This is a comment I found on Hacker News, (from the same article) it does not belong to me, but I totally agree with! "This article presents no evidence that human contact is a luxury good, and by conflating the fact that some wealthy folks take “analog vacations” with an overall trend to try and improve quality of care in medicine / productivity / education via screens, the author muddies the issue and does people a disservice. In general right now, I’d say the trend is much worse in-person care and not screen-based care at lower prices. That said, those interactions are only a small piece of “human interaction.” Stay close to family. Say hi to your neighbors. Play with blocks. Go outside. It’s dirt cheap. Your phone can even ride along with you in your pocket! Education trending toward screens is troubling but at the same time it allows for totally custom learning paths for kids that scale better than a teacher. Blend it with playtime and interaction with other kids and that’s not always bad! Most of my education was learning in books, after all. Headline: “books are taking over human contact for the non-wealthy!!!” I would also suggest that for most people the issue is not “cost” but “difficulty.” Screens are easy. You control them, and they’re not as difficult as people. Interacting with others carries risk. Take the risk!"
That's not true at all. Its first example is from a medicare program that puts a surveillance camera in the house of old people so that they can be monitored by a call center. Its next example is a luxury consultant saying that human interaction is the biggest up-sell he's got. That's a personal observation, not an argument. Right. But if your internet goes down, you're talking to a machine. If you get an overdraft you didn't earn, you're talking to a machine. If you go to McDonald's, you're ordering from a machine (if not now, soon). If you buy groceries, you're checking out with a machine. And if you're wealthy, it's a lot easier to talk to your neighbors. In LA I live in one of the poorest neighborhoods there is. And I know my neighbors on one side - but the rest of them change out regularly. Up here I live in one of the poorest neighborhoods but it's still vastly wealthier. and I know my neighbors on all sides and have been into their houses. "neighbors" are a thing of wealth - they imply that you've lived there long enough to put down roots and that's hella easier with a mortgage. It does not. It depends entirely on quantification of progress. It extends standardized testing all the way down to standardized learning. It was not. Most of his education was from a teacher who told you what to read and discussed what it meant. Textbooks are supplemental materials, not the central core. That, again, is an opinion not a fact. You can buy P90X on Amazon for $140 or Craigslist for $50. You can see a personal trainer for $20-100 a session. The argument of human contact as a luxury good is that when you're paying for it, it is no longer difficult. You're controlling the relationship through wealth. It's as simple as the example of McDonald's - order from a kiosk and you don't have any "difficult" contact. Go to Ruth's Chris and you can say "what wine should I drink with this steak?" and someone will bring you two or three samples after giving you an in-depth discussion on the cellar. "Ease" is exactly what's for sale here. This is the author arguing that it is human bravery that is declining, rather than economic equality. The facts are not on his side."This article presents no evidence that human contact is a luxury good,
In general right now, I’d say the trend is much worse in-person care and not screen-based care at lower prices.
Stay close to family. Say hi to your neighbors. Play with blocks. Go outside. It’s dirt cheap.
Education trending toward screens is troubling but at the same time it allows for totally custom learning paths for kids that scale better than a teacher.
Most of my education was learning in books, after all.
I would also suggest that for most people the issue is not “cost” but “difficulty.”
Screens are easy. You control them, and they’re not as difficult as people.
Interacting with others carries risk. Take the risk!"
How comfortable someone is with human engagement could become a new class marker.
I can see this in my 8th grade math students. Those that come prepared for, and take, high school algebra in the 8th grade come from homes of means. By and large, they are the most socially engaged and industrious students I have. My classes with students of lesser means often freak out when I present a new seating chart. "I can't/won't sit by him/her" occurs in 3-5 times in those classes. In my 8th grade Algebra I, classes, students that come from places of high social interaction, students know that human interaction is paramount to success and they hardly grumble at new seating.
All roads lead to Japan Somewhere on these here Intarwebs I read a compelling argument that the reason Japan has always been at the forefront of automation is that they've had a labor shortage since the early '80s. More than that, they have a demographic tidal wave that will hit before it hits the US or Europe: Japan is getting old, Japan is not having kids, and as the 'boomers of Japan become the senior citizens of Japan, there will be no one to take care of them. 