[alan_wade]

Computers, internet, youtube, games - these things are a part of a real world. I mean, they aren't a hallucination, they don't exist on a separate plane of reality. Experiences are real, joy they bring is real, and for many people, it's far better than what the "real" world around them has to offer.

If people are tempted to escape into a virtual world, it might be because the real world around them sucks.

[andai]

Technology is designed as a hyperstimulus. The real world (suffering aside) sucks the same way fruit sucks compared with candy.

[thetricia]

And the last century has shown us that while the preference for candy/sugar might have created a big obesity problem, we're still around and there's no going back. The jury is still out whether or not it's inherently bad.

Not being online-savy would put me at a social disadvantage. I'm in my early 20s. My impression is that it's only more so for younger ones. When people talk of "real-world social skills" they usually mean the ones that made sense during their adulthood.

[maury91]

Exists something call moderation, it works both for online presence and for candies. Eating 300 kcals of candies in one day every day will not have a bad effect on you (if the rest of the diet is good), same as checking your Facebook account for 1 hour every day (in 5 minutes interval every 1-2 hours), I disabled every notification from Facebook et similar, and I check them only when I have nothing else to do, and I believe is having a good effect on me, I'm still present online but I'm not wasting all my time and mental energy there

[anoncake]

Moderation clearly does not work for society at large.

[creep]

I don't think that's a good, general comparison. Depends on what you're doing online.

I spend my time online reading about my interests or talking to other people. In the outside world, the conversations I have are short and often unfulfilling. People are more open online and I really value that kind of open introspection with others. It's difficult to find information about my interests outside of the Internet as well, unless I go to the library which, for me, is at least an hour commute.

Lots of people are learning how to use the Internet productively because as we migrate our time from physical reality to virtual reality, we crave more corresponding meaning.

The real world sucks for me sometimes (y'know, apart from nature walks and the like) because it's not the apple it's the candy. It feels fake, empty, and lifeless.

[ovi256]

Turns out it's a real term in psychology:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernormal_stimulus

[andai]

It's a universal of biology: "when it comes to eggs, a bird can be made to prefer the artificial versions to their own".

[alan_wade]

I don't mind it when instead of candy you get fruit.

When instead of candy you get kicked in the nuts by a horse, that's when you need some of that youtube to get your mind off of things.

[bryanrasmussen]

kids who have been indulged however do mind, they want the candy, they want it now, and will complain for the next couple days about how you are always trying to give them fruit lest you attempt it again.

[badpun]

The obvious problem with this temptation is that it leads to atrophy (or non-development in the first place) of social skills, which, for 99% of people, is detrimental.

[rv-de]

Immersing in a game is as real or unreal as is perceiving a hallucination.