Show HN: Scream to Unlock – Blocks social media until you scream “I'm a loser” • Hacker News Board

Re: Show HN: Scream to Unlock – Blocks social media until you scream “I'm a loser”

#101

Post by haswell » Wed, Jun 25, 2025, 7:37 PM UTC

janalsncm wrote: post #90

haswell wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you aren't a winner if you are unlocking social media. You are opening the gate to loserdom That is not a psychologically healthy way to frame this. And I think it’s a stretch to say that screaming “I’m a loser” is positive punishment, which seems just as likely to reinforce negative self beliefs that lead to the outcomes described in the parent comment’s research and opposite of what the user presumably wants. To…

> And I think it’s a stretch to say that screaming “I’m a loser” is positive punishment A positive punishment is giving the subject something they don’t like. For example corporeal punishment. A negative punishment is taking away something the subject does like. For example food. Importantly punishments need to happen after the unwanted behavior. So being punished before the behavior occurs doesn’t make any sense.

> Importantly punishments need to happen after the unwanted behavior. So being punished before the behavior occurs doesn’t make any sense.

Also importantly, punishment as a mechanism for changing behavior is generally considered less effective than reinforcement approaches, which tend to be more effective and carry fewer downsides (like internalizing the idea that I'm a loser).

Re: Show HN: Scream to Unlock – Blocks social media until you scream “I'm a loser”

#102

Post by dylan604 » Wed, Jun 25, 2025, 7:40 PM UTC

quantadev wrote: post #92

dylan604 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd rather solve math problems than CAPTCHAs any day of the week.

But would you make your kid do CAPTCHAs every time they need to earn some privilege? We're talking about what's appropriate for kids, not what's easy or hard for adults or kids. I mean why not make them earn dessert by doing push-ups? Because it's mean, that's why.

If it was up to me, I'd make them do 5 push ups and 5 crunches instead. Or putting the devices down altogether. It's not mean to make your kids do physical activity. In fact, if you are not making them do physical activity, I'd say you are negligent as a parent. I guarantee you that if you had your kids start doing pushups and crunches they would get to the point of it being a nothing burger to do it. It will be a bunch of moaning and complaining at the start, but that goes away. It's just as much of a conditioning as the kid crying and being rewarded with a device.

Re: Show HN: Scream to Unlock – Blocks social media until you scream “I'm a loser”

#103

Post by dvh » Wed, Jun 25, 2025, 7:45 PM UTC

I'm a programmer, a creative person, working on my projects, and regularly I need a short break, so on every break I usually lay in bed and checked the news and I often ended on YouTube watching more videos, wasting hours every day.

What eventually helped me was use css to replace entire YouTube (and other doom scrolling websites) with a motivational picture that says:

"One day, you'll realize that your dream died because you chose comfort over effort. Don't let that regret haunt you forever."

And it worked.

Edit: the css for yt looks like this:

    body {
     min-height: 100vh;
     background-image:url(https://example.com/effort.jpg);
     background-size: contain;
     background-repeat: no-repeat; 
     background-position: center; 
     background-color: black;
    }
    p,div,h1,span {display:none}

Re: Show HN: Scream to Unlock – Blocks social media until you scream “I'm a loser”

#104

Post by graemep » Wed, Jun 25, 2025, 7:49 PM UTC

ThrowawayR2 wrote: post #98

graemep wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You gotta drill the basic arithmetic in order to learn it Do less arithmetic. We have calculators so arithmetic matters less. > no amount of sugarcoating will make kids like it. Sugarcoating is exactly the wrong approach. Its making the subject itself enjoyable. https://profkeithdevlin.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/lockh... > This is the lesson unlearned by proponents of "New Math" and "Common Core" in the USA Not…

"We have calculators so arithmetic matters less" you say? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-pound_burger#Marketing_f... " The results revealed that many participants mistakenly believed that one-third of a pound was smaller than one-fourth (quarter) of a pound. Focus group participants expressed confusion over the price, asking why they should pay the same amount for a "smaller" third-pound burger. "

I agree with that, but most of those people probably can do arithmetic and were drilled in it at school, but drill to get the right answers does not teach you how to apply it.

Re: Show HN: Scream to Unlock – Blocks social media until you scream “I'm a loser”

#105

Post by graemep » Wed, Jun 25, 2025, 7:49 PM UTC

hobs wrote: post #97

graemep wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You gotta drill the basic arithmetic in order to learn it Do less arithmetic. We have calculators so arithmetic matters less. > no amount of sugarcoating will make kids like it. Sugarcoating is exactly the wrong approach. Its making the subject itself enjoyable. https://profkeithdevlin.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/lockh... > This is the lesson unlearned by proponents of "New Math" and "Common Core" in the USA Not…

It matters less, but the lack of numeracy means many people are befuddled by the most basic math related conversations, statistical conversations (polling), fraction or rate based (APR? Taxes???) things - all over the place. Learning the basics and drilling them is a useful skill even if you can make the machine do it for you.

But most of those people befuddled by these things were drilled in it, but do not know how to apply it. Drill without understanding.

Re: Show HN: Scream to Unlock – Blocks social media until you scream “I'm a loser”

#106

Post by graemep » Wed, Jun 25, 2025, 7:50 PM UTC

lazystar wrote: post #78

graemep wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You gotta drill the basic arithmetic in order to learn it Do less arithmetic. We have calculators so arithmetic matters less. > no amount of sugarcoating will make kids like it. Sugarcoating is exactly the wrong approach. Its making the subject itself enjoyable. https://profkeithdevlin.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/lockh... > This is the lesson unlearned by proponents of "New Math" and "Common Core" in the USA Not…

> Do less arithmetic. We have calculators so arithmetic matters less. would you also posit that, since we have AI auto gen tools, we no longer need to teach spelling/grammar to children?

Very different skills.

I would not teach spelling by drill and memorisation either - you pick it up if you read.

Re: Show HN: Scream to Unlock – Blocks social media until you scream “I'm a loser”

#107

Post by graemep » Wed, Jun 25, 2025, 7:51 PM UTC

SoftTalker wrote: post #85

graemep wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You gotta drill the basic arithmetic in order to learn it Do less arithmetic. We have calculators so arithmetic matters less. > no amount of sugarcoating will make kids like it. Sugarcoating is exactly the wrong approach. Its making the subject itself enjoyable. https://profkeithdevlin.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/lockh... > This is the lesson unlearned by proponents of "New Math" and "Common Core" in the USA Not…

> We have calculators so arithmetic matters less. Disagee. Fluency in basic arithmetic is a very useful life skill.

Some things are. Being able to estimate rough answers in your head is far more useful than being able to do an exact answer with pen and paper.

Re: Show HN: Scream to Unlock – Blocks social media until you scream “I'm a loser”

#108

Post by pona-a » Wed, Jun 25, 2025, 7:55 PM UTC

recursive wrote: post #93

kevindamm wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

180 seems very high to me and I've already quit social networks (well, except for some forum-like ones such as HN). I like the idea, though, maybe five minutes for every 30 seconds of non-distracted gaze? Or something like that and tunable. Maybe even dynamic to the amount of time spent scrolling the feed in the last x hours?

People burn through half an hour scrolling like it was nothing. 3 minutes is a bargain!

Maybe it can auto-relock on a timer, while the required time increases every time?

Re: Show HN: Scream to Unlock – Blocks social media until you scream “I'm a loser”

#109

Post by recursive » Wed, Jun 25, 2025, 8:09 PM UTC

pona-a wrote: post #108

recursive wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People burn through half an hour scrolling like it was nothing. 3 minutes is a bargain!

Maybe it can auto-relock on a timer, while the required time increases every time?

Whatever floats your boat! But I'm wary of creating reversed incentives.

I can't let it lock! That would increase the cost. Must keep scrolling.

Re: Show HN: Scream to Unlock – Blocks social media until you scream “I'm a loser”

#110

Post by jag729 » Wed, Jun 25, 2025, 8:25 PM UTC

Ha, might be more effective to have to say some long passage; could see myself eventually saying "I'm a loser" habitually to access the sites without internalizing the meaning.