Short video by Nir Eyal arguing that abundant engaging leisure options (social media, video games, streaming) are a form of progress rather than moral decline; he contends activities are acceptable so long as individuals choose them. He cites high average TV-watching time to illustrate plentiful leisure choices.
Chapters
We hear a lot of tech critics talking about how social media is melting our brains and there's too many frivolous video games or whatever. And I kind of take issue with that line of thinking because the fact that we have so many amazing ways to spend our time, that's not necessarily a problem, that's progress. Or what, are you going to complain to Netflix and say, hey, stop making so many interesting shows. I want to watch them a lot. Or Apple, stop making your devices so user friendly? I find that I want to use it. I mean, that's ridiculous. The point of these products is to be engaging. That's why we use them. And it's such a luxury that we live for the first time in history where we have so much leisure time. You know, the average American spends five hours a day watching television. Tell me why. Watching the boob tube, right? Watching more Fox News or whatever else you might be watching. Why is that somehow morally superior than going on social media or playing video games? There's no difference. Anything you want to do with your time and attention is fine, as long as you're the one deciding that you want to do it.
