Not that long ago screen time meant a TV in the living room. Gaming meant a hardwired console on that same TV, or a computer in the computer room. When you weren't at home, there was not a screen. In today's World, the screen is in your pocket wherever you go. Children know this and the temptation is hard to resist when screen time is so accessible.
Children see a large majority of adults engaged with their screens and think, if they can do it, why can't I? Next time you're on the bus or subway look around and try to find the other person doing the same. Practically everyone is looking down unaware of their surroundings. It's the World we live in today and our children are following our lead. Parents need to do their best to set an example.
From what I understand, people read yellow journalism and newspapers before phones on public transport. (Also, books were considered similar to phones for children nowadays.) Phones are definitely a whole new problem, but I don't think it's correct to describe it as fundamentally different behavior than the past in any way wrt adult asociality.
Although it's science fiction, the second book from the "Three Body Problem" series by Cixin Liu offers an intriguing idea he labels as the "Dark Forest". The gist is that the primary motivation for all civilizations is survival and other civilizations are a threat. This Quora answer gives more detail, but I highly recommend reading the books; there are many compelling science-based ideas within it.
That's one way to go about it but it might be a bit simplistic and there's no reason why cooperation wouldn't work out for some civilizations as well. To completely hide one's signals is both hard to achieve and not necessarily beneficial. For example in ancient times there were blooming trades between empires which would not have been possible if every civilization just thought about hiding themselves. I was not a fan of "Three Body Problem" from its beginning.
I spoiled this book for myself, and it was still fun. There was a lot of dramatic tension as I waited for all the characters to realize the horrifying things that lay in wait.
This is a prime example of how people so easily accept a headline shared on some news authority to be truth. Even the bright minds at hacker news are duped - just look at all the discussion happening here with the assumption the headline is correct.
The guy who tweeted this jumped to a conclusion, naively shared his discovery, then let it perpetuate leaving numerous victims of an erroneously altered world-view.
I seriously think people shouldn't be able to comment / see comments on HN unless they've at least clicked on the darn link. I took one look at the "keylogger" source code and recognized it.
You're missing the "herd effect". There are cases where children are too young or have another health issue that prevents them from being vaccinated. These children rely on the greater population to be vaccinated and to help decrease their chances of becoming infected.
They don't test what happens to someone when they get all those shots. Also chicken pox is reality is no big deal and all my siblings had it as a child.
