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Addicted to Distraction

nytimes.com

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Re: Addicted to Distraction

#51

Post by nommm-nommm »

adrianN wrote: post #48
nommm-nommm wrote: post #41

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. We are filling our kid's time with all these structured activities to "enrich" their lives. To give them a leg up in the adult world. To make them smarter and well rounded. We fill our houses with a whole bunch of "enriching" toys. This is extremely misguided. The majority of…

There is no boredom in the modern world. The Internet is an endless cesspool of poor quality entertainment, expertly arranged to give us the impression that we learn something or interact meaningfully with other people. Believing that a child will improve themselves and realize their potential without guidance and an appropriate amount of forcing is, in my opinion, misguided.

Science disagrees with you.

http://www.bbc.com/news/education-21895704

http://greatist.com/happiness/benefits-of-boredom

Nobody said you shouldn't guide your child sometimes but sometimes your child needs to guide themselves too. We are taking away the latter in the modern world.

Re: Addicted to Distraction

#52

Post by jfim »

codemac wrote: post #45
jfim wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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. Just like it is possible to fix alcoholism by having someone remove alcohol from the house and gambling by having someone prevent the gambler from walking into a casino. If using the…

> Just like it is possible to fix alcoholism by having someone remove alcohol from the house It's different because alcohol withdrawal can kill you. It can give people seizures and hospitalize them for weeks. Telling someone to "remove alcohol from the house" as a cure is so left field for me it feels like you're missing the very real medical struggle long-term alcoholics go through. I'm livid but I know this should…

None of the "solutions" I mentioned are actually serious solutions and were intended to show that the parent's reasoning didn't work (ie. you're not going to cure internet addiction by unplugging the router just as removing alcohol from the house won't prevent an alcoholic from seeking and obtaining alcohol).

Someone who's really addicted to something will seek the object of their addiction and think about it constantly. As you mention, there are also physical components to some addictions, such as alcohol addiction.

Re: Addicted to Distraction

#53

Post by DanBC »

kristofferR wrote: post #34
DanBC wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 compl…

I said "part" of the modern definition of dependence. By snipping that you distort the meaning of what I said.

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

No, and you can't read that from my comment.

> 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.

I didn't claim that, and to think I did form what I wrote is absurd.

Re: Addicted to Distraction

#54

Post by cobweb »

I can easily go a bit tab mad. And noticed this in myself ages ago. At work I vowed not to look at sites that weren't work related. And instead checked personal email/sites before or after work. I was more organised. I even used to sit on the train and plan my days work. And it paid off.

These days I'm more and more distracted, have issues concentrating, and I don't have a smartphone, which I'd probably gravitate towards. It is in part, why I don't own one.

I also have congnitive difficulty reading from the screen, so if I stumble across something I think is worth reading, I send it to my e-reader. There I have a ton of unread articles. But I do tend to do one at a time, and it sticks better.

The young ones seem to be able to happily multitask, they sit next to each other on the bus or in cafes talking and surfing simultaneously. I find multi-tasking increasingly difficult, they don't, what gives?

Re: Addicted to Distraction

#55

Post by maxmax »

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…

There is evidence from studies of youth sports that specialization at a young age can actually be detrimental to adult outcomes:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3658407/

Re: Addicted to Distraction

#56

Post by cobweb »

rl3 wrote: post #4

This type of distraction is just another form of procrastination, which in turn is a product of any number of underlying psychological issues. Anxiety and depression come to mind.

It's very easy though to procrastinate when in 'command' of a web browser.

Removing the device removes the temptation.

Typically I can be in the middle of something else, sit down in front of the laptop to quickly check the news or something, and end up walking away from it a few hours later. It's very easy to get sucked in. I guess I'm weak minded.

Re: Addicted to Distraction

#57

Post by drfuchs »

keithpeter wrote: post #46
keithpeter wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 wal…

Solitary downvoter: care to engage with my argument ?

It wasn't me who down-voted you, but perhaps it was someone else who wasn't familiar with a single one of the capitalized words/phrases in the paragraph:

"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."

Re: Addicted to Distraction

#59

Post by keithpeter »

drfuchs wrote: post #57
keithpeter wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Solitary downvoter: care to engage with my argument ?

It wasn't me who down-voted you, but perhaps it was someone else who wasn't familiar with a single one of the capitalized words/phrases in the paragraph: "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."

OK, thanks for feedback and apologies for specific references, here goes with the definitions...

Sharpies: 2mm thick permanent marker pens in bright colours

Muji: Japanese stationery shop with a good stock of fine nib gel and ink pens

Mihali Csikszentmihalyi is a philosopher who has articulated the concept of flow-state. The relevant Wikipedia page is a good basic guide [1]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_%28psychology%29

Re: Addicted to Distraction

#60

Post by pilatesfordogs »

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…

If you meet a professional athlete you'll understand firsthand what drawbacks there are to spending your first 2 decades super specialising.
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