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The smartphone theory of birth rate decline doesn't hold up (reason.com)
submitted 2 weeks ago by flamingos@feddit.uk to c/fediverse_vs_disinfo@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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In a new piece for the Financial Times, John Burn-Murdoch—author of a criminally misleading and data-torturing article about conscientiousness last year—suggests that "the most recent [birth rate] plunge appears connected with our use of technology." He notes that in the past 15 years, birth rates have been falling "across different cultures and levels of economic development." And what unites all these disparate countries? The use of smartphones, of course.

It sounds so obvious! That is, until you consider the other things that have united many countries over the last few decades.

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[-] TheJesusaurus@piefed.ca 6 points 2 weeks ago

Everyone knows technology was invented 15 years ago

[-] LadyMeow@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 2 weeks ago

I love the ‘data torturing article’ description, that’s excellent.

[-] Jake_Farm@sopuli.xyz 4 points 2 weeks ago

Womens Emancipation and their access to higher education has a stronger correlation.

[-] technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

TBH crying about birth rates is fash AF. No surprise this is coming from "libertarians".

[-] flamingos@feddit.uk 1 points 2 weeks ago

Who's the libertarian here? Because Burn-Murdoch isn't a libertarian.

this post was submitted on 19 May 2026
17 points (90.5% liked)

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