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Comment by xattt | Hacker News Reader

My assumption is virtuosity is explained by the associated crowds of said activities.

Playing video games is occasionally associated with the NEET crowd, likely because of the low barrier to entry in terms of experience.

Exploring nature and working on mechanical things requires some prior knowledge, experience and/or space to get started.

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It would seem in this case the bad stereotypes are doing the infantilizing. The activities of the past had the same low barrier to entry as the current ones - my dad started working on cars in high school, and my grandfather started hunting and fishing as a child and never graduated high school.

Regulatory requirements around insurance for cars, for example, are likely to be higher and more expensive now than they were decades ago. Therefore, someone young is unlikely to go a used car lot and pick one up and tinker.

Likewise, access to uncontaminated nature in large population centres is harder than it was when rural populations outnumbered the people living in urban environments.

Bikes, on the other hand, are great for tinkering and also small enough to be compatible with modern living. These, however, might not be accessible for someone with a low level of fitness and willpower to attain that fitness.

Technology in late model cars makes tinkering more difficult as well. Back when our parents were tinkering, you didn't have to reprogram a computer when changing heads or a cam. All you needed was hand tools, for the most part. My toys are an '88 and a '90. Both would require creating a new program for major changes- requiring EEPROM chips and a programmer. Newer cars are simpler, but not as simple as needing just a screwdriver to tune a carb. Quite honestly it does take some of the fun out of it.

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