that every generation thinks the previous generation is lazier and dumber but has very little self-awareness of their own position when they were the younger generation. All the older people I know can't figure out how to use the universal remote to turn on the TV, DVD and Receiver at the same time or how to link their Nest Thermostat to their Smart Home Hub. What a bunch of dummies. Is knowing how to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together the sign of real genius, or stocking up on waterproof matches?
I don't think that internet per se is a bad thing. In fact we are here more or less together, sharing knowledge thanks to internet. I learned lots of things from Google and more specifically from Google Patents, and downloaded tons of music that I never would been if no internet (Mainly live concerts that never would came to a disk), and some old books of electronics from the 40's and 50´s in the apogee of tubes era, that I never had seen if no internet exist.
But the bad use of the internet is like a bad use of a hammer: you can use it to make a house or to kill a person. It depends of how it is used, not on the thing itself.
But the bad use of the internet is like a bad use of a hammer: you can use it to make a house or to kill a person. It depends of how it is used, not on the thing itself.
I remember reading an early Scientific American article praising the automobile as a solution to the Horse Sh1t pollution problem in NY City.
All solutions create new problems.
All solutions create new problems.
"It seems just the medium has changed? YouTube" - Wow. A lead singer using a mic with a cord on it. How 70's!
Now I'm imagining someone asking "what's the wire for!?!" ;')
Now I'm imagining someone asking "what's the wire for!?!" ;')
I have the same reaction. I first noticed this phenomenon about ten years ago, in the coffee-shops and diners near the junior college where I taught at the time. Instead of sitting together and chatting animatedly as college students have always done, there would be one isolated person at each table, and that one person would be poking at his/her phone.
You're definitely right that adult Americans typically don't socialize as much as adult people from some other cultures, but young people in their teens and twenties tend to be at their most social. This is the age, after all, at which many of us find our deepest friendships, and if we are lucky, maybe find the love of our lives too. So I found it particularly disturbing to see all these college students ignoring each other.
Not long after that I began to see families doing the same thing at restaurants - mom, dad, and the kids, each one poking at their own phone, sitting at the same table, but completely ignoring each other.
Based on my personal experiences, Canadians are far more friendly than Americans, but even here in British Columbia, there is a sea-change underway. When I encounter an older Canadian person, whether on a sidewalk, grocery store, or doctor's office, he/she will typically smile, make room for me, et cetera. An unspoken statement to the effect that "I see and acknowledge your presence, and I am glad of it."
Younger Canadians are much more likely to not notice me at all, or to respond only with mild irritation - more of an unspoken "You're in my way!" than any kind of friendly acknowledgement.
It's ironic that the generation with the most "friends" online also seems to be the one that has the fewest friends in real life - the kind of real friend who will actually trouble themselves to help you when needed, or care about your problems more than your vacation "selfies".
-Gnobuddy
I know about this fact although I don' live it personally. In 2002 my brother Rolando emigrate from Argentina to Madrid, Spain, and he found there a large similitude between cultures. Obvious that we have mostly Italian and Spanish ancestors. But in 2014 he went to Kansas, in USA and found a very different culture, appears than the live much more alone than us here. It isn't criticizable, anyone is like is, but differences seems to be big.
I've pondered exactly the same conundrum, and my personal conclusion is that it's very much like asking the question "How can I enjoy heroin (the #1 most addictive substance on earth, apparently) without acquiring an addiction to it?"
I'm not being flippant at all - I think that the smartphone has evolved in such a way that it now takes advantage of natural weaknesses in the human brain that trigger extreme addiction. Like heroin, you mess with it at your own risk. Like heroin, once the addiction sets in, it is incredibly difficult to quit. Like heroin, the only sure way to avoid addiction is to completely avoid the stuff.
I have met many new smartphone owners who are aware of the phone dependency problem, and who plan never to become addicted; but a few years later, they pull out their phone every two minutes while in conversation with you, as addicted as everybody else. Their good intentions did not protect them; the "heroin" was too addictive.
I'm very thankful that diyAudio does not have a "like" button; so seemingly innocent, but so dangerously addictive. Once there is a possibility that other people might "like" your post, each new post you compose is like tossing the dice at the gaming table, wondering what you might win (burst of happy brain chemicals in anticipation); and each "like" you actually receive fires off a burst of dopamine in your brain, another hit of happy brain chemicals to reinforce the behaviour. Pretty soon, you're addicted to receiving as many "likes" from total strangers as you can get...meaningless, empty, and ultimately, very tragic.
Incidentally, I chose to stay away from the electronic heroin, as it's the only way I know of to avoid the addiction. I do not have a smartphone, and do not plan to get one. (Though I suspect it's only a matter of time before I find myself unable to file my taxes or book a doctor's appointment without one.)
I wouldn't want to be without a computer, nor to be permanently disconnected from the Internet; those things can be addictive enough, but they're nowhere near as dangerously addictive as smartphones have proven to be. Neither goes with me everywhere I go, all day, always within arm's reach, as a phone does.
-Gnobuddy