[internet2000]

This Douglas Adams quote is still undefeated:

1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.

2. Anything that's invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.

3. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things.

[chasing0entropy]

The garbage that counts as 'invented' in 2010-present has a third of the thought, twice the expense, and mandatory dlc.

[th0ma5]

I certainly think both can be true, we can have different contexts of technology as we get on the train and go through this cycle Adams describes, as well as fundamentally disagree with a technology's marketing for fundamental reasons. Additionally you could be both and this isn't a conflict.

[dude250711]

Yeah, that quote is starting to show it's age.

[pier25]

There's definitely some truth to that but not everything is a generational thing.

Eg: Social media is a net negative for kids and teens.

[stvltvs]

The angst over social media and kids has achieved moral panic status.

[SilverElfin]

I think that’s still not really proven. For example, see this recent article:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jan/14/social-media-t...

My suspicion is that children who are not raised properly or are naturally more susceptible to certain issues, may be more damaged by social media. But it’s also possible that other children are positively benefiting from it, or at least just not negatively affected to the level that everyone assumes.

I’m speculating, but I bet children who are raised properly still have enough offline time doing things like playing outside and having some independence, that they are balanced and healthy.

[t-3]

Kids these days can't even play outside by themselves, let alone explore alone or be unsupervised miles from home with no adults like we could when I was a kid in the 90s and 2000s. What else can they do other than use social media? The creeping infantilization of the youth has robbed them of any chance for socializing or fun that exists outside of a screen.

[hahahahhaah]

That is subtly wrong for things like social media and AI. 50 year olds can embrace and use these things. However the dangers of these things are well accepted by all adults IMO not just older people. Many of the AI saftey crowd are young.

[tim333]

I'm not sure of 3. as someone aged 61. Some new stuff is cool. E-bikes are fun for example. And re 1. there's some bad stuff that deserved to go - war famine polio etc. Work in progress.

[ghusto]

Except I was there during phase 1 and 2, and still feel everything's fallen apart. I saw what it was, what it was becoming, and what it's become.

This isn't nostalgia or granpa shouting at clouds, many important things are objectively worse now.

[direwolf20]

you imply you're in phase 3 now, having been through phases 1 and 2, and that is the phase where everything feels falling apart.