[internet2000]

This Douglas Adams quote is still undefeated:

1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.

2. Anything that's invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.

3. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things.

[chasing0entropy]

The garbage that counts as 'invented' in 2010-present has a third of the thought, twice the expense, and mandatory dlc.

[th0ma5]

I certainly think both can be true, we can have different contexts of technology as we get on the train and go through this cycle Adams describes, as well as fundamentally disagree with a technology's marketing for fundamental reasons. Additionally you could be both and this isn't a conflict.

[dude250711]

Yeah, that quote is starting to show it's age.

[techblueberry]

The thing that's really interesting about quotes like these, and probably adds validity to the fact that they might not be true anymore is not just how outdated they are, but how young they likely are. Before the industrial revolution, things didn't change fast enough for this quote to be valid. Now they change too fast.

[pier25]

There's definitely some truth to that but not everything is a generational thing.

Eg: Social media is a net negative for kids and teens.

[stvltvs]

The angst over social media and kids has achieved moral panic status.

[SilverElfin]

I think that’s still not really proven. For example, see this recent article:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jan/14/social-media-t...

My suspicion is that children who are not raised properly or are naturally more susceptible to certain issues, may be more damaged by social media. But it’s also possible that other children are positively benefiting from it, or at least just not negatively affected to the level that everyone assumes.

I’m speculating, but I bet children who are raised properly still have enough offline time doing things like playing outside and having some independence, that they are balanced and healthy.

[t-3]

Kids these days can't even play outside by themselves, let alone explore alone or be unsupervised miles from home with no adults like we could when I was a kid in the 90s and 2000s. What else can they do other than use social media? The creeping infantilization of the youth has robbed them of any chance for socializing or fun that exists outside of a screen.

[pier25]

Are you sure it's not the other way around? That all of this is happening because of social media, phones, etc?

[Markoff]

I'd say it's more likely thanks to more cars and better news coverage, now you hear about every kid being attacked/abused, while in past this was not so widely available knowledge playing into parents fear

[pier25]

have you looked at countries where the car culture is not so prevalent as the US?

[Markoff]

I'm not from US, this is problem everywhere, no matter whether you are in China or middle of Europe, actually I'd say there was much bigger increase in car ownership in recent decades outside US than in the US, especially in China and Eastern Europe

so this is my biggest fear with my kids roaming outside - whether someone will hit them with the car, 2nd biggest would be probably potential attacks/bullying by immigrants (kids)

[nozzlegear]

I agree with better news coverage (I'd argue it's more news coverage, in which social media plays a huge role), but I'm not sure I understand your point about more cars?

[Markoff]

I'm considering cars the biggest danger for free roaming kids alone outside.

[t-3]

Helicopter parents and keeping kids "safe" by isolating them started before social media and smartphones. Back then, heavy metal, rap music, video games, Dungeons and Dragons were all ruining kids lives and driving them crazy, not social media.

[wookmaster]

Doesn’t sound right. I play D&D with my kids and play heavy metal which they hate. I’m scared of trafficking and abductions. That’s what social media trained me on putting it in my face all the time. The TV news did similar. Fear sells and we’ve created a fearful society for profit.

[pseudalopex]

Their comment was about the past.

[hahahahhaah]

That is subtly wrong for things like social media and AI. 50 year olds can embrace and use these things. However the dangers of these things are well accepted by all adults IMO not just older people. Many of the AI saftey crowd are young.

[tim333]

I'm not sure of 3. as someone aged 61. Some new stuff is cool. E-bikes are fun for example. And re 1. there's some bad stuff that deserved to go - war famine polio etc. Work in progress.

[ghusto]

Except I was there during phase 1 and 2, and still feel everything's fallen apart. I saw what it was, what it was becoming, and what it's become.

This isn't nostalgia or granpa shouting at clouds, many important things are objectively worse now.

[direwolf20]

you imply you're in phase 3 now, having been through phases 1 and 2, and that is the phase where everything feels falling apart.