You imply, but give no evidence, that the writer in 1790 was wrong. Maybe the young people in question were poisoning their minds. The fact that a quote is Old Timey™ doesn't make it wrong.

Do you not believe that art and literature have the capacity to change the audience? That is the stated goal of much of it. And if it has that power, wouldn't you be careful what you allow to shape you?

As far as digital media, there is at least some evidence that screen time can be harmful.

> The Monitoring the Future survey, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and designed to be nationally representative, has asked 12th-graders more than 1,000 questions every year since 1975 and queried eighth- and 10th-graders since 1991. The survey asks teens how happy they are and also how much of their leisure time they spend on various activities, including nonscreen activities such as in-person social interaction and exercise, and, in recent years, screen activities such as using social media, texting, and browsing the web. The results could not be clearer: Teens who spend more time than average on screen activities are more likely to be unhappy, and those who spend more time than average on nonscreen activities are more likely to be happy. -- https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/has-the...

> Of course, these analyses don’t unequivocally prove that screen time causes unhappiness; it’s possible that unhappy teens spend more time online. But recent research suggests that screen time, in particular social-media use, does indeed cause unhappiness. One study asked college students with a Facebook page to complete short surveys on their phone over the course of two weeks. They’d get a text message with a link five times a day, and report on their mood and how much they’d used Facebook. The more they’d used Facebook, the unhappier they felt, but feeling unhappy did not subsequently lead to more Facebook use. -- https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/has-the...

[0]: http://nypost.com/2016/08/27/its-digital-heroin-how-screens-...

> [Writing] will create forgetfulness in the learners’ souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves. The specific which you have discovered is an aid not to memory, but to reminiscence, and you give your disciples not truth, but only the semblance of truth; they will be hearers of many things and will have learned nothing; they will appear to be omniscient and will generally know nothing; they will be tiresome company, having the show of wisdom without the reality.

Next up: VR is craven masturbation, and the increased immersion will turn children into psychopathic killers incapable of human kindness!

Of course they, because parent's point was that Sousa was horrendously wrong (obviously). Sousa's problem was a one-dimensional view of musical performance. He was foremost speaking from the POV of a professional performer. Therefore, the goal of all amateur musicians is to become professional performers, but once they hear a pro on a record they'll get discouraged and give up. This, of course, is poppycock. I play a lot of music and have little desire to make money from it. What's that about taking a fun hobby and turning it into work?

Second, I'm sure Sousa viewed recorded music as a threat to his job as a professional live performer, while ignoring that records scale and live performances don't. (Ignore for the moment the part where record companies keep most of the profits.)

WIth no group rehearsal, sometimes it's not perfect, but it's fun.

Heh, try a bluegrass jam. Someone calls a tune that I might, or might not, know. They'll give a key, maybe a chord progression. Hell, if I'm lucky, I might not only know the tune, I might have even played it in the last month so I stand a chance of coming up with a solo (or "break" in bluegrass terms) on the fly when it comes my turn. If I've never even heard the tune, but it's in (say) G with some variation of a I-IV-V progression, I can probably improvise with something that follows the melody. Or not.

Needless to say, I've had some solos/breaks that only were "not perfect", I corkscrewed into the ground with my tail on fire. That's the topsy-turvy world of jamming. But similar to your setup, even when I've completely embarrassed myself, it's always fun.

(As an aside, though it sounds like something I'd not participate in, your setup sounds like a fun way to get to play with people.)

http://i.imgur.com/7rPcaft.jpg

...somewhat apropos to your final sentence.

https://medium.com/message/why-chess-will-destroy-your-mind-...

Reading an awful novel to avoid the people or duties in your life is clearly as bad as using Twitter for the same reason.

Your argument is basically: "Don't make me think about the ethics of my actions, regardless of the calendar year."

Arguments against the book (e.g. Plato) may have largely been wrong in their day, but it seems short sighted to dismiss any criticisms about the Internet and the tools we use today simply on this basis. We can perhaps be cautious as a result, but that's about it.

I doesn't have to be a moral argument. Some people think its simply a waste of time to stare at a screen while browsing facebook. and you get more out of life by being bored and finding something else to do thats more fulfilling.