The demise of Men?

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Here is a link below and an excerpt from research that came out recently, that suggests that porn and video games are leading to the demise of guys.

The link to the TED video in the article provides more comprehensive data, showing how the phenomenon may be associated with the decline of male achievement.


Interesting that people have the illusion that they have control over their brain regardless of what they expose it to. The process of neuroplasticity, is evidenced as continuing across the course of a lifetime. The conscious human decisions afforded are opportunities to alter behavior based on information one is exposed to, whether it is associated with mental or physical neuroplasticity.

Also, interesting to look at some of the 1500 comments generated by this article, to see anecdotal evidence of how the phenomenon influences the way that the genders view each other.

Anyway, things that seem too good to be true may not truly be good in the long run. Consequences are often not immediately seen.

However, avoiding or not being exposed to the information that exists, from the increasing amount of research that is being done on this issue, is not going to change the process of neuroplasticity, nor the consequences of that process, that vary between individuals based on genetic and environmental influence.

One cannot escape human nature, whether one is aware of it or not.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/23/health/li ... index.html

The research appears to be valid. The problem is with CNN's headline. "The Demise of Guys" is certainly sensationalist. However, it is an overstatement and does not appear to be justified by the article itself.

Last edited by nominalist on 14 Jul 2012, 8:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Phil Zimbardo is pretty good.

http://www.ted.com/talks/zimchallenge.html

It is unfortunate about guys doing poorly in school.

They seem to be turning more Aspie in the social realm.

I wonder why girls haven't been similarly affected? There are online games (like Pixie Hollow) that girls can play all day. I think that they are not negatively affected from schoolwork.

The article was written by Zimbardo and Duncan, the authors of the book.

The article does seem a bit over-sensationalist, now that you mention it.

These things may be related but I think it's a narrow view or just the tip of a big iceberg.

Even though Games or Online Porn might be tied into this I'm reluctant to say they're the sole cause. I tend to think there are many different outside factors that drive people towards these lifestyes.

For example today many people are not well off financially. Or even if they have an income they have not job stability. Basically for a lot of reasons I imagine some guys just feel insecure.

Yet, it doesn't necessarily require a big income to enjoy the escapism of video games or surf the web for online porn. Yes it could be said this is kind of a shallow way to live, but it is basically stable. Breaking away from it and spending one's meager income in pursuit of real relationships is to risk losing even that. If the relationships fails I think it causes a disproportionate setback.

The video from TED that you linked in your last post, provides the statistics that the authors use to back up the association they make with the "demise". Decline might describe the process they are describing more accurately, but the word demise, draws attention to the subject, in a more hyperbolic manner. And likely sells more E-books.

It is interesting that the TED environment, itself, draws a biased demographic into the conversation, but the comments on TED, and CNN that is more representative of the general population, both seem to attempt to lay the blame on the female gender, instead of the cultural tools, that the researchers associate with this phenomenon.

There is quite a lot of thoughtful and intelligent discussion under the TED video.

For example

I'm guessing that the high school football players are still banging the cheerleaders, regardless of how much porn and computer games are available.

something else is that to say video games are video games is to say that any photographic media is porn.

does minecraft fall into the same category as leisure suit larry? or call of duty?

also the poster quoted above has a very good point.

This will only be the demise of those males who are incapable of putting down the controller/themselves and doing productive things with their lives.

I'm not sure where they're drawing headline the "demise of guys" from but I agree that we're creating an environment where children feel they have to be constantly stimulated. I don't think that's a boy or girl thing either and it's not just video games and online porn, it's TV and helicopter parenting in general. I remember the comedian Louis C.K. had a bit about why he doesn't allow his 2 daughters to watch TV that rang true. Something along the lines that if you need any evidence that TV isn't good for children go up behind them and turn it off without them looking and see how they act.

It's an issue of parenting not of accessibility.

Some of the other things are simply signs of the times, the economy is bad and it disproportionately hurts men.

Last edited by Jacoby on 14 Jul 2012, 8:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

How would he know?

The article is fine. The problem is with the title. In the journalism business, the editor, not the writer, usually titles articles.

And there are a great many other potentials of "screen" stimulus that are likely associated with this phenomenon. Even in TV where, stimulus required to maintain attention has continued to expand by technological advancements through both sight, sound, as well as the medium itself where images change for novelty and complexity at an increasingly fast pace. Not to mention the unrealistic human expectations that the mediums generate, that were a source of many of the comments directed at the female gender in the comments of both the TED video and the CNN article.

Then on the other hand in this same TED environment we have Ray Kurzweil telling us that technology is going to lead to a singularity, that will eventually allow some to live forever.

An interesting different viewpoint on the benefit of tech,opposed to what Zimbargo presents, per the perspective of the future of human beings.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/ray_kurzweil_on_how_technology_will_transform_us.html

And while I agree Zimbargo's findings as a male oriented finding, I think it is far from an issue isolated to males, as other studies are finding an increasing number of females that are becoming heavy users of porn, that may expand further into the interactive virtual reality of video games of the future, which per Kurzweil's estimation of technological advancements, make what is available now in that porn/videogame experience truly only the tip of the iceberg per potential stimulating novel experiences made available in the future,

But the question becomes on a larger scale, is it progress or potential for decline/demise.

I question Kurzweil's projections of human longevity, as overly optimistic, as he doesn't appear to be taking in all the variables available in his equation of the future.

Is there an ultimate point to this? If men are in decline socially because they staying in their video game man cave, does this create a rift in society because of their absence in social life?

Do women notice a significant shortage of available outgoing guys to date as a result of this for example?

The title of the article, is the same title of the e-book, comprising the research that the authors are discussing in the article.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Demise-Guys-Struggling-ebook/dp/B00850HTHO

i find this idea interesting. i think our society is rapidly shifting and we are not adapting well.

i may have been addicted (it's hard to tell because it may have been aspie obsessiveness) to a female-oriented video game called Zuma, and many years before that it was Tetris. i was going through a stressful time in my life and i escaped via the games. i have a need to be stimulated a lot and i have trouble sitting still without DOING something.

i don't know why i am like this. are there any theories as to why we are needing more stimulation?