Mason  🏃‍♂️ ✂️

Are you just objecting to the word "stupid"? It's not controversial to say we aren't well adapted to intelligently engineered environments built on value systems that differ from our own (and I mean the basic stuff here like getting food, looking after young, etc.), is it?

Why do you believe that? Is there some external reference for "intelligent" use of tools? "Stupid" is a poor descriptor for the thing you're pointing at, but my objection is to the implication that human beings fully lack agency, whether they're seeking food or trolling twitter.

I get the feeling you fundamentally object to the notion of a good use of one’s time. Is this just with respect to kids or adults too? The rejoinder “but people like trolling” is in a sense unanswerable but people liked public executions too

I think it’s reasonable to be suspicious of any designation of time well spent, but that doesn’t mean we won’t look back and judge all the same

I don't know why you're dodging my question or concerns, here; they're critical to what you're saying now. I don't think anyone is in a good position to evaluate a "good" or "bad" use of time if they think they're merely caught in inescapable evolutionary loops.

Learning to fish (on YouTube) is obviously a good use of time if it puts needed food on the table. That’s a sound metric. Adults are more motivated to minimise regret; kids less so, but both can be hacked

What's a sound metric? Roughly what percentage of people who have regular access to youtube will ever fish because they won't be able to eat otherwise? If I don't learn to fish, what are the odds I will go hungry as the result?

More importantly, is there room for childhood at all in a world where the worthiness of any person's activities is evaluated on their potential to meet a plausible future need, however unlikely?