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

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91–100 of 135 posts

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

#91
post #6
post #3

This is cute, but in all seriousness it would be much more effective to shout "I'm a winner" Research: - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3354773/ – Low self-esteem + rejection hurts self-control - https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/SDT/documents/2007_Power... – Self-criticism predicts less goal progress - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9916102/ – Social exclusion slows inhibitory control - https:/…

But the point is you aren't a winner if you are unlocking social media. You are opening the gate to loserdom. I'm not sure how the I'm a winner concept would apply here using one of the four methods of operant conditioning. The research stands, but the practical application of his app is based on a Positive Punishment operant conditioning.

Punishments need to follow unwanted behavior, not precede them. This is a technically interesting demo but it isn’t effective.

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

#92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It certainly seems like someone would've invented a Kid Friendly phone by now that's completely safe, and doesn't allow access to the "real" internet at all, but only an ability to send texts without images, make voice calls, etc. Now that we have AI it would be easier, an you could potentially give "Google" access that's censored into a "child friendly" output by the AI. You could have a texting app where friends ca…

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.

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

#93

A lot of people are objecting to the "loser" unlock key. A lot of ideas about what to do instead. I think the biggest problem with social media is the loss of attention span. So I think it should force you to stare into the camera for 180 seconds without context switching to unlock. Practice focus to unlock distraction.

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!

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

#94

A lot of people are objecting to the "loser" unlock key. A lot of ideas about what to do instead. I think the biggest problem with social media is the loss of attention span. So I think it should force you to stare into the camera for 180 seconds without context switching to unlock. Practice focus to unlock distraction.

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?

> 180 seems very high to me

Sounds like you would benefit from training 3 minutes at a time for starters!

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

#96
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, the kids might do lot of exercises to keep playing, then they get better at something, then they realize that it is much more enjoyable to be good at something than not... Long term, it could still be a win. Obviously not the same, but in the first years of university, I hated math because it suddenly got hard (never before university did I have to learn math or physics just to barely pass). Then,…

> Then, after many nights of reading through books and practicing, grinding, I realized it's not that hard and it made me enjoy solving the "challenges". The only thing I'd change from this wonderful comment is that it is that hard! It's just that, like any other hard skill, lots of dedicated study and practice makes it easier to do hard things.

Sure!

What I mean is that before that, I just thought it’s simply too hard for me and the others are smarter or they come from better school. Then, after going through practically 3-5 books for each topic, practically “drilling” exercises, I finally understood why the others “just get it”. It was hard to get myself to sit down, focus, work, practice… but once I worked on a topic for long enough and got better, I realized it’s not magic, I don’t need special talents, and I can just sit down and study most things.

Then, the classes and exams didn’t give me anxiety anymore, I started to enjoy them, treat exams as challenges rather then the step before receiving another failed exam notification…

I studied Physics but switched to software engineering and this experience helped me add another tool to my toolbelt when something gets difficult.

Some perseverance, some time, and we can learn many things. And as you get better, you start to enjoy things.

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

#97
post #70
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Math is a grind. Inherently. You gotta drill the basic arithmetic in order to learn it, and no amount of sugarcoating will make kids like it. So incentivizing kids to commit to the grind will beat attempting to make the subject more interesting, every time. This is the lesson unlearned by proponents of "New Math" and "Common Core" in the USA; in fact, maybe one of the reasons why Singapore Math is so successful is be…

> 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.

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

#98
post #70
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Math is a grind. Inherently. You gotta drill the basic arithmetic in order to learn it, and no amount of sugarcoating will make kids like it. So incentivizing kids to commit to the grind will beat attempting to make the subject more interesting, every time. This is the lesson unlearned by proponents of "New Math" and "Common Core" in the USA; in fact, maybe one of the reasons why Singapore Math is so successful is be…

> 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."

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

#99
As much as I hate to say it, forcing users to look at ads probably does a decent job of limiting social media time, at least it would for me.

On TikTok you can just swipe through ads when they come up, so lots of people now have built-in muscle memory to auto-swipe every 4th or 5th video, or if they see "Sponsored" in the lower left. If I was instead forced to watch every one of those through to completion, I'd spend a lot less time on there.

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

#100

If you want to make a kids app... Forcing the child to do a number of math problems to continue using the tablet would be an amazing app that I would definitely pay for. My daughter is a second grader. If every 5 minutes of tablet use 'cost' her 5 correct arithmetic answers she would be working at space x right now.

I don’t think it’s possible to build this app on an iPad. But, I taught my kids my phone number by making it their passcode. Before that I used it to teach them how to spell their name.
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