"You should be here. I'm told the view is fantastic!"

I think you are on to something and not alone in your thinking of this. In my opinion we're not going to learn the long term effects of this epidemic for some time..much like it took society a long time to figure out smoking was bad for you.
Thank you for sharing this.

Right on. My kiddos are 7 and 9 and are completely analog aside from maybe 2 hours of tv per week. They make baking experiments with real ingredients, not the baking app grandma has on her phone, construct forts out of whatever they can get their hand on, and draw with paper and pen. Even on more occasion they've made their own phones and tablets with paper and cardboard and thought it was funny. I'm no Captain Fantastic and I know this time is fleeting, but my wife and I are doing what we can to instill an analog foundation that when they do engage in devices, its more of a accompaniment to their life rather the other way around. We'll see. Many of us are the first generation to raise kids in this environment so there is no playbook. No asking mom and dad "what did you do with us" moments, etc. But when we go out to eat and my kids comment how that family over there doesn't seem to be having fun since their all on their phones...it make us feel like we're doing something right.

Absolutely. It's remarkable to observe. So if a 50 year old brain cannot regulate their brain to give it a rest, imagine the effects on a 6 year old! Maybe it will come full circle, but not until we're well into our senior years I suspect.

But you do. Your frequent arguments in PARF, the sharing of your salsa prize, the.. artful pictures of your wife we've all seen. You realize PPOT is social media, yes?

Glad to see I'm not the only one who gets the irony of a bunch of motor heads complaining about social media on an internet form... many posting from their smart phones. :D

However I understand many of us think of Facebook and the half dozen other websites that promote themselves as 'social media' when we talk about the subject.

My theory of social media is people are searching for validation, i.e. checking how many 'likes' a post of theirs gets and the piling on of FB friends. I think I have seen people with 1000 'friends'... come on now..who has 1000 friends?

While being able to step back and enjoy the analog lifestyle is probably healthy, do you ever wonder if you're putting your kids behind their peers? Jobs of tomorrow will be heavily tech-centric. Being adept at using computers and other technology because they are second nature to those using them since young will be a marketable skill (already is).

My kids all have various electronic devices, and ability to use most of them (at 10, my son is already programming games). I don't really see their world as "worse" than ours, only different. Having all the world's knowledge at your fingertips is empowering.

Not answering for Legion, but since it appears he’s approaching the subject in a similar manner, I will say: Studies are beginning to reveal (and will continue to do so) that too much saturation compromises a child’s still-developing brain to focus and concentrate; socially, a nose buried in a device harms the ability to sense other people’s attitudes and communicate with them, and to build a large vocabulary.

And those tech-centric jobs you mention? They’re here NOW. My industry (architecture and design) has been revolutionized by technology. At nearly 40, I’m able to run circles around some of my employees with software they have a good 5 years of additional experience on. At my age, I should be a dinosaur but am still relevant. Why? Having that huge 20 year window of brain development without the “assistance” of electronic aid has something to do with it I suspect. I guess that’s a long winded way of answering your question (with a coy grin on my face): “I think they’ll be a-ok”.

Here's a real beauty our principal sent out. I have heard of it through the news.
Know! The Trending Online Suicide Game: Blue Whale Challenge | Ohio Department of Education

Our society is beyond f'd up.

I would like to add scientist that sent us to the moon, invented the transistor, invented the computer, and airplanes etc. most likely grew up playing in the dirt and riding bicycles without helmets or knee pads... and without electronic devices.

[QUOTE=Sarc;9731194
But you do. Your frequent arguments in PARF, the sharing of your salsa prize, the.. artful pictures of your wife we've all seen. You realize PPOT is social media, yes?[/QUOTE]

Yes, in a broad context PPOT is "social media." But It is a far cry from facebook and instagram. It's the the aggressive pressure to "connect" and the whole marketing of the platform that I find objectionable. When PPOT has a "trending" thread to lead the lemmings to pay attention to the next big thing I'll think of it in terms of social media.

Bingo.

I like your plan. But I'm afraid the future might find far too many folks placing a higher value on their virtual life over the one in the physical world. The real world could come to serve only as a place to gather pics, videos and other stuff for uploading to the social media flavor-of-the-week.

Imagine a future with far fewer jobs for people with limited technical abilities. After all, not everyone has the chops to graduate college and go to work for Google, Microsoft or Apple...and this won't be changing much in the the coming years either. Perhaps millions will be receiving some form of Guaranteed Minimum Income because they are unemployable. What are people gonna do with all this extra free time? My guess is that many will be spending even MORE time absorbed in their phones. And we think people spend too much time in that netherworld now...just wait!

Firms like Google and FB already know what a huge chunk of the planet's people are thinking about at any given time. They're also learning how people's thoughts, leanings and actions can be influenced by what's being fed to their virtual on-line clones via the omnipresent smartphone. They then make note of subtle changes in their postings, searches and other on-line activities, as well as looking for changing trends in the culture itself. Just who are these test subjects, you might ask? Well, guess what? It's you & me and the other billions of social media users, that's who. The data pool is enormous and getting bigger all the time.

Imagine Mark Zukerberg making a run for president in 25 or 30 years from now. Do you think that having all this data at his fingertips might help him to craft a winning campaign? Interesting to think about, isn't it?

Not really. I'm a developer and it concerns me not at all. I can teach anyone to write code. I figure my kids having social skills and understanding the real world will be a competitive advantage. ;)

Timely and true story.

Thursday night I get an e-mail from my six-year-old's teacher that because of good behavior in the class, they will be having a class party Friday. The teacher goes on to explain that the class (of first graders!) voted to have and "electronics party". I let out a verbal groan at that part. My son doesn't own any electronics. I'm not going to send him to school with mine.

A little bit later, I ask my son about this. He explains that he enthusiastically voted for the "electronics party". He then proceeds to get out his beginner electrical set (fans, light bulbs, switches, etc.) and says this is what he wants to bring to school. I explain to him that that was not what was meant by "electronics party". He bursts into tears as he realizes he didn't vote for what he thought he was voting for.

My wife decides to take my son to school to see if his "electronics" will be acceptable. The teacher says its okay. He happily builds circuits during the "electronics party" while other kids are buried in their tablets.