4 Comments

I think Virtuals and Physicals are defined through the work lens, but the reverse happens for leisure time. Virtuals are able to collect big paychecks from remote work and then take that money and spend it on skiing, golf, hiking, travel, other forms of real life activities. Physicals that earn their living from manual work come home and then spend all their free time playing video games and scrolling TikTok. Since they don't live in big coastal cities that drive the majority of innovation and culture, they feel the need to stay in the know via social media. I think Reality Privilege continues to unravel, where the rich get to enjoy the beauty of the real world and in-person human connection while the poor are further drawn to digital worlds as their physical world deteriorates.

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I doubt this comment reflects reality. Yeah rich people go skiing more, but computer programmers are stereotyped as gamers for a reason. Lots of blue collar/physical workers go fishing/hunting/dirt biking, and camping was the middle to lower class vacation for years before it became cool again with the coastal crowd.

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blue collar != poor, also knowledge workers that work remotely don’t want another 8 hours of screen time so they’re taking their high paychecks to other leisure activities

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It is immaterial how you try to define it, there are substantial outdoor activities associated with almost all groups no matter how you draw the lines. Hunting and fishing are very common in poor, rural communities, and there are tons of sports leagues (football, bowling, softball) that cater to every class. If you want to find central or south american immigrants on a Sunday just head to the nearest field where they can play pickup soccer, if you are talking rednecks then its football/hunting etc. And yes the opposite is also often true- people who spend all day in front of a computer also often watch copious amounts of TV or play video games in their down time.

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