Has anyone else noticed a bizarre tendency for people to argue that social media and digital communication tech generally has absolutely nothing wrong with it and that anyone who says otherwise is a pearl clutching Luddite?

This is exactly why the comparison to prior technological innovations like books and chalkboard tablets (iirc that's the Socrates one, that's the really profoundly annoying "haha gotcha!" one I always see people throw out) makes me SO ANGRY. You don't get an immediate narcotic dopamine hit off of reading a book for long stretches of time or using fucking chalkboards or whatever; they're categorically different interfaces that have totally distinct effects on the brain and behavior. I swear to god people go so far out of their way to pretend as if their constant gazing into their screens and total absence from situations or even basic tasks isn't only somehow innocuous but either totally acceptable and unremarkable or like, somehow actually politically forward thinking because they're so constantly plugged in.

Like it's bad for people my age, but sometimes I see my sister and her friends (17-19 years old) and they're so much worse about it despite just a 2 year age gap, and pre-teens are even more addled by it by like, a factor of several dozen. It really fucking disturbs me more than I can say.

I've been thinking about getting rid of my smartphone to be perfectly honest - I lost it for about 3 days and after the initial stress faded I definitely felt the freest I've felt in like, the past 4 years. It's sort of weird recognizing just how out-of-time-and-space they make you and how little you interact with your physical environment in even the most basic ways as a result of them.

/r/DarkFuturology Thread Parent