“Water is wet”.
This is based on my personal observations. The Boomers in my own family distrust all doctors because of what ever adolf1488 or whoever is posting on Twitter. And they seem to be entertained by some of the most obvious AI slop videos that feels like the digital version of jingling keys in front of a toddler’s face.
The same people that told me that “TV will rot my brain” seem to have no information literacy.
Yeah, I am a millennial, 39 this year, and my dad is far more addicted to his computer than I am, I even work in IT.
He used to sell railroad safety systems (and was a brilliant sales person who actually knew and still knows the technical details of the system)
You and me are pretty similar ages.
I do have some Gen X friends who I think are not doing much better.
I wonder it being a “digital native” gives some level of defense against this kind of stuff versus people who were born when information was newspapers, radio, and the TV news one hour out of the day.
GenX here - certainly in my friendship circle we’re doing better because we grew through both the start of home computing and the beginning of the home internet etc… we remember what it was like before the social media and 10 second videos crap and are generally using the current tech without it
I think this is also tied to a decline in mental faculties. My mom had dementia and I had to dig her out of various situations, like having multiple car warranties, and destroying her inbox by clicking on literally anything. She hit a point where the gates that would validate or invalidate a decision vanished entirely. If a salesperson came to her door, the chances they left without landing a sale were slim to none. They just had to be charismatic and sound positive. It’s the reason she got stuck with one of those whole-house water softeners.
I think AI slop hits similarly. It’s made to tap into their most basic hooks. Religion, family, cute stuff, etc. Their brain drives past any of the gates that we have where we ask why anyone would watch this over actual videos of animals, people, etc. They’re a deer in headlights being entertained by the rudimentary dopamine hits, while all of the technical details go over their heads.
got stuck with one of those whole-house water softeners.
Wait, what other kind of water softener is there? Maybe it’s just because I live in an area where our water is practically more limestone than water, but I’ve only ever heard of whole house water softener.
As far as the rest of your comment. My experience is slightly different. I have several older relatives who have no known mental issues who have the same issues as your mom. But on the other hand my dad who doesn’t use social media because he has MS and it makes it hard for him to type, is still sharp as a whip when it comes to spotting scams. He’s pretty tech illiterate but he can still easily spot and ignore dogey emails and links. It seems almost like social media has conditioned most boomers to be more likely to fall for scams. Of course corolation doesn’t imply causation. Maybe it’s just that more scam savvy people are more likely to recognize most social media as being a scam so they don’t use it.
Under-sink and showerhead units.
Are you thinking water heater or filter? Because I’ve never seen a water softener that can fit under a sink or on a showerhead. Unless you’re talking about phosphate feeder cartridges but those don’t actually soften water they just help keep limescale from sticking.
Can’t speak to how well it works, I just know it exists.
