Check⁉️  How smartphones are dooming a generation

https://thespectator.com/topic/jonathan-...eneration/

INTRO: Something strange is happening with teenagers’ mental health. In the US, Britain, Australia and beyond, the same trend can be seen: around the middle of the last decade, the number of young people with anxiety, depression and even suicidal tendencies started to rise sharply. Jonathan Haidt, a psychology professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, noticed a change when students who were brought up with smartphones started to arrive on campus. They were angrier. More fragile. More likely to take offense.

Social media, he concluded, was shaping their view that society is in permanent conflict, which in turn led to ideas about microaggressions and competitive victimhood. All this, he found, was damaging young people’s mental health. He is working on a book, due out next year, and is ready to share his thesis.

We meet in unusual circumstances: over a videolink and in front of an audience at a conference in London. What he says draws gasps and applause from those watching, though his message is quite horrifying.

He argues that the tools of social media are just too sharp for young minds. On digital platforms teens parade themselves, often to an audience of strangers, and this is leading to addiction, paranoia and despair. For girls, the effect is especially acute. “What we’re seeing is a very sharp, sudden change in girls’ mental health all around the Anglosphere and the Nordic countries,” he says. A big change was evident from 2013, when physical friendship groups started to be supplanted by smartphones and online chat. “But you cannot grow up in networks. You have to grow up in communities.”

It is striking that boys who have religion in their lives seem to be less susceptible. “If you’re a kid who’s a religious conservative, on average, your mental health is not really much worse than it was ten years ago. But if you’re a secular liberal girl, you’re probably more than twice as likely to have a mental health problem.” He cites a University of Michigan survey into “self-derogation” — i.e., how likely teenagers are to say they are “no good” or “can’t do anything right.” Figures had been stable for years but started rising sharply ten years ago — except for among boys who identified as conservative and said that religion was important to them.

Faith, it seems, does not help girls as much. Why not? One theory is that girls simply use social media more. But Professor Haidt also thinks they are more likely to buy into what he calls the “three great untruths” of social media. The first is that they are fragile and can be harmed by speech and words. Next, that their emotions, and especially their anxieties, are reliable guides to reality. And finally, that society is one big battle between victims and oppressors. All this, he says, is the subtext to social media discourse... (MORE - details)

Quote:It is striking that boys who have religion in their lives seem to be less susceptible. “If you’re a kid who’s a religious conservative, on average, your mental health is not really much worse than it was ten years ago.

Which is to say, being already screwed up by religion prevents you from being screwed up again any further.

(Nov 5, 2023 08:14 PM)Magical Realist Wrote:

Quote:It is striking that boys who have religion in their lives seem to be less susceptible. “If you’re a kid who’s a religious conservative, on average, your mental health is not really much worse than it was ten years ago.

Which is to say, being already screwed up by religion prevents you from being screwed up again any further.

Way to confirm your bias and apparently completely stop reading from there.

Figures had been stable for years but started rising sharply ten years ago — except for among boys who identified as conservative and said that religion was important to them.

Which completely contradicts your erroneous conclusion.

Ah, dang it! I hate when I have to take his side.

I agree, MR. You did a quick little twirl and a little [look what I can do!]

Here’s the full interview.

Haidt’s article on social media was pretty good, and I liked his biblical metaphor.

"The story of Babel is the best metaphor I have found for what happened to America in the 2010s, and for the fractured country we now inhabit. Something went terribly wrong, very suddenly. We are disoriented, unable to speak the same language or recognize the same truth. We are cut off from one another and from the past."

"Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid."

In the 'what's left to love', material possessions category....I'd wager that practically everyone loves owning a smartphone. I think its taken over from the car. Money still #1 I figure.

"The age-adjusted suicide rate in 2021 was 14.04 per 100,000 individuals.
The rate of suicide is highest in middle-aged white men.
In 2021, men died by suicide 3.90x more than women.
On average, there are 132 suicides per day.
White males accounted for 69.68% of suicide deaths in 2021.
In 2021, firearms accounted for 54.64% of all suicide deaths."--
https://afsp.org/suicide-statistics/

I hardly think this has anything to do with cellphones or "secular liberalism"..

(Nov 5, 2023 10:43 PM)Secular Sanity Wrote: [...] Here’s the full interview. [...]

"Those countries where there was a lot of Independence and and young people were not deeply rooted in communities, in religious communities, and in families, there was a lot of individualism in those countries. When everything changed around 2012, all the kids got smartphones or they all the girls went on Instagram. It's right around then that in the Anglosphere countries the girls especially get washed away. You cannot grow up in networks, you have to grow up in communities."

I'd expect any organization or weekly program that connected kids and young people to the local community, its ethics, and developed their public speaking and social skills would accomplish similar.

If you don't know people and they don't know you, and you don't engage in physically present activities with them, then you're going to tumble-off into anomie and isolation (or the substance abusing white-trash and inner-city hipster crowd).

But in many places, churches and synagogues and temples and mosques are the only thing available to provide that integration with the community.

They're also often the food bank source for poor and elderly people in small towns, and in some places they're not allowed to proselytize to the lines (i.e, they can't be accused of doing it out of opportunistic altruism).

There are "helpers" that also provide all kinds of services to the needy. We know one couple who formerly owned a business in another state, who left the initial church they decided on here because it just wasn't providing them with enough things to do. Their next choice has all kinds of projects going on, and keeps their free time constantly gobbled-up, which seems to be what they wanted.

"..You cannot grow up in networks, you have to grow up in communities."
Sez them what grew up in communities. Any new normal isn't 'normal' for those who didn't grow up with it.
I spent today digging a pond in the hope of attracting frogs and newts. Using Minecraft (I think) I could have built a better pond and filled it with frogs and newts without having to wait and see whether the animals liked it - or even found it.
Half of all females are going to be of below average intelligence and half of all males are going to be of above average intelligence. A clever male or female will exploit anything they can limited only by .. I really don't know what. I think it is probably too late to assume God will provide an answer - he/she has been silent for many years now. You want that every communication should be vetted by AI .. or government? You vote for the government that best represents your standards of morality .. which may well be none?

(Nov 6, 2023 05:09 PM)Magical Realist Wrote: "The age-adjusted suicide rate in 2021 was 14.04 per 100,000 individuals.
The rate of suicide is highest in middle-aged white men.
In 2021, men died by suicide 3.90x more than women.
On average, there are 132 suicides per day.
White males accounted for 69.68% of suicide deaths in 2021.
In 2021, firearms accounted for 54.64% of all suicide deaths."--
https://afsp.org/suicide-statistics/

I hardly think this has anything to do with cellphones or "secular liberalism"..

Off running to confirm your bias again.

You already forgot that the OP was about teenagers, who have grown up with smart phones and social media.

As to general suicide rates:

After adjusting for social support measures, religious service attendance is not especially protective against suicidal ideation, but does protect against suicide attempts, and possibly protects against suicide.
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7310534/

And women have more suicidal ideation and attempts, but men who attempt it succeed more: https://cams-care.com/resources/educatio...f-suicide/
So only accounting for deaths is not intellectually honest.

(Nov 6, 2023 07:26 PM)C C Wrote:

(Nov 5, 2023 10:43 PM)Secular Sanity Wrote: [...] Here’s the full interview. [...]

"Those countries where there was a lot of Independence and and young people were not deeply rooted in communities, in religious communities, and in families, there was a lot of individualism in those countries. When everything changed around 2012, all the kids got smartphones or they all the girls went on Instagram. It's right around then that in the Anglosphere countries the girls especially get washed away. You cannot grow up in networks, you have to grow up in communities."

I'd expect any organization or weekly program that connected kids and young people to the local community, its ethics, and developed their public speaking and social skills would accomplish similar.

If you don't know people and they don't know you, and you don't engage in physically present activities with them, then you're going to tumble-off into anomie and isolation (or the substance abusing white-trash and inner-city hipster crowd).

But in many places, churches and synagogues and temples and mosques are the only thing available to provide that integration with the community.

They're also often the food bank source for poor and elderly people in small towns, and in some places they're not allowed to proselytize to the lines (i.e, they can't be accused of doing it out of opportunistic altruism). 

There are "helpers" that also provide all kinds of services to the needy. We know one couple who formerly owned a business in another state, who left the initial church they decided on here because it just wasn't providing them with enough things to do. Their next choice has all kinds of projects going on, and keeps their free time constantly gobbled-up, which seems to be what they wanted.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. 

The performatives aspects, content creation and feedback, etc., can’t be could for developing minds. Just think about the things that even parents post about their own children, e.g., jokes, embarrassing moments, and whatnot. Their sense of trust and security must take a huge hit.

Who are we kidding though, it’s not just developing minds, it’s everyone. A lot of people are prioritizing image over substance, engaging in harmful or unethical behaviors for [likes]. I’ve had dinner or have gone on trips with groups of friends or family, and there’s quite a few that barely engage with the group, while posting about the event. It’s crazy and how about emergency scenes, where everyone has their phones out, but not a helping hand?

I’ve seen you reminisce about the early days of the internet. Searching for gold during the golden age of information was fun, but things have changed. The algorithms prioritize click bate, sensational content, etc., over more informative content. I don’t think we can put the genie back into the bottle due to the profits though—billions! It’s all about that data and now with AI…even more so.

Am I being too pessimistic, CC?

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(Nov 6, 2023 11:49 PM)confused2 Wrote: I spent today digging a pond in the hope of attracting frogs and newts. Using Minecraft (I think) I could have built a better pond and filled it with frogs and newts

Tomorrow, when I have more time, I’m going to go back to that spinning disk topic because I found a couple of very interesting videos on relativity and wanted to get your opinion on them.

But if you’re too busy with your pond, I’ll understand.

Hmm…maybe Mrs. C2 is like my mother in-law, who shoos her hubby out to his shop during the day. That’s my next project, to build a shop.