[puredemo]

I grew up in an area like that. One of my goals if I ever get wealthy is to simply open up something cheap and fun to do in small towns to combat this. Like rock climbing gyms for $30 a month. Or small indoor water parks.

I wouldn't even care if that chain of businesses made much money, I'd consider it a public service.

[cattypist]

You could modernize an old idea that used to work pretty well for some people:

Cue the Village People singing: "Y.M.C.A...." :-)

Nowadays we live in a less Christian society that's also less accepting of even nominal gender segregation, but I think the old YMCAs and YWCAs still provide some evidence in favor of your idea.

So I hope to see the Young People's Rational Associations moving into small towns. :-)

Maybe some YMRAs can even cooperate with other educational and religious organizations that favor healthy exercise and the study of logic. :-)

[gregpilling]

How much do you think VR and Oculus Rift will impact the experience of growing up in a small town? A kid will be able to experience much of the world, no matter where they are.

I hope it has a positive impact; I don't see how it couldn't.

[vacri]

No more than video already does. VR is a gimmick on video. It's pretty cool in and of itself, but it's not a replacement for live experience. For example, no matter how cool your VR driving simulator, you don't get the feeling of your body's inertia being shifted around. Or the experience of a place without a big plastic lump on your face :)

[puredemo]

The internet has already been a massive boon to fighting boredom in general, sure. If you are highly literate (~15%) it's difficult to be bored when all of the world's knowledge is at your fingertips. Even if you aren't highly literate, there are still X-box games. ;) And you're right, VR will just help even more.

That being said, I do see some issues with our youth habitually living in gaming ecosystems rather than in the real world. For instance, a couple studies lately have noted empathetic behavior sharply dropping among millennials, [1] which I would think comes from spending far less time interacting face-to-face with anyone during their formative years -- their emotional attachments are probably not as strongly imprinted when staring at a screen all the time.

Internet and VR are still a huge net win imo. Real-life, positive social outlets are crucial as well though.

[1] http://www.ipearlab.org/media/publications/Changes_in_Dispos...

[Nadya]

I empathize and care more about my online friends than anyone I know in real life - including most of my intermediate family. While I could be the exception to the norm, the people with whom I interact seem to be similar. Of course, we could all be exceptions to the norm...

The study you linked does mention other causes which seem more likely than device use:

>As discussed previously, narcissism, which is negatively correlated with empathy, has been rising in American college students over a similar time period (Twenge et al., 2008).

The current college generation are extreme narcissists. To a disgusting degree. Even terrible tragedies (such as the terrorist attacks in France) are met with "how can I make this about me?" attitudes. A brief browse through Twitter shows this isn't an uncommon thing.

I have no data on whether or not narcissism may or may not be correlated with internet/electronic devices. (I haven't bothered to search this statement, so if a study shows up on the first page of Google results - didn't bother looking! :) )

Either way - I look forward to habitually living in a gaming ecosystem rather than the real world.