The Batlord

Yeah like I said I'm not laying it entirely at the feet of TV and video games. I'm just saying that I think it's one part of youth society that's been growing over the decades that contributes to the growing alienation and malaise of young people that makes them feel that the world isn't real and doesn't mean anything and doesn't care about them. I mean throw in rising college costs in there too with all the other things I listed. Wouldn't be surprised if that wasn't some percentage of the problem.

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jwb

They're interested until they realize he's not only attainable, but desperate.

Basically when you meet a girl it's a job interview and she's the employer. How far will fawning over how much you'd like to work there without bringing leverage to the table get you?

jwb

I hear what you're saying. But I also see a fundamental difference between that and actual socialization being mediated by technology. If anything the telephone is more of a precursor to Facebook than video games.

Lucem Ferre

It's always a lack of confidence that screws people over. Wreaking of desperation is just a piece of it.

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The Batlord

I think you're underestimating TV. I don't think it was until the 80s and 90s until households generally had more than one TV, with kids having a TV in their room. Just constant stimulation to keep them in the house and away from other kids. That's about when I remember playing outside the home becoming endangered.

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Lucem Ferre

I played outside a lot as a kid with TV and Videogames. I knew all the other children on the block. I think overprotective parents sheltering kids became the precursor. Most of the time it was video games or TV that we'd bond over. I think it's the internet. The internet has created an epidemic of social anxiety because you're putting your life up in front of millions of people that will judge it 10X more harsh than they do in person and people confuse that with real life.

Edit: People with more real life experience were less effected by it because they knew how different interacting with people on the internet was from interacting with people in person. Most kids aren't going to brag about ****ing your mom in person. Most huge political debates don't get as nasty and personal in person either.

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jwb

I do think you have a point, it's just different from mine. There is a definite trend towards staying inside, which TV and video games help foster.

But like I said you still needed to actually deal with people IRL in some level to socialize.

Now you have far less need to do so. Whether you're in the home or out and about you can socialize via social media.

Also, I really didn't have many video games or cable TV growing up. I spent most of my childhood outside. I could roam free around the neighborhood by the time I was 5, and could go literally anywhere I wanted as long as I could get myself there and back the time I was 11. So maybe we also just had different experiences.

The Batlord

And don't forget the pedo panics of the 80s and 90s. Kids couldn't be let outside without supervision and certainly not after dark. It's like the world has been conspiring to keep kids away from other kids for the past few decades.

And I understand and agree with your point, jwb, I'm just saying that it didn't start with the internet and smart phones. Just like Columbine didn't happen because of smart phones. This is an epidemic of isolation that's been building for a long time.

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Lucem Ferre

I also wonder if income makes a difference because I don't think the lower class is as isolated.

Edit: Or was as isolated growing up.

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jwb

Thank God my parents were irresponsible. I distinctly remember being 5 years old and hanging out with a group of kids on some weird 2 story machine/vehicle my neighbor had and my friend Steven somehow managed to put it in neutral and it started rolling down his driveway. We all scattered and he came out screaming at us and grabbed my friend Steven and started shaking him. It was classic.