The Collapse of Society

There was a ~7 year old child watching a video in front of me at full volume. Big iPad screen. It was some kind of AI generated kids program. An odd mix of shapes and colors rapidly changing fast enough to give me a headache. The child could not look away.

I was on a plane from Memphis to Dallas. I craned my head to look for the parent to ask (I got the vibe that this kid’s parents would get cranky if I made a headphone request to the child directly). My spirits quickly dropped when I saw an adult man in a full VR headset next to the child. The mother to his right was listening to tiktok loudly (I was wondering where this volume was coming from).

In the other row, there was a teenager watching some streamer play a video game.

There was also a teenager using a painting app on the iPad, from which I took a glimmer of solace. But I feared for our world. I felt better when I got off the plane and ate my chicken and sweet potato Tupperware.