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Really interesting thing is this discussion about how dangerous screens are in our lives is kind of presaged by William Shatner's book Tek War, where "tek" is a psychic drug of sorts that is weirdly reminiscent of people getting addicted to screen time.

One place I see this more and more is at the movies. People pulling out their phones repeatedly during the movies and scrolling through Facebook or Instagram or whatever meaningless mindless **** instead of watching the movie they paid to see. Not even things like texting or actively communicating with someone, which I could maybe see, but take dumb ****. In one movie my wife and I noted at least 8 people doing this, and 4 of them were in front of us so we could kind of see their screens and they were all scrolling through like news sites or Facebook randomly or whatever. And it was like every 10-20 minutes they pulled their phones out. It was straight up a compulsion. It made us both think of people leaving to have a cigarette. Crazy and frightening really.
 
Really interesting thing is this discussion about how dangerous screens are in our lives is kind of presaged by William Shatner's book Tek War, where "tek" is a psychic drug of sorts that is weirdly reminiscent of people getting addicted to screen time.

One place I see this more and more is at the movies. People pulling out their phones repeatedly during the movies and scrolling through Facebook or Instagram or whatever meaningless mindless **** instead of watching the movie they paid to see. Not even things like texting or actively communicating with someone, which I could maybe see, but take dumb ****. In one movie my wife and I noted at least 8 people doing this, and 4 of them were in front of us so we could kind of see their screens and they were all scrolling through like news sites or Facebook randomly or whatever. And it was like every 10-20 minutes they pulled their phones out. It was straight up a compulsion. It made us both think of people leaving to have a cigarette. Crazy and frightening really.
About ten years ago I told someone that cell phones had replaced cigarettes. You can use your phone to make it look like you're doing something even when you're just standing there waiting for the bus.

Can you imagine if movies accurately portrayed average cell phone use in all of the characters on screen? Movies would be ****.
 
About ten years ago I told someone that cell phones had replaced cigarettes. You can use your phone to make it look like you're doing something even when you're just standing there waiting for the bus.

Can you imagine if movies accurately portrayed average cell phone use in all of the characters on screen? Movies would be ****.
I'd go see it. But I'm a big screen junkie, so I guess that's still a screen, right?
 
I think the reason for the sadness, anger and loneliness is 100% due to screens/internet/smart phones/technology.

We all thought the internet was an awesome resource and it was/is. But its much much more a curse on our species. At least as of right now it is. Maybe things will get better in the future and we can have more happiness, kindness, peace, etc along with having all the amazing technology. But as of now I feel quite confident that screens are hurting us way more than helping us.
I don’t want to say 100%. There is enough credit to spread it around. Drugs, prescription or otherwise. Addictions, of any variety. Thirst for money or power and the things done to get it and how it warps people over time. Abuse and the carnage it spreads to all parties. These things are like compound interest over generations of people. Devastating.

I do agree that the bulk goes to screens though, then waterfalls down somehow.
 
I think the reason for the sadness, anger and loneliness is 100% due to screens/internet/smart phones/technology.

We all thought the internet was an awesome resource and it was/is. But its much much more a curse on our species. At least as of right now it is. Maybe things will get better in the future and we can have more happiness, kindness, peace, etc along with having all the amazing technology. But as of now I feel quite confident that screens are hurting us way more than helping us.

Ive had too much to drink to engage with this properly. tomorrow
 
I think the reason for the sadness, anger and loneliness is 100% due to screens/internet/smart phones/technology.

We all thought the internet was an awesome resource and it was/is. But its much much more a curse on our species. At least as of right now it is. Maybe things will get better in the future and we can have more happiness, kindness, peace, etc along with having all the amazing technology. But as of now I feel quite confident that screens are hurting us way more than helping us.
Parasocial Relationships and use of technology as a layer of anonomization / separation in a way that fosters social cowardice certainly are hurting us. Things are about to get much, much worse as machine generated content becomes good enough to make it impossible to know what is on the other side of the pixels on screen, but I don't think it is screen themselves that are the problem. Use of screens as a means to access and build on science are generally to our benefit. Humans would be greatly served if technically facilitated social networking were banned, but there is no way it would happen. It is too popular. The hooks are in too deep.
 
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Humans would be greatly served if technically facilitated social networking were banned, but there is no way it would happen.
Like these message boards? Or are you referring to something more specific?

(I'm genuinely curious, not trying to come off as snide).
 
Yes, these message boards would be included. Humanity would be better served if we were all down at the pub saying this stupid stuff face to face over a pint.
I don't disagree in theory. But I think I lean more towards social interactions online in moderation being healthier than a wholesale ban.

For example, this very thread. Topics like this one, your thoughts and others, are interesting to me. Perspectives from people outside of my own bubble, that I otherwise might not have been exposed to. I think people having access to that is a good thing, which only becomes a problem when they use it as a replacement for real-life social interactions, instead of as a means to broaden their perspectives.
 
This idiot is saying if woman is wearing shorts and gets raped it is her fault and you know " a man is a man". What a disgusting piece of ****. How can anybody go and listen to such " servant of god"....
 
This idiot is saying if woman is wearing shorts and gets raped it is her fault and you know " a man is a man". What a disgusting piece of ****. How can anybody go and listen to such " servant of god"....
At least he admitted he was wrong.
 
@The Thriller, I’ve seen you post free The Atlantic articles before. I don’t know how to do that yet. If possible, could you post this essay without the pay wall? Just subscribed to The Atlantic, and with essays like this, so glad I did. Some may be able to read anyway, if the message is “this is your last free article”. Recommended very highly!

This is one of the most thoughtful essays I’ve read on our present moment. I decided this thread is a good place for it, not because it’s about MAGA Christianity, it’s not, but because it’s about morality and our present moment, as well as offering solutions to the sadness and meanness permeating our time.

I read this, and my first thought was about time someone cut through the crap and just spelled it out.


“Over the past eight years or so, I’ve been obsessed with two questions. The first is: Why have Americans become so sad? The rising rates of depression have been well publicized, as have the rising deaths of despair from drugs, alcohol, and suicide. But other statistics are similarly troubling. The percentage of people who say they don’t have close friends has increased fourfold since 1990. The share of Americans ages 25 to 54 who weren’t married or living with a romantic partner went up to 38 percent in 2019, from 29 percent in 1990. A record-high 25 percent of 40-year-old Americans have never married. More than half of all Americans say that no one knows them well. The percentage of high-school students who report “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness” shot up from 26 percent in 2009 to 44 percent in 2021.

My second, related question is: Why have Americans become so mean? I was recently talking with a restaurant owner who said that he has to eject a customer from his restaurant for rude or cruel behavior once a week—something that never used to happen. A head nurse at a hospital told me that many on her staff are leaving the profession because patients have become so abusive. At the far extreme of meanness, hate crimes rose in 2020 to their highest level in 12 years. Murder rates have been surging, at least until recently. Same with gun sales. Social trust is plummeting. In 2000, two-thirds of American households gave to charity; in 2018, fewer than half did. The words that define our age reek of menace: conspiracy, polarization, mass shootings, trauma, safe spaces.“

We’re enmeshed in some sort of emotional, relational, and spiritual crisis, and it undergirds our political dysfunction and the general crisis of our democracy. What is going on?

Over the past few years, different social observers have offered different stories to explain the rise of hatred, anxiety, and despair.

The technology story: Social media is driving us all crazy.

The sociology story: We’ve stopped participating in community organizations and are more isolated.

The demography story: America, long a white-dominated nation, is becoming a much more diverse country, a change that has millions of white Americans in a panic.

The economy story: High levels of economic inequality and insecurity have left people afraid, alienated, and pessimistic.

I agree, to an extent, with all of these stories, but I don’t think any of them is the deepest one. Sure, social media has bad effects, but it is everywhere around the globe—and the mental-health crisis is not. Also, the rise of despair and hatred has engulfed a lot of people who are not on social media. Economic inequality is real, but it doesn’t fully explain this level of social and emotional breakdown. The sociologists are right that we’re more isolated, but why? What values lead us to choose lifestyles that make us lonely and miserable?

The most important story about why Americans have become sad and alienated and rude, I believe, is also the simplest: We inhabit a society in which people are no longer trained in how to treat others with kindness and consideration. Our society has become one in which people feel licensed to give their selfishness free rein. The story I’m going to tell is about morals. In a healthy society, a web of institutions—families, schools, religious groups, community organizations, and workplaces—helps form people into kind and responsible citizens, the sort of people who show up for one another. We live in a society that’s terrible at moral formation.”
Sure, I can gift this article for you. Please, click on the link below for a free copy of the article:

 
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Sure, I can gift this article for you. Please, click on the link below for a free copy of the article:

Thanks. I really wanted to share that one, having just subscribed, but then found I needed a premium subscription to do that. Appreciate it!
 
I read this, and my first thought was about time someone cut through the crap and just spelled it out.

Reading this piece all the way through was like watching a ‘most unsatisfying’ video. David Brooks has some insights which set up the obvious conclusion, and then he butchers it. Yes, we are a less moral society than in the past. Loneliness and meanness are outgrowths of that decline. Institutions that fostered moral development have weakened and eroded over time. This solution is…



“Those formulas [of what we did historically] are obsolete today. The best modern approach to building character is … learn to see others deeply, as we learn to envelop others in the kind of patient, caring regard that makes them feel seen, heard, and understood. This is the kind of attention that implicitly asks, “What are you going through?” and cares about the answer. I become a better person as I become more curious about those around me
--David Brooks quoting Iris Murdoch

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We are a less moral society than in the past, but what does that mean? Morals are the rules of community. A moral person lives in a way that fosters community. An immoral person lives in a way that damages community. Communities can have different moral standards and what is moral in one can be immoral in another, but the commonality is living morally means you are strengthening of community.

We are social animals. We crave social interaction. MT Steve put it perfectly when he wrote:

Topics like this one, your thoughts and others, are interesting to me.

What others have to say is interesting to me as well. I'm human. You are human. We are humans, and we are healthy in community because that is how we are built. The solution is never going to be I, me, I, me. We have more psychology therapists than ever, and we are more mentally ill than ever. A therapist helps an I, me, but the problem causing the mental sickness is a we issue. Parasocial relationships aren't social relationships. If we can use technology to shield, to ghost, to block, then we never learn the awkward awful painful lessons that we have to learn to build community. It is resulting in malformed, half-matured narcissists incapable of building real community. It is resulting in a less moral society. The formulas of what we did historically to build community / moral society are not obsolete today but they are incompatible with the be your best self through self actualization direction we are going in.
 
@The Thriller, I’ve seen you post free The Atlantic articles before. I don’t know how to do that yet. If possible, could you post this essay without the pay wall? Just subscribed to The Atlantic, and with essays like this, so glad I did. Some may be able to read anyway, if the message is “this is your last free article”. Recommended very highly!

This is one of the most thoughtful essays I’ve read on our present moment. I decided this thread is a good place for it, not because it’s about MAGA Christianity, it’s not, but because it’s about morality and our present moment, as well as offering solutions to the sadness and meanness permeating our time.

I read this, and my first thought was about time someone cut through the crap and just spelled it out.


“Over the past eight years or so, I’ve been obsessed with two questions. The first is: Why have Americans become so sad? The rising rates of depression have been well publicized, as have the rising deaths of despair from drugs, alcohol, and suicide. But other statistics are similarly troubling. The percentage of people who say they don’t have close friends has increased fourfold since 1990. The share of Americans ages 25 to 54 who weren’t married or living with a romantic partner went up to 38 percent in 2019, from 29 percent in 1990. A record-high 25 percent of 40-year-old Americans have never married. More than half of all Americans say that no one knows them well. The percentage of high-school students who report “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness” shot up from 26 percent in 2009 to 44 percent in 2021.

My second, related question is: Why have Americans become so mean? I was recently talking with a restaurant owner who said that he has to eject a customer from his restaurant for rude or cruel behavior once a week—something that never used to happen. A head nurse at a hospital told me that many on her staff are leaving the profession because patients have become so abusive. At the far extreme of meanness, hate crimes rose in 2020 to their highest level in 12 years. Murder rates have been surging, at least until recently. Same with gun sales. Social trust is plummeting. In 2000, two-thirds of American households gave to charity; in 2018, fewer than half did. The words that define our age reek of menace: conspiracy, polarization, mass shootings, trauma, safe spaces.“

We’re enmeshed in some sort of emotional, relational, and spiritual crisis, and it undergirds our political dysfunction and the general crisis of our democracy. What is going on?

Over the past few years, different social observers have offered different stories to explain the rise of hatred, anxiety, and despair.

The technology story: Social media is driving us all crazy.

The sociology story: We’ve stopped participating in community organizations and are more isolated.

The demography story: America, long a white-dominated nation, is becoming a much more diverse country, a change that has millions of white Americans in a panic.

The economy story: High levels of economic inequality and insecurity have left people afraid, alienated, and pessimistic.

I agree, to an extent, with all of these stories, but I don’t think any of them is the deepest one. Sure, social media has bad effects, but it is everywhere around the globe—and the mental-health crisis is not. Also, the rise of despair and hatred has engulfed a lot of people who are not on social media. Economic inequality is real, but it doesn’t fully explain this level of social and emotional breakdown. The sociologists are right that we’re more isolated, but why? What values lead us to choose lifestyles that make us lonely and miserable?

The most important story about why Americans have become sad and alienated and rude, I believe, is also the simplest: We inhabit a society in which people are no longer trained in how to treat others with kindness and consideration. Our society has become one in which people feel licensed to give their selfishness free rein. The story I’m going to tell is about morals. In a healthy society, a web of institutions—families, schools, religious groups, community organizations, and workplaces—helps form people into kind and responsible citizens, the sort of people who show up for one another. We live in a society that’s terrible at moral formation.”

Sure, I can gift this article for you. Please, click on the link below for a free copy of the article:


Thanks. I really wanted to share that one, having just subscribed, but then found I needed a premium subscription to do that. Appreciate it!
Great where the hell is this country going to end up with all this leftist propaganda!!1!
 
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The guy behind pizzagate with millions of followers just said this


View: https://x.com/rpsagainsttrump/status/1760780642671845629?s=46&t=QT7YFlZ_IlHq81PpZAhKgw


Is this really what we want in America?

Some people aren't happy with basic prosperity. They have a deep-seated need for creating an existential crisis since there is nothing for their lizard-brain to rail against when the biggest threat they face is heart disease from an over-abundant and decadent diet.
 
He said he fought for Christians harder than any president in history in his first term.
Why did they need trump to fight for them? Who was he (and they) fighting against? Did he/they win the fight? What was result of the win or loss from the fighting?

Is the county more or less Christian after trump did all that fighting for them vs when Bill Clinton was president?

I think that trump being the champion of Christianity probably hurts the religion more than helps it.

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