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Addicted to Distraction

nytimes.com

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Re: Addicted to Distraction

#31

Post by thrwy111 »

Disruptive_Dave wrote: post #26
thrwy111 wrote: post #11

This isn't a real addiction. And it trivializes what addicts actually go through. This is demonstrated being that it was possible for the author to replace the "higher power" of the 12 steps with someone to unplug the Internet router. If you're actually addicted to something, you feel so trapped and subservient to your addiction that you concoct the idea of a higher power simply because you have no power left within…

I disagree. Addiction is defined as: "a strong and harmful need to regularly have something (such as a drug) or do something (such as gamble)." Do you not put phone/internet usage into that category? In a 2-hour drive this morning I had three near-accidents all because of the drivers on their phones. Ask the average American 30-year-old to avoid their phone for 24 hours straight and that will be a significantly diffi…

Then we need a new definition for what I know as addiction. I think your quoted definition may actually get in the way of helping addicts. There's no way that if society imagines addiction as merely a "strong and harmful need" that they'll ever be able to sympathize with people who have addictions as I know them. "Oh, you're trying to quit smoking? I quit Farmville once."

Re: Addicted to Distraction

#32

Post by TeMPOraL »

such_a_casual wrote: post #29
TillE wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be willing to bet that a significant majority of "internet addiction" (are people still talking about that ?) or "game addiction" is actually just a symptom of depression.

Couldn't you say the same about a lot of "drug addiction" as well?

Drug addiction has a strong chemical dependence compoment, but I wouldn't be surprised if depression was what led people to get addicted in the first place.

Re: Addicted to Distraction

#33

Post by scep12 »

I recently wrote a chrome extension that helps me curb my "compulsion loop."

It's pretty simple; each time the browser loads a website that has potentially distracting content (think: twitter, FB, reddit, hacker news, rotoworld, etc) that I tend to over-visit in search of new tidbits, the extension keeps track of my visit and the text content of the page.

The next time I visit, I do a text comparison that checks how similar the content is to my last visit. If there's too much overlap, the browser redirects.

There's a profound difference in using this approach versus existing distraction-detractors. When I see the browser redirect away while trying to load reddit.com, my rational side takes over and reminds me that I should be done with tidbit-seeking.

I ought to clean it up and put it on github; I'm sure someone else might find it useful.

Re: Addicted to Distraction

#34

Post by kristofferR »

DanBC wrote: post #27
kristofferR wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you think addiction is real only if it's extreme?

Because "you continue to use it, even though you know it's doing you harm" is part of the modern definition of dependence.

> "You continue to use it, even though you know it's doing you harm".

Well, sure. I'm wasting time all the time on the internet, even though I know I shouldn't. Sometimes it have real negative effects on my life, it's certainly a real addiction by that definition.

I've actually experimented a bit with chemical addiction to caffeine and nicotine (consuming a lot of caffeine/nicotine for a few weeks then stopping completely), and it was way easier to break than my internet addiction.

Are you claiming that chemical addiction/dependence isn't really addiction/dependence if you can "override" it?

To claim that my addiction to procrastination isn't really an addiction because I recognize it and doesn't feel so powerless than I would want to kill myself is absurd.

Re: Addicted to Distraction

#35

Post by marcosdumay »

DougN7 wrote: post #2

This rings true for me too. If I sit down with a minute or two of spare time, out comes my phone so I can check out HN or Reddit. Never any quiet contemplation any more.

Tell me. I've just sit in front of my computer saying "well, I'll write those test cases for my side project".

Yet, I'm here, replying to you.

Re: Addicted to Distraction

#36

Post by armorsmith42 »

Scarbutt wrote: post #15
[deleted] wrote: post #9

[deleted]

I just tried it and wouldn't call it stronger, you can bypass it by just changing your computer time, amusing indeed.

Why, when someone shares with you the tool that they've used to free themselves from distraction, is your response to go, "oh, let me tell them how to get around that tool so that it no longer works for them." ?

How is that anything but a massive imposition of disutility to the parent and to anyone else that uses the tool?

Re: Addicted to Distraction

#37

Post by raldi »

Why does the author consider it a perfectly healthy accomplishment to spend a monthlong vacation reading a dozen books, but dangerous and unhealthy to check his email more than thrice a day or read redditlike sites?

Re: Addicted to Distraction

#38

Post by keithpeter »

ThomPete wrote: post #6

I haven't really gotten my thoughts clear on this so excuse me for the probably unclear formulation. I recently realized that one of the unfortunate consequences of this is the way many in my generation (I'm 41) brings up our kids. Instead of teaching them one thing in depth we are forcing them through a million different subjects way before they even turn 10. It's not unusual in my circles that kids are both playing…

I teach basic maths to adults mainly but also a couple of classes of teenagers in a further education college in the UK - the US equivalent is called a community college I believe.

This year, I won the timetabling lottery and got classes with fine art, graphics, fashion and media students.

Usual distractions (phones: Facebook, various instant messaging services &c). I gave each student a simple cardboard document wallet to keep finished work in and suggested that they put their name on the wallet and 'customise' it.

Silence: focussed activity for 15mins. I carry a box with a couple of sets of Sharpies of various colours plus Muji pens and pencils. Grabbed and distributed in a coordinated Mexican wave. Seriously, the full Csikszentmihalyi flow.

Now I have to find a way of channelling that into Maths... I'm taking Tufte's books in next week to see what happens.

TD;LR Digital natives can concentrate when they want to.

Re: Addicted to Distraction

#39

Post by g_delgado14 »

scep12 wrote: post #33

I recently wrote a chrome extension that helps me curb my "compulsion loop." It's pretty simple; each time the browser loads a website that has potentially distracting content (think: twitter, FB, reddit, hacker news, rotoworld, etc) that I tend to over-visit in search of new tidbits, the extension keeps track of my visit and the text content of the page. The next time I visit, I do a text comparison that checks how…

Yeah I'd like to check it out!

Re: Addicted to Distraction

#40

Post by spooningtamarin »

ThomPete wrote: post #13
tdkl wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's not unusual in my circles that kids are both playing football, taking piano lessons, learning french on top of their school and homework. I believe this is fundamentally the wrong approach as it only teaches kids to skate over a subject rather than master one in full. True, although on the other hand that's the best time to experiment what you'll potentially like and perhaps even base your interests and/or car…

Yes but this is something I believe kids are perfectly fine figuring out themselves rather than parents sending them to all the things they wished they had learned when they were kids :)

Not really. How can they figure out they love ice skating if they never tried it?

It is up to the parent to give direction to their child, not pressure them into something that they don't want but show them what is possible and out there.

Giving a child the freedom to do what it wants is probably not going to end up well in majority of cases.

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