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Comment by uuddlrlrbaba | Hacker News Reader

I love the parents in the tech community. They had unfettered computer and internet access which formed them into the successful people they are today. But they were special and their circumstance was special and their kids are not allowed to use the internet because now its bad.

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Lots of people in the tech community also struggle with attention and social disorders. Being good at computers is not the only thing that matters in life.

It's not that the internet is bad, the internet is very different from what it used to be. Apps using mainly algorithmic based recommendations, such as TikTok, use that and other dark design patterns to exploit users more than ever before.

There is a huge survival bias that you are not considering. Today's parents that had unlimited access to the Wild West that was 90s internet and are successful today do not represent the whole population of people who had access to internet in that era.

The unfettered computer and internet access was a desktop machine (which needed to run a minimalist distro) on dial-up in a very public room. The fun that taught me tech stuff was getting to distro to work, and there was no privacy. Parents were much more aware of the dangers back then.

Nowdays everythibg on smartphones "just works", and the OS won't even let the user access system files. I meet college students who have no idea what a file system is, or what a DNS server is.

Times have changed, indeed.

Yeah well only in the last 10 years did internet companies start employing psychology PHDs to find the best possible ways to exploit people they can. That is basically what the problem is. Short-form content and algorithmic display of what evidently appeals to you the most is literally zombifying people.

So to follow my example, that would be no computer or internet until age 15. I don't know, seems harsh. I'll also have to swap my TV for a 10" one that only gets 2 stations.

It's true, by the time I was in college, I did have unfettered access to USENET. ;-)

Yeah but this is the old debate old vs new. Plus is not the kids is the parents.

Let me give another example: a nice village where I spend my childhood. Every day on the streets, forests, you name it. No time/hours limit, no space limit - play until fully tired. Now, visiting again, there are no kids on the streets. I thought to ask my relatives and people I know. And I find out that is not that kids do not want to play outside, they are _not allowed_ to play outside!!.

Why? "the kids are now kidnapped from the street" - "how?" "I heard from a neihbour from her cousin that lives in the village 10km that this happened!" ( not true - the kid got in a black car which was the uncle showing of his new BMW )..". Another example "Rapist are now free!" ... "no way!" "Yes, yes, this happened" ( was a case 3 years ago in a city 30 km away - a normal man got in a quarrel with a girl and the little mischevious said to get away that he touched ...no comment ).

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Infinite-scroll content (especially mindless VIDEO content) was NOT a thing when we were kids. And we also had to sit down at a desk and browse the internet on a computer.

Having 24/7 access to infinite amounts of brainless content in your pocket is not something we ever had to contend with. This is uncharted territory. And it's terrifying.

LOL... to have unfettered access to games, I had to program them myself though.

I fully intend to extend the same circumstances to my own kid, seems fair

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