The decline of deviance

Debating “Deviance” and the Data

• Many argue the article conflates different concepts: crime, risk-taking, creativity, and “weirdness.”
• Several note the metrics are about risk (crime, teen pregnancy, substance use), not inherently about originality or cultural deviance.
• Others object to calling once‑common behaviors (e.g., underage drinking) “deviant” when they were the local norm.
• Some see the piece as US‑centric and nostalgia‑driven; others praise its breadth of graphs but say causation is under-argued.

Proposed Causes of Declining Traditional Deviance

• Popular explanations: declining lead exposure (less impulsivity/violence); helicopter parenting and “stranger danger”; more locked‑down schools and zero‑tolerance discipline (especially harsh for minorities).
• Social media, cameras, and permanent records raise the cost of “one bad night,” discouraging experimentation.
• Economic precarity, housing costs, and strong financial incentives to “participate in the system” make risky life paths (bohemian, wandering, low-paid art) harder.
• Litigious parents, safety culture, and car dependence reduce unsupervised, consequence‑free youth time.

Counterclaim: Deviance Has Shifted, Not Vanished

• Many insist there is more deviance, just in new forms: online subcultures, porn economies, extreme kinks, TikTok challenges, cult‑like influencers.
• A lot of previously deviant identities and aesthetics (tattoos, queer visibility, furries, niche fandoms) are now normalized or commodified, so they no longer register as “deviant.”
• Weird, high‑risk subcultures still exist offline (raves, festivals, leather bars, off‑grid living), but are more gated and less visible to mainstream observers.

Cultural Homogenization and “Money Won”

• Strong agreement that mainstream aesthetics have converged: sequels, samey architecture, car design, branding, book covers, big-budget entertainment.
• Explanations include globalization, dominant designs, corporate consolidation, algorithmic optimization, and risk‑averse capital.
• Several say “money won”: the old stigma around “selling out” has faded; creativity and subcultures are rapidly monetized, “pre-corporated,” and fed back as safe products.

Generational, Psychological, and Social Control Factors

• Observations that younger people are more analytical, review‑driven, and self-conscious; constantly comparing to metrics and online norms.
• Millennials seen by some as more competent, protective parents, producing well‑rounded but more conformist kids.
• Ubiquitous surveillance, ID‑linked finance, and panopticon‑like data trails are felt to chill deviance, even if not always overtly repressive.

Norms, Overton Window, and Measurement

• Commenters distinguish statistical deviance from moral deviance and from aesthetic originality.
• Some argue deviance appears to decline either when the Overton window widens (more is accepted) or when it narrows (more self‑censorship); which is happening now is debated.
• Overall: many accept that measured risky behavior is down, but disagree sharply on whether true cultural deviance is shrinking, fragmenting, or simply harder to see.