Oddbean new post about login | logout Most people are unable to think. If you were to guess, how much of that is a symptom of the modern digital age vs. the way things have always been?
I guess it's 80% due to digital media today. People are literally zombified
Yes, I think digital media is melting brains and killing physical health but I wonder how many people had original thought 75 years ago… Or what about 200 years ago before the modern industrial education system? Or what about millenia ago before kings, priests, and the printing press? How different is digital medias influence today compared to these historical forces?
I say blame can be pretty evenly spread 50% Existing problem in humanity 50% exacerbated by the devices
How much more do devices impact this than the modern industrial education system, book censorship, and printed propaganda of the past?
They amplify 📢 in the old days you might spend a couple hours tops per day getting indoctrinated at school. Maybe you also had a parent who listened to too much radio or was always reading the papers and would spread the virus at the dinner table. Nowadays young ppl have a non-stop stream in their hand at all waking hours of the day! https://media3.giphy.com/media/aqSl7Dw5HTojK/giphy.gif
True. But I wonder if the old ways lose efficacy over time and hence the new ways have a similar impact at their peak to the peak impact of the old ways.
Valid point. Something I think about often is the fact that the US had one of the highest education standards on earth until the Vietnam war when young people were vehemently and vocally opposed to govt actions, and this was the exact point point in history when our education standards started to nosedive. Surely no accident there, and probably this intentional nerf’ing of education has had probably the biggest impact of anything to date.. maybe the devices are just a helpful tool to maintain the status quo at this point..
That is a major coincidence. You’re probably onto something there. When was fluoride pushed into public water systems?
Honestly much later than I expected! I was gonna guess 1971 haha (sauce Wikipedia so take with a grain of 🧂) says later in the article the US made it a standard in 2012 https://image.nostr.build/162ebc2ddb2745608f4a2409ed3cbc4ada96b09a72b2a70b11dac21829fab976.jpg
AI probably accelerates this unfortunately. NPC tsunami incoming
…or is AI just the next iteration that keeps the trend persistent as the older forces start to lose their efficacy?
Could be
