Slashdot Mirror
Despite Having Unprecedented Access To Technology, Generation Z Is Already Bored (thedailybeast.com)
Taylor Lorenz, writing for The Daily Beast: There is a notion among older people that teens, with their smartphones and unlimited internet access, never experience boredom. CNN and other media outlets have repeatedly declared that smartphones have killed boredom as we know it. But today's teens are still bored, often incredibly so. They're just more likely to experience a new type of boredom: phone bored.
As members of what has been dubbed "Generation Z," a cohort that spans those born roughly between the years 1998 and 2010, today's teens and tweens have had unparalleled access to technology. Many have had smartphones since elementary, if not middle school. They've grown up with high-speed internet, laptops, and social media.
It's tempting to think that these devices, with their endless ability to stimulate, offer salvation from the type of mind-numbing boredom that is so core to the teen experience. But humans adapt to the conditions that surround them, and technical advances are no different. What seemed novel to one generation feels passe to the next. To many teens, smartphones and the internet have already lost their appeal.
As members of what has been dubbed "Generation Z," a cohort that spans those born roughly between the years 1998 and 2010, today's teens and tweens have had unparalleled access to technology. Many have had smartphones since elementary, if not middle school. They've grown up with high-speed internet, laptops, and social media.
It's tempting to think that these devices, with their endless ability to stimulate, offer salvation from the type of mind-numbing boredom that is so core to the teen experience. But humans adapt to the conditions that surround them, and technical advances are no different. What seemed novel to one generation feels passe to the next. To many teens, smartphones and the internet have already lost their appeal.
Damn kids, get back on my lawn so I can kick you off
Mobile games are shit. Why would I ever be subject to a timer and spend years getting anywhere in a game? Unless you're a millionaire, modern mobile games are very often unnecessarily protracted grinds.
"since elementary, if not middle school" isn't the typical English idiom supposed to be "X, if not Y" supposed to have Y as the more "extreme" case?
"good, if not great", "injured, if not dead", etc?
Infinite options, infinite "boredom."
I got into computing in the early 80s - the first home computing boom. They were new and fresh and exciting - I learned what I could about them, read obsessively in magazines about every home micro available, learned to code (badly in BASIC...) - it was all new.
Now? Computers and smartphones are appliances - they're not fun, they're not novel - they're meant to just sit there doing their job. And this is natural, it's not current generation's 'fault' that they're not excited by this tech. I wasn't excited by the fact I didn't need to double declutch to learn to drive, it was just how things were and are.
I'd be interested to know what is considered fresh and exciting in the same way. Seems that the use of these platforms is big, and the creation of things with them. But interest in the tech itself is less common, and I'm not surprised by this at all.
Greatest Generation had Radio
Baby boomers had TV to entertain themselves as teenagers.
Gen X had Video Games.
Millennials had the internet
Gen Z has cell phones.
Entertainment of any type gets boring. Because we are craving stimulation often from actually working on something, that pushes us further and expands us more. But many institutions such as jobs and school, have rules and regulation that often don't put people on the pace that they need to be at. Either too slow and gets board, or too fast which they get frustrated.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Too 'smart' to play mindless mobile games or scroll through social media all day, yet too dumb to do something useful with thier smartphones. There are countless tutorials. Learn a music instrument, lern how to paint, learn a new language or whatever you like. The access to that kind of information is easier than ever.
sudo rm -r -f --no-preserve-root /
There is a whole planet to explore.
Put down the phone and look at the actual planet they are on.
If THAT bores you look up at night at the Universe.
https://xkcd.com/1348/
I have an 18 year old brother. Looking at him and his friends connected all the time, it's not that they're never bored, but instead what I see is a different kind of boredom, that's borderline anxious. They are bored, but constantly agitated to find a new, exciting thing to connect. People older than me, like my grandfather, display a more peaceful kind of boredom. It might be just an age thing, guess I'll discover this in a few years.
If I clone myself, can I call it a thread?
If a girl winks to us, can I call it a race condition?
Lots of these kids live in suburbs out in the middle of nowhere so their parents could afford a decent house. There's nothing for miles and no public transportation. Often no bike path either. I guess they could go for a leisurely stroll.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
With even the slowest modern computer and the internet you can do massive numbers of things. Programming, desktop publishing, video editing and creating are all at your fingertips. Plus thousands of free games (some legal some not so). Then there's the increased access to information. Programming roadblocks I ran into as a kid can be overcome with a quick post to stack overflow.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
I remember when I was growing up, if I said I was bored my mom would always respond with, "if you're bored I can give you something to do." Of course being bored doesn't mean I have nothing to do. If that were true I could always find something to do, even if it just meant counting from one to a million. No, boredom comes from not having anything to do which I find interesting or stimulating. What I've learned is that I find far more satisfaction (and less boredom) by building or creating things. While it's easy to download a game on my phone or computer, I find it more stimulating to build my own. This is true even if the game is something simple like tic-tac-toe. Figuring out how to display the game, handle inputs, detect if someone wins, and build a decent AI is something I find interesting. Had I downloaded a tic-tac-toe game I would be bored with it, even though it would surely be more polished than my version. Not everyone likes programming, though, but there are a lot of areas that involve creativity: woodworking, sewing, painting, writing, cooking, landscaping, etc. It's just a matter of finding what you like.
For every post, there is an equal and opposite re-post.
I have introduced my 12yro to RC cars, plastic models, Rocketry, and tabletop games. He still has his video games but these hobbies will get him outside. He has been crazy for models since a trip to the WWII Museum.
It is better to be the hammer than the anvil.
Just like you cannot always be "happy", you cannot always be entertained. Real life has sadness and boredom.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Yeah, I said it. You get bored because you're not willing you exercise yourself. You're sitting around waiting for someone else to be creative to stimulate you. Well, guess what, any environment will eventually become "normal", and observing a "normal" environment is boring. It is only when you're actively involved in changing, manipulating, improving your own environment that you see it as ever changing and exposing more detail.
You don't have to go outside. You don't even have to put down your phone. But, you do have to change from a consumer into a producer if you want to avoid boredom.
Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
Hey man, the job market is tough for the younger crowd. Some side income can be really helpful. ....Are you SURE her interaction online is "passive"?
Yes. If she was making money off youtube, more power to her. She actually has the tools (I've seen to this) and the education (arts and communication school) to perhaps make a living off youtube. So far, she's chosen not to. (And in anticipation of the snide comments, I'm pretty sure she's not on xhamster either.)
People have become, by and large, content consumers
As opposed to people watching football? How man man-hours have you spent in your life watching TV?
That's not "opposed" at all. Watching football is exactly being a content consumer.
As to the man-hours I've spent watching TV, I confess growing up that TV was pretty much my life, all 3 channels of it. As an adult, TV has become a lot less important. I watch one movie a week, on Friday, with pizza and beer. I follow three 45 minute series, (sans commercials) on demand, and confidentially, I'm way behind at the moment. The rest of my off-time is spent reading, doing photography (my side business, content CREATION, not consumption) or working in the electronics lab upstairs. I've put some thought into this, and have made some effort to practice what I preach.
Wife turns on the TV first thing in the morning and just lets it drone. She's the football fanatic in the family -- I couldn't tell you who was in the last superbowl with a gun to my head. She has her own room with a barcolounger and her own TV and Roku. It's far enough away from my office to not be distracting.
Interestingly, both wife and daughter have clinical depression. The question in the back of my head is, are they spending every waking hour watching a screen (big or small) because they're depressed, or are they depressed because they don't create anything of their own? Things, memories, experiences. Side note: Maybe that's why so many young people appear emotionally underdeveloped these days. I think the popular word is "snowflake".
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Bollocks! There are plenty of tools for creating on the internet. For example, you can download and install a tool on your Android phone that allows you to build applications - right on the phone (e.g. Android Studio etc)
The problem is you have to roll up your sleeves and not only get started, but follow through. That requires focus over time - which apparently is in short supply. Instant gratification does not build the next creative thing (whatever that may be).
There is no free lunch. There is no easy button for life.
Lodragan Draoidh
The more you explain it, the more I don't understand it. - Mark Twain