Over the last few years, it has become accepted knowledge that the internet — mainly social media and, lately, AI tools — was damaging the mental health of kids and increasing the suicide rate amon…
I consider participation in online communities one of the most intellectually interesting things I do every day.
That sounds kind of depressing? If this is genuinely the most intellectually interesting in your day, do you never wonder what you could be doing instead?
I have by now been participating in online communities for more than two thirds of my life. Started regularly doing so at age 10, in my early 30s now. So it is somewhat difficult for me to imagine a life where I don’t do it.
But I am absolutely certain that it has turned me into a smarter person than I would be without it.
So it is somewhat difficult for me to imagine a life where I don’t do it.
Contradicts this:
But I am absolutely certain that it has turned me into a smarter person than I would be without it.
Is what I’m saying. Meaning no offense, but the “I cannot imagine life without it” is kind of indicative of the brain rot people are talking about here.
If there is anything detrimental to intellectual development it’s things that leave you unable to imagine life without it. It makes you less likely to try something new and question your beliefs and habits.
Not arguing for or against here, but that’s not a very good test. I can’t imagine what my life would have been like without my best friend of over 20 years, but I can still say for certain that I’m in a vastly better place than I would have been without them. Even if I just limit it to my intellectual development.
There are valid criticisms of social media, but I don’t think that’s one of them.
Fair enough, but I think the point is less about the inability to imagine an alternative and more about outsourcing agency or thought. This is something Byung-Chul Han’s writes about: religion, social media, capitalism, etc. can become frameworks we rely on so deeply that we stop questioning them. It is undermining our ability to think for ourselves and question our beliefs.
A 20-year friendship is obviously a very different kind of thing. Maybe a friend you are far too dependent upon and doesn’t want you to hang out with other people is a more fitting comparison to most people’s relation to social media.
That sounds kind of depressing? If this is genuinely the most intellectually interesting in your day, do you never wonder what you could be doing instead?
I have by now been participating in online communities for more than two thirds of my life. Started regularly doing so at age 10, in my early 30s now. So it is somewhat difficult for me to imagine a life where I don’t do it.
But I am absolutely certain that it has turned me into a smarter person than I would be without it.
This:
Contradicts this:
Is what I’m saying. Meaning no offense, but the “I cannot imagine life without it” is kind of indicative of the brain rot people are talking about here.
If there is anything detrimental to intellectual development it’s things that leave you unable to imagine life without it. It makes you less likely to try something new and question your beliefs and habits.
Not arguing for or against here, but that’s not a very good test. I can’t imagine what my life would have been like without my best friend of over 20 years, but I can still say for certain that I’m in a vastly better place than I would have been without them. Even if I just limit it to my intellectual development.
There are valid criticisms of social media, but I don’t think that’s one of them.
Fair enough, but I think the point is less about the inability to imagine an alternative and more about outsourcing agency or thought. This is something Byung-Chul Han’s writes about: religion, social media, capitalism, etc. can become frameworks we rely on so deeply that we stop questioning them. It is undermining our ability to think for ourselves and question our beliefs.
A 20-year friendship is obviously a very different kind of thing. Maybe a friend you are far too dependent upon and doesn’t want you to hang out with other people is a more fitting comparison to most people’s relation to social media.
And intentionally makes you feel bad all the time so you keep talking to them.
Dunning-Kruger effect in full display here…