Review: The Social Dilemma

Want to watch a tale of apocolyptic horror? Watch The Social Dilemma, a documentary-drama hybrid that's a Netflix original. 

Watch the Trailer.

This film explains much of what is going wrong not just in our country but in countries around the globe. It explores the dangerous human impact of social networking.

The tech experts who created the software for social networking are sounding the alarm on their own creations. 

(The Social Dilemma Graphic Poster By Source, Fair use, Link.) 

I'm talking about young people with a lack of interest in any of the things most of us adults over fifty take for granted.

Things like doing well in school, going to college or learning a trade, becoming independent, getting and holding a job, forming friendships, having hobbies, viewing the world and events with an objective eye.

We know all of these things make for a happy fulfilled life, a good economy, and a peaceful society.

Why Has the Younger Generation Changed?

Everyone jokes about millenials, but this documentary-drama hybrid explains the problem, and it's frightening. We are losing the generations below thirty.

Contractors who work for us have given up on training an apprentice whether it's electrical, plumbing, air conditioning, carpentry, etc.

In two cases, our electrician has paid more than 5 grand for a young person to learn the trade then work for him to get real world experience. Less than halfway through the course, both of the young men he'd sponsored quit. He said they couldn't leave their phones alone. They were constantly looking at it.

I see this when I go into retail establishments whether clothing stores, grocery stores, or fast food restaurants that employ teens. Young people can't take the time to assist you. Their attention is on their phone.

The problem goes beyond distraction. Those who have grown up with social media do not know how to objectively examine what they see on social media and try to determine whether it's true or fake.

The consequence is that what they're being fed on social media is making them react emotionally and often violently.

Suicides in teens have skyrocketed. In tweens, it's even a bigger jump. Cutting and other self-damaging activities have leaped in numbers. 

Social Media Is AI

When Hawking said he thought the biggest threat to humanity was Artificial Intelligence, I think we all believed he meant like a Terminator/SkyNet sort of thing.

After watching this docu-drama, I think he meant social media as the AI. If we keep going in this direction, it's a dead end for our world as we know it.

Banks of computers all over the world assess what you're doing online, not just on a particular site, but everywhere.

If you're looking for a slant on a particular topic, that will be fed to you on the social media site you most often visit.

It feeds you true stuff and fake stuff because the social media sites do NOT distinguish between true and false. That's not their job. Their job is to keep you glued to their page.

The Social Dilemma was created by the people who created the problem. Check out The Social Dilemma Wiki and look at the list of people who contributed to this documentary. They were all engineers and executives of Facebook, Twitter, Google, Pinterest, Instagram, etc.

Do they let their children use social media and email on a phone? Not until they're teens, and they limit the time their kids can be on screens. 

How do we change what's happening?

Wow. That's the big question. I wonder if it can be changed?

The first step is for parents to be aware of the problem. Start being parents. Be involved in your child's life. Know what they're doing online. Do they have any of the hallmarks of social dilemma?

Grades declining in school? No extra-curricular activities? No friendships in the real world? Glued to their devices all the time? Do you allow them to have them at night? Are they tired and sleepy every morning? Do you suspect their on social media far into the night?

Watch this docu-drama with your children. Discuss it. 

It's going to take a massive effort by parents and probably government intervention to get children back into the real world and to regulate what social media is sending to your child's phone/device.

One of the problems going into solving the dilemma is that greed for big profits is the engine that fueled this social dilemma. 

Who among the wealthy, powerful, and politically connected will step forward and say, We've got to stop this trend and get back on track? 

Will they heed the warning in this film, or will they let their respective countries fall into chaos which is happening already? Look at the violence that suddenly arises; de-stabilized economies; racial, religious, and ethnic divisiveness; and the intolerance that's has become commonplace.

Takeaway Truth

If something isn't done sooner rather than later, I fear for the world in which our children and grandchildren will be forced to live.