Just came across this article about a book titled:

The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing An Epidemic of Mental Illness

I haven’t read it, but I’m a little concerned that the article has zero mention of the built environment. Thoughts?

    • astraeus@programming.dev
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      7 months ago

      It’s a good counterpoint on the book’s premise, but I think completely disagreeing with the potential for social media to cause mental harm is toxic and avoids a conversation worth engaging with. If we are going to give our kids social media or highly incentivizing games at a young age, we should be prepared for a generation that is completely dependent on artificial dopamine rushes.

      Of course the science will have a hard time proving that when there’s hundreds of billions of dollars invested against finding substantial evidence to suggest social media and gaming can create toxic feedback loops.

  • astraeus@programming.dev
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    7 months ago

    Doesn’t mention what transitioned the Millenials into phones: The Game Boy. And before that, the television. However television is much more passive than gaming, the video games came first then social media and mobile phones gamified real-life simulation.

    Edit: I like games as much as the next person, but come on let’s be real. I have a very difficult time putting my phone down and when I was a kid I had a difficult time putting the Game Boy down. It’s a habit first. It’s a dependence second.