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The Anti-Social Century
This neededness can come in several forms: social, economic, or communitarian. Our children and partners can depend on us for care or income. Our colleagues can rely on us to finish a project, or to commiserate about an annoying boss. Our religious congregations and weekend poker parties can count on us to fill a pew or bring the dip.
Derek Thompson • The Anti-Social Century
This is why I think the family as the primary atomic unit creates a foundational and necessary layer in society.
Although chaotically inclined individuals score highly in a popular measure for loneliness, they don’t seem to seek the obvious remedy. “What they’re reaching out to get isn’t friendship at all but rather recognition and status,” Petersen said. For many socially isolated men in particular, for whom reality consists primarily of glowing screens in e... See more
Derek Thompson • The Anti-Social Century
“I think people feel uncomfortable in the world today. They’ve decided that their home is their sanctuary. It’s not easy to get them to leave.”
Derek Thompson • The Anti-Social Century
Men who watch television now spend seven hours in front of the TV for every hour they spend hanging out with somebody outside their home. The typical female pet owner spends more time actively engaged with her pet than she spends in face-to-face contact with friends of her own species. Since the early 2000s, the amount of time that Americans say th... See more
Derek Thompson • The Anti-Social Century
TV and Pets have replaced each other
Some of this screen time is social, after a fashion. But sharing videos or texting friends is a pale imitation of face-to-face interaction
Derek Thompson • The Anti-Social Century
I think this argument/line of reasoning is not really explored well. Why is it obvious that it pales?
If Carr is right, modern technology’s always-open window to the outside world makes recharging much harder, leaving many people chronically depleted, a walking battery that is always stuck in the red zone. In a healthy world, people who spend lots of time alone would feel that ancient biological cue: I’m alone and sad; I should make some plans . Bu... See more
Derek Thompson • The Anti-Social Century
This is the money quote
From 1965 to 1995, the typical adult gained six hours a week in leisure time. They could have devoted that time—300 hours a year!—to community service, or pickup basketball, or reading, or knitting, or all four. Instead, they funneled almost all of this extra time into watching more TV.
Derek Thompson • The Anti-Social Century
From 1973 to 2023, the size of the average new single-family house increased by 50 percent, and the share of new single-family houses that have air-conditioning doubled, to 98 percent. Streaming services, video-game consoles, and flatscreen TVs make the living room more diverting than any 20th-century theater or arcade. Yet conveniences can indeed ... See more
Derek Thompson • The Anti-Social Century
Epley sees the exponential growth of AI companions as a real possibility. “You can set them up to never criticize you, never cheat on you, never have a bad day and insult you, and to always be interested in you.” Unlike the most patient spouses, they could tell us that we’re always right. Unlike the world’s best friend, they could instantly respond... See more
Derek Thompson • The Anti-Social Century
Frictionless everything is another manifestation of the tyranny of convenience.
Convenience becomes more appealing as the bigger stuff in life (career, health, etc) become harder. That’s why it is an inverted function…the more difficult the big things are, the more appealing convenience and frictionless in everything else becomes.