Jackson Solway

Dorky dad. Starting New Athens @MoveToNewAthens

[Jackson Solway @JacksonSolway]

@walterkirn Working in it: https://t.co/9qbN3kCltF. About to sign a lease on office space for the team.

[Jackson Solway @JacksonSolway]

@lymanstoneky Ah, interesting. Thank you!

[Jackson Solway @JacksonSolway]

City founder here. I encourage you to explore the growing corpus of research on the impact of smartphone and AI use on not just mental health, but raw cognative ability. In short, there's growing evidence that hand-held tech lowers IQ.

And not just a little—it seems we're trending down to baseline levels from the 1800's, pre mass-literacy.

Further research shows that reading long-form text for many hours at a time prompts activity and growth in areas of the brain correlated with general cognative ability.

Perhaps you're right that kids raised without tech will not do well in a tech-first world, but that tech-first world is rapidly falling apart.

All parents face a stark choice here, I think.

[Jackson Solway @JacksonSolway]

Guy who's starting the city here. Perhaps the city is not for you. But the whole concept is chasing a large established demand. There are other ways to record memories (even just non-phone cameras). And other ways to share news. And there's a whole world of Americans trying to figure all this out.

[Jackson Solway @JacksonSolway]

Hello. I'm the guy starting the city. It's perhaps not for you, which is OK. But there are a lot of people who feel otherwise.

Of all the kinds of people I've talked with so far, Gen Z and younger are the biggest fans. I've had multiple middle school kids tell me they wish they'd grown up in New Athens because they hate their phones. There's a seriously to their stories I haven't got from older people. Again, maybe it's not for you, but there is energy with young people in this direction.

Ironically, few people are talking about it on X because these kids hate social media and hate their phones and just don't really exist online. But I promise you there are a LOT of them.

[Jackson Solway @JacksonSolway]

Hello. I'm the guy starting New Athens. May I kindly ask what about the city is turning you off?

I don't want to assume, but I could interpret your comment as "I would prefer the city actively support my religion," or "the words on this website are turning me of / the wrong vibe." Is it one of these, or both, or something else?

I'm honestly very interested in your feedback!

[New Athens @MoveToNewAthens]

...And we're live.

In lieu of a manifesto, we're betting on execution.

Onwards and upwards!