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Culture War Roundup for the week of April 13, 2026

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Common sense in this case is a hammer you got from slate star codex, for which everything is a nail

For what it may be worth, I was studying game theory when Scott was still in diapers.

I don't think parents implementing common sense social media controls to their under-16 children would make them the weird kid in class. It would not amount to completely depriving them of a phone or the ability to text friends.

You are sort of shifting the goalposts here. Earlier, you referred to completely taking away a child's phone:

"individual parents feel they would be individually better off if they took their individual kids' phone away, but they feel too weak to do that.

But anyway, let's break this down.

  1. Do you agree that many parents perceive that their children's use of social media is harmful?

  2. Do you agree that of those parents, many also perceive that their children are likely to end up being isolated/left out/etc. if their child stops using social media while their children's peers continue to do so?

Except they fail to do this in the most important cases.

Well do you think there are ANY situations where normal people can intuitively and correctly sense that there is a collective action problem, even if they are unable to make use of the formal language and terminology?

The collective action problem is other parents. And of course, other kids.

You can't control what happens in other people's houses when your kid goes over to a friend's house. Maybe the parents are lax, maybe they don't care if their 12 year old kid is watching porn, maybe they have no idea. Boys are going to dare one another over "did you see this?"

Well do you think there are ANY situations where normal people can intuitively and correctly sense that there is a collective action problem, even if they are unable to make use of the formal language and terminology?

No, I think they lack the cognitive capacity for anything beyond „X is bad, because if it happens to me, I won't like it“ and „Y is good, because if it happens to me, I will like it“. That's the basis for all of our laws and our education system and economic system. The masses have failed to accept every well-documented collective action problem I can think of. It's because they require someone to be top 10% literacy to comprehend.

For example, this comment. He argues

teenagers are stuck in a collective action problem [because] supermajorities of them are saying 'please help us get out of this collective action problem'?

But the evidence follows the individual heuristic I just wrote:

68% of them feel worse after spending time online. 50% say a digital curfew would improve their lives, 47% would prefer to live in a world where the internet doesn't exist.

I feel bad after too much time online, so I would be better with less time online. I sleep too little because of phone, so I would be better off putting phone away early. I feel bad on the internet, so I would like the internet to go away.“ And seriously, the last one is preposterous, can you imagine the collective economic damage if there was no internet? Meanwhile, when it comes to actual collective action, I have data that says only 16% agree that a total phone ban at school is a good idea, and only 30% agree that any phone restrictions at all are a good idea. They don't want collective action.

Do you agree that many parents perceive that their children's use of social media is harmful?

Yes.

Do you agree that of those parents, many also perceive that their children are likely to end up being isolated/left out/etc. if their child stops using social media while their children's peers continue to do so?

No, because I think a solid fix is a screen time limit, and this doesn't lead to complete isolation. I think parents don't do this because they are lazy and weak and won't fight with their teens.

Earlier, you referred to completely taking away a child's phone:

I meant partially, or on a temporary basis for a particular reason.

No, I think they lack the cognitive capacity for anything beyond „X is bad, because if it happens to me, I won't like it“ and „Y is good, because if it happens to me, I will like it“. That's the basis for all of our laws and our education system and economic system.

I disagree. For example, I'm pretty sure most people favor laws against income tax evasion. Even though most people would cheat on their taxes if they could get away with it.

Do you dispute that most people favor laws against income tax evasion?

I feel bad after too much time online, so I would be better with less time online. I sleep too little because of phone, so I would be better off putting phone away early. I feel bad on the internet, so I would like the internet to go away.“

Ok, and is so preposterous to hypothesize that people might have the following feelings: (1) I feel bad when I am away from social media because I feel left out; and (2) I feel bad when I use social media because I feel inadequate compared to a lot of my connections.

No, because I think a solid fix is a screen time limit, and this doesn't lead to complete isolation.

Umm, does that mean "yes" or "no"? I am not asking about screen time limits. I am asking this:

Do you agree that of those parents, many also perceive that their children are likely to end up being isolated/left out/etc. if their child stops using social media while their children's peers continue to do so?

It's a very simple yes or no question.