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Rev

4

This answer is very much from the perspective of what I presume Ted would call a technologist. Your 1st and 2nd "issue" with Ted's points actually support his position. Your 1st point, kids getting kicked out, would need to compare today's society in child rejection and dis-ownership to a time before you were born. Current anecdotal stories exist in the technological society already, where the influences Ted talks about have already taken place. Your 2nd point illustrates technology making up for local communities being broken apart, not bringing them closer than they were, say, 200 years ago.
– David S
Commented Feb 6 at 15:27
3

There are many metrics which are actually worse off today, specially in more "progressive" societies, and which often are caused by (or at least correlated with) the breakdown of the traditional family (others, more directly by technology). They are just underplayed and swept under the rug like OP does.
– Mutoh
Commented Feb 6 at 19:18
2

@NotThatGuy: 9 examples, among many others: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_boundaries
– Eric Duminil
Commented Feb 7 at 8:32
3

@NotThatGuy also higher rates of loneliness, of mental illness, of suicide, of divorce, of children born out of wedlock or in divorced households or being raised by single parents (all of which are correlated with negative effects), fertility below replacement levels, people have less friends (including more reporting no friends at all). Notwithstanding facts less related to OP's question, such as increased pollution and deforestation. With enough cherry picking anyone can paint a rosy picture of the world, and it won't do to downplay these issues, they prove Ted's point.
– Mutoh
Commented Feb 7 at 10:34
2

@Mutoh: Your "points" seem haphazard. Born out of wedlock is not an issue in itself -- my very godfather lived in a stable relationship for 30+ years before finally marrying his partner (worrying about inheritance). Similarly with regard to divorce, I seem to remember a study showing that the availability of divorce seemed to correlate with higher life expectancy, especially for males. Finally, it's not clear whether being raised by single parents is problematic due to the "single" part, or the largely correlated budget issues part.
– Matthieu M.
Commented Feb 7 at 14:00

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