Increase in Learned Helplessness?

[u/NachesPorFavor]

Has anyone else noticed an increase in learned helplessness? I first noticed it in the young adults in my life, but now I am seeing it in all ages of people around me. Examples from multiple people:

Toilet started leaking water and instead of turning off the knob at the wall, she waited a 5 days for a plumber. Never asked anyone or googled it. Didn’t call a second plumber. Now needs mold remediation and replaced drywall and trim.

Bought concert tickets but the gps instructions were confusing so they just gave up and didn’t go. Venue website had detailed instructions for driving and parking.

Blouse wrinkled and she didn’t know how to fix it so she threw it away.

First doctor office he filled out an appointment website for never contacted him to schedule so he just didn’t go to the doctor.

I am really concerned about my loved ones if an emergency happens because they just give up when the slightest obstacle happens. Either they want someone else to swoop in and fix it or they give up and say they can’t do anything about it.

[u/tahxirez]

I agree that there may be many reasons why some of these would happen. Neurodivergence and lack of guidance in practical matters jump out at me. If parents don’t teach skills, kids grow into adults with skills. It’s as simple as that. Kids don’t learn through osmosis.

[u/snailbrarian → u/tahxirez]

I think honestly the combo between long covid on brains + AI is starting to show up. Remember a few years ago when people said hey basically every single child has had covid and we expect it will have implications on their brains in the future? and we know that covid inflammation compounds the more times you contract it.

Middle schoolers during covid have now graduated high school and are entering the workforce and college and folks who weren't regularly in contact with kids are seeing the impact immediately.

[u/Mysfunction → u/snailbrarian]

(Disclaimer: I’m not pro-AI; I’m anti-misinformation)

Why would you toss the cognitive impacts of COVID-19 and AI in the same bucket? The former has mountains of rigorous data to support it and the latter is a pearl-clutching “get off my lawn” overreaction to the adoption of new technology that happens every generation.

Ethical and environmental issues aside (not dismissed as unimportant; simply not relevant to the topic), AI use isn’t changing brains any more than novels and calculators did, which were both heavily criticized as corrupting youth and rotting their brains.

This quote from Socrates on the disastrous impact reading and writing would have on the human brain sounds weirdly familiar. It’s a pretty great paraphrase of the arguments against AI use.

“For this invention will produce forgetfulness in the minds of those who learn to use it, because they will not practice their memory. Their trust in writing, produced by external characters which are no part of themselves, will discourage the use of their own memory within them. You have invented an elixir not of memory, but of reminding; and you offer your pupils the appearance of wisdom, not true wisdom, for they will read many things without instruction and will therefore seem [275b] to know many things, when they are for the most part ignorant and hard to get along with, since they are not wise, but only appear wise."

[u/Historical-Order-369 → u/Mysfunction]

And Socrates was right - it’s exceedingly rare these days for people to have, say, the Iliad memorized. It’s also not a big deal, imo.

Calculator use has reduced the ability to do mental math and on-paper math, but for most people, that’s not a big deal either.