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Comment by s_q_b | Hacker News Reader

>the other doesn't involve having to fact check every sentence a person utters.

No one is suggesting such a thing.

The ability to maintain effective and skillful communication in a world of constant distraction will be essential in the coming decades. "Protecting" a child from such a smartphone will produce an adult ill equipped to cope with the advances of the future.

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"The ability to maintain effective and skillful communication in a world of constant distraction will be essential in the coming decades."

No.

The ability to avoid constant distraction will be one of the most critical skills. The ability to focus, to think through a problem, to write a substantial essay, to plan, to evaluate your goals, values and priorities in life. These skills will be critical to flourishing in the coming decades (as they have always been).

That's like teaching your children how to adapt to a damaged environment instead of teaching them how to protect the environment.

I'm not sure if I've ever had a valuable conversation where I thought that I should manifest and embrace distractions rather than just coping with them. Sure I can use my phone to embellish a conversation, but just like I didn't learn to ride a bike through my dad throwing me on a 10 speed and pointing me to the nearest hill, I don't think Louis wants to introduce a distraction that can sabotage his child's ability to establish effective communication skills.

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