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by daxvena 1268 days ago
As a youngish adult (27) this is some of what I feel:

- Climate change is slowly creeping up on us and corporations keep on trucking along with an endless growth mindset, not caring about the consequences of what is essentially a cancer

- Somehow I lucked out and ended up turning my favourite hobby into a job that pays really well, but something feels empty. I don't feel like I'm working any harder than people in lower paying jobs. I don't feel like I'm providing more value. It kind of makes me sick how bad income inequality seems to be getting. People around me in tech jobs seem to constantly want more, while I'm perfectly happy with what I have.

- Social media is crippling social interactions. It's taking away a deeper form of connection and replacing it with something more surface level, while also warping people's perceptions of reality.

- Most forms of social media make you feel like crap (with how it's designed to manipulate dopamine levels), but disconnecting can make you feel socially isolated.

- We seem to have a lot less trust in institutions like the government, organized religion, and capitalism having access to information that previous generations didn't have - and because of this we have fewer places to find hope.

- It feels like people on both the left & right are increasingly behaving more like fascists and it's kind of terrifying. I always feel like I have to guard myself from "saying the wrong thing" and that makes me feel like I'm being less myself.

3 comments

Absolutely. I’m extremely skeptical of the type of analysis in OP when quality of life for young people is objectively decaying.

Life expectancies are going down. Children born today are not likely to be as wealthy as their parents. Two major economic disruptions within a generation have permanently stunted economic outlooks at critical times. Many are stuck renting, many others are stuck with student loans they will never pay off.

Given all of that and more, the real question is what kind of parenting could have prepared kids for this? Letting kids play outside a little more isn’t going to cut it.

This is an excellent summary of the current state of affairs from the ground level.

Do you see your peers growing out of social media? Or do you think it will be a permanent fixture in their lives?

I'm not him, but the older I get the worse I see interactions with social media getting, so I don't think anyone is going to outgrow it.

When people start ignoring their children in favour of social media (something I've witnessed many times with people I know) I don't think there's much hope coming back from that point.

> I'm not him, but the older I get the worse I see interactions with social media getting, so I don't think anyone is going to outgrow it.

*her (i wonder if that changes your perception of my comment :P)

> Do you see your peers growing out of social media? Or do you think it will be a permanent fixture in their lives?

Kind of, but not really? I see it more transforming into something else. It definitely seems like a lot of people my age and younger are more cautious about social media compared to most millennials, but that doesn't really seem to stop us from using it. I'm really happy to see more of a shift towards open platforms like Mastodon, I'm just not sure where that's going to head.

As a mid-fifties older adult, every one of your points rings true.
Both of you think climate change is slowly creeping up on us? It's been banging on the door for quite some time
Splitting hairs, they’re on your side
There's no sides in this conversation. I think it's proper to be exact.
Yes I do, and I also know that it's been banging on the door for a long time. My point was that it's slow moving, not that it hasn't affected us yet.