Technology. 9 notes.

Indonesia will ban social media for children under 16, the communication and digital affairs minister says.

The backlash against social media is gaining ground. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are widespread bans across the world in some shape or form in the next couple of years.

An interesting take on the issue:

China knows exactly what this does. Their domestic version of TikTok caps kids under 14 at 40 minutes a day, locks access between 6am and 10pm, and swaps the entire feed to educational content. Science, history, museums.

The version they export to everyone else? Unlimited, unrestricted, pure dopamine on demand.

When kids in the US and China were asked what they wanted to be when they grew up, the number one answer in America was influencer. In China it was astronaut.

Macron calls this a cognitive war. Export what dulls young minds and keep what makes them intelligent for your own population.

This is the most effective weapon ever deployed against a generation’s ability to think.

It’s an obvious, but underappreciated, fact that technology reshapes reality. But we don’t often think about it much less care about it. If you even spend a minute thinking about just how much of the shape of our lives is sculpted by the technologies we use and rely on, your mind will be blown, and I’m not even talking…

Human psychology is eminently hackable.

Note: This is stream of consciousness. I’m working through my thoughts on AI coding tools in real time, and I’m not interested in being measured about it. I woke up this morning and I’m nodding my head so much in agreement that if I keep this up, there’ll be a new medical disorder named after me—the nodding head…

This stuck a nerve. I was lucky enough to have a childhood where I at least spent a few months wandering the wild parts of my parents’ villages for a few months a year. Those experiences have been formative in shaping who I am today.I see kids today and the only play they get is in between dodging incoming vehicles. As…

Benedict Evans is one of the most thoughtful writers on technology. Whenever I listen to him, I end up feeling embarrassed, because I keep thinking: why can’t I think like that? 😬 Unlike many other commentators, Ben has a very practical and measured view of AI. One thing I love is how he goes about defining what AI…

A few thoughts what AI might do the human ability to think critically.

The troubling decline in conscientiousness. A critical life skill is fading out — and especially fast among young adults