CULTURE

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28 April 2025 21h23

Phone Discourse is the more sophisticated version of “wet streets cause rain”, where someone looks at generation N, compares to generation N-1, observes they experience life differently, and concludes the glowing rectangle is the source of all changes.

How Graphs Shape Phone Technology Discourse and Perception

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28 April 2025 21h21

I non-ironically believe this graph is responsible for a lot of Phone Discourse, despite 2008 not being a perceptible bend in the trend.

Manufacturing Culture and Mine Worker Representation in Media

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28 April 2025 19h11

(Instead we get our “As a child I yearned for the mines” meme and a visual gag about an Appalachian miner which somehow got past the sensitivity committee. On the nose, but, if “making things is Good” is your message, maybe whatever mine produces is at least as useful as songs.)

Coming-of-age narrative struggles with mundane workforce reality

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28 April 2025 18h59

“Nice phase of your life doing art/sports; that prepares you for your *real* life in the email mines” would not be an arc any writer’s room would feel forced into, and yet you could practically feel them struggling with it in the epilogue.

Creativity and mastery need not abandon childish pursuits

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28 April 2025 18h57

Oh, final thought: “One day you’ll grow up and put childish things aside” is not a direction one is *forced* to take when discussing creativity, mastery, non-economic pursuits, etc.

Family Choices: Math Programs and Economic Priorities

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28 April 2025 18h36

The talented young mathematicians program was $500, a trip for the family to X was $500, the dinner table discussion happened, and we stayed home that summer.

Prioritizing Child Education Over Commercial Media Consumption

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28 April 2025 17h49

“You’re giving a popcorn movie for children designed to sell Minecraft merch too many brain cycles.” Bringing up the next generation properly should consume more of my cycles at most margins, etc etc.