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Regaining control of your attention

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Re: Regaining control of your attention

#21

Post by vorotato »

AngrySkillzz wrote: post #14
vorotato wrote: post #3

Regaining control of your attention doesn't mean not using your phone. It means being self-aware. The author is relying on a crutch. Not using the phone is just removing a single source of distraction, it does nothing to actually help attention regulation. It's like saying, I fixed my impulse issues by never walking in to gas stations, so now I don't have to worry about buying lottery tickets! You didn't fix your imp…

Interestingly, that is the opposite of what I've seen in the scientific literature. Trait self-control seems to better relate to removing temptations from our lives via planning rather than having a high threshold for resistance. People who identify as "having good self-control" tend to have fewer strong desires and weaker resistance. Tellingly, trait self-control also doesn't seem to change the relationship between…

I'm not arguing that people need better self control, just that they need to be aware of what they're doing so they can do what they want. There's nothing wrong with browsing facebook for 10 hours if that's what you wanted to do each step of the way. This isn't like abstaining from something you want, it's choosing between two things you want.

Re: Regaining control of your attention

#22

Post by vorotato »

AngrySkillzz wrote: post #14
vorotato wrote: post #3

Regaining control of your attention doesn't mean not using your phone. It means being self-aware. The author is relying on a crutch. Not using the phone is just removing a single source of distraction, it does nothing to actually help attention regulation. It's like saying, I fixed my impulse issues by never walking in to gas stations, so now I don't have to worry about buying lottery tickets! You didn't fix your imp…

Interestingly, that is the opposite of what I've seen in the scientific literature. Trait self-control seems to better relate to removing temptations from our lives via planning rather than having a high threshold for resistance. People who identify as "having good self-control" tend to have fewer strong desires and weaker resistance. Tellingly, trait self-control also doesn't seem to change the relationship between…

There is a very critical flaw in that though, people who identify as having good self-control don't necessarily actually have good self-control. Just like people who identify at being good at basketball aren't necessarily good at basketball. That doesn't imply one can't get better at playing basketball through practice.

Re: Regaining control of your attention

#23

Post by michaelchisari »

Mario is finite, bounded. The edges are clear. You pay once, and there’s no other way for Nintendo to extract money from you. No single player is a mark. There are no whales. In Mario you can not only see the end but get there.

My favorite games to play on my phone are those made by Square Enix. Final fantasy, Chrono Trigger, Dragon Quest, lots of classic remakes.

They range from $6.99 to $20.99, which made people balk when Square Enix first starting publishing on mobile, but you pay once, and you get a full game to play, no bullshit.

Once again, cheap is better than free. Pay a few dollars and never get bothered again by ads or pay-to-play, but most importantly, you don't feel like you're being manipulated by a never-ending game that starts to feel much more like work than play.

Re: Regaining control of your attention

#24

Post by vorotato »

AngrySkillzz wrote: post #14
vorotato wrote: post #3

Regaining control of your attention doesn't mean not using your phone. It means being self-aware. The author is relying on a crutch. Not using the phone is just removing a single source of distraction, it does nothing to actually help attention regulation. It's like saying, I fixed my impulse issues by never walking in to gas stations, so now I don't have to worry about buying lottery tickets! You didn't fix your imp…

Interestingly, that is the opposite of what I've seen in the scientific literature. Trait self-control seems to better relate to removing temptations from our lives via planning rather than having a high threshold for resistance. People who identify as "having good self-control" tend to have fewer strong desires and weaker resistance. Tellingly, trait self-control also doesn't seem to change the relationship between…

Also, I'm not recommending not to abstain. I'm only pointing out that abstaining alone will not develop practice in executive control and attention regulation. If the phone is too attention grabbing, there are other ways of developing attention regulation.

Re: Regaining control of your attention

#25

Post by canadian_voter »

“We believe that we live in the ‘age of information'. That there has been an information ‘explosion,’ an information ‘revolution.’ While in a certain narrow sense this is the case, in many important ways just the opposite is true. We also live at a moment of deep ignorance, when vital knowledge that humans have always possessed about who we are and where we live seems beyond our reach. An Unenlightenment. An age of missing information.” -- Bill McKibben, The Age of Missing Information, 1992

McKibben's book, just like Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death, is even more relevant to the internet age than the television age.

There is something insidious about "information" that's doled out like slot tokens at a casino. Something dangerous about "facts" that are carefully designed to fit with what we want to believe. Something manipulative about "teaching" that is designed to fit through the gaps in our mental defenses for the benefit of the "teacher".

This week I've met otherwise "normal" people who are flat-earthers, anti-vaccers, and who believe Hillary is a Satanist and Trump is the "Bringer of Light".

But ultimately who cares if your hairdresser is an anti-vaccer, or your tennis partner is a flat-earther? Does it really matter if that cute girl at the check-out is an anti-Semite? Does it harm anyone if the guy building your deck believes in zero-point energy?

So long as people fulfill their economic roles quietly and efficiently, does it really matter what's in their hearts and minds? It's all relative isn't it?

Re: Regaining control of your attention

#26

Post by vorotato »

afarrell wrote: post #20
vorotato wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean sure if you have a mental health condition like ADHD, but studies have shown that most with ADHD can still steer their awareness it's just much harder. If you literally cannot be aware of your behavior while using your phone, that's a issue, and medicine can help. Healthy adults can be self aware it just takes some conscious effort. Many with ADHD (especially with the help of medication) can become more aware…

Those tools are valuable but a lot harder to access and more expensive.

Sure. That's very true. CBT can be done and has shown some success with lay practitioners in non-american countries. However that's not as widely available. Awareness meditation is also looking hopeful for ADHD, but more evidence needs to come up for it to be definitively conclusive.

I'm not saying don't use the tools you talked about. I'm not saying don't take breaks from consumption. Just next time you do choose to consume try to maintain awareness of what you're doing. You might find some small success in guiding what you choose to do.

Re: Regaining control of your attention

#27

Post by andrei_says_ »

ryandvm wrote: post #9
rwc wrote: post #8

Admittedly off-topic, but why add unnecessarily ignorant asides (in the first sentence to boot): "...I lived on the grounds of an old estate down in central Virginia, next to a town called — terrifyingly — Lynchburg..." ...when a 10-second Google search reveals the less-than-terrifying reality: First settled in 1757, Lynchburg was named for its founder, John Lynch, who at the age of 17 started a ferry service at a fo…

Knowledge has never been a prerequisite to prejudice.

Sarcastic, smug and highly quotable, all in one. Wonderful.

Re: Regaining control of your attention

#28

Post by mkesper »

iak8god wrote: post #7
vorotato wrote: post #3

Regaining control of your attention doesn't mean not using your phone. It means being self-aware. The author is relying on a crutch. Not using the phone is just removing a single source of distraction, it does nothing to actually help attention regulation. It's like saying, I fixed my impulse issues by never walking in to gas stations, so now I don't have to worry about buying lottery tickets! You didn't fix your imp…

The "impulse issues" are reinforced by the phone. I've very often noticed when I've set aside my phone for a few hours (the rest of the evening until bed or whatever) that I have to literally set it aside at some distance from myself because otherwise it ends up in my hand without my even consciously deciding to check it. It's like a reflex. And then once it's safely at a distance, I repeatedly experience the urge to…

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

Re: Regaining control of your attention

#29

Post by ffggvv »

canadian_voter wrote: post #25

“We believe that we live in the ‘age of information'. That there has been an information ‘explosion,’ an information ‘revolution.’ While in a certain narrow sense this is the case, in many important ways just the opposite is true. We also live at a moment of deep ignorance, when vital knowledge that humans have always possessed about who we are and where we live seems beyond our reach. An Unenlightenment. An age of m…

Sometimes I wonder, what if earth is really flat? What if we thought we were right but instead we were the flat-earthers?

What is truth??

EDIT: Well if Trump takes us to war, we will see a lot of fireworks /s.

Re: Regaining control of your attention

#30

Post by gph »

rwc wrote: post #8

Admittedly off-topic, but why add unnecessarily ignorant asides (in the first sentence to boot): "...I lived on the grounds of an old estate down in central Virginia, next to a town called — terrifyingly — Lynchburg..." ...when a 10-second Google search reveals the less-than-terrifying reality: First settled in 1757, Lynchburg was named for its founder, John Lynch, who at the age of 17 started a ferry service at a fo…

Plus it's not like Lynchburg is some tiny unheard of town. It's actually a decent sized city, and it's fairly well known for being home to Jerry Falwell's Liberty University. Not to mention the history both in Lynchburg and the surrounding area from Revolutionary times to the Civil War.

It's like being surprised that there's a city called Reading in England. "Must be a bunch of libraries there".

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