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Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

(arstechnica.com)
349 points pseudolus | 2 comments | 17 Dec 24 23:44 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
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vouaobrasil ◴[20 Dec 24 19:19 UTC] No.42474017[source]▶
I wonder if the new drug of choice is actually technology. In some ways I think that the addiction to technology has some similar mellowing effects as drugs. Some research indicates that smartphone addiction is also related to low self-esteem and avoidant attachment [1] and that smartphones can become an object of attachment [2]. The replacement of drugs by technology is not surprising as it significantly strengthens technological development especially as it is already well past the point of diminishing returns for improving every day life.

1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S07475...

2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S07475...

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1. pnut ◴[21 Dec 24 18:07 UTC] No.42481141[source]▶
I like this idea, but we are nowhere near a point of diminishing returns. We are about to experience the wholesale obsolescence of the economic value of human labour, which means in practical terms, no stupid jobs just to have a place to live, intelligent robots cleaning your house etc

If anything, buckle up. Going surfing every day or crotchet may become a perfectly legitimate life aspiration.

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2. vouaobrasil ◴[21 Dec 24 18:13 UTC] No.42481187[source]▶
> just to have a place to live, intelligent robots cleaning your house etc

Animals could say precisely the same thing about living in a zoo!

(1) Who determines the allocation of resources in your utopia? How do you handle an ever increasing population that depends on the biosphere which itself is the only source of raw materials and energy for the incredible amount of energy required for it?

(2) People need a purpose. Most people will find a life of really doing nothing quite boring. Like it or not, people want some control over their destiny, and not to be animals in a cage.

(3) If people really don't need each other, what will happen to the social fabric? If AI can really do everything for us, then what is to stop some people from killing all the rest and taking everything for themselves? We have only relative morals that function when they are necessary, and some people not even that.