News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Smartphones and social media are destroying children’s me... by mdp2021 on Friday March 10, 2023 @10:39AM (#35095742)
Showing a correlation without investigating the paths of causation is like blaming life for death.
Re:Smartphones and social media are destroying children’s me... by itsoktocry on Friday March 10, 2023 @11:16AM (#35096373)
"Correlation is not causation!" is a midwit[0] argument. Not everything can be a RCT. Correlation is where you start, and it doesn't take a ton of imagination to understand how causation might work in this case.

[0]https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/iq-bell-curve-midwit

Re:Smartphones and social media are destroying children’s me... by omnicognate on Friday March 10, 2023 @11:23AM (#35096495)
Middlebrow dismissal, as it's often called on hn. ("Shallow dismissal" in the guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)
Re:Smartphones and social media are destroying children’s me... by cowuser666 on Friday March 10, 2023 @11:47AM (#35096912)
It clarifies the point he's making. It's not the point itself.
Re:Smartphones and social media are destroying children’s me... by omnicognate on Friday March 10, 2023 @12:02PM (#35097229)
Not sure what you mean? I wasn't correcting or disagreeing with anyone if that's what you thought.
Re:Smartphones and social media are destroying children’s me... by mdp2021 on Friday March 10, 2023 @05:59PM (#35102459)
> Middlebrow dismissal

...In Argument Theory. Not in the current context though, as the poster (hi there) expressed something quite different. Details around, if the original post does not suffice.

Re:Smartphones and social media are destroying children’s me... by mdp2021 on Friday March 10, 2023 @05:24PM (#35102068)
Have you perchance misunderstood my post into that «Correlation is not causation»?

What I meant is there literally: you have to «investigat[e] the paths of causation», which is meant to mean, you cannot (should not) practically fight the full correlated context, but the specific cause.

I.e., in the picked metaphor: "you do not blame life for death" - find specific causes and curb them.

Which, by the way, if the "«midwit»" reference were still applicable, is beyond "IQ", because what was expressed is meant to be "in the set of basics" - yet to appearance absent in the article. I expressed that the article seems to miss that basic point.

I.e., the idea that "smartphones and social media" would be detrimental is extremely cheap, as if saying that "heating is polluting" - yes, and also useful, so you identify the weak parts and try to act on them.

Re:Smartphones and social media are destroying children’s me... by frereubu on Friday March 10, 2023 @11:20AM (#35096441)
You might like to read this if you're looking for causation: https://jonathanhaidt.substack.com/p/social-media-mental-ill...
Re:Smartphones and social media are destroying children’s me... by mdp2021 on Friday March 10, 2023 @05:43PM (#35102296)
> looking for

Thanks - but I was actually looking for a constructive article if from the FT, which requires avoiding a cheap early stopping in the class of "entrepreneurs are at risk of distress".

Lack of analytic depth in the identification of strict causes that brings the article author to solutions like "«educate»" (to what?), "fight «addiction»", "pause then just stop", "have an age limit enforced". In the parallel: "entrepreneurs: know the risk, fight your drive to be a workaholic, take a vacation and maybe you will decide that it is a better life". And if you wanted to be on HN - well, let us see your documents (we'll check your age).

...Post naturally related to my other reply nearby.