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'Our minds can be hijacked': tech insiders who fear a smartphone dystopia

theguardian.com

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Re: 'Our minds can be hijacked': tech insiders who fear a smartphone dystopia

#51

Post by walshemj »

bjelkeman-again wrote: post #11
pavelromashkin wrote: post #3

I agree with him that social media could be very distracting, especially in the family settings, but, I get a ton of useful information and stay up-to-date with the latest research through Twitter, Reddit and HN. Cutting those out would mean putting an iron curtain on the latest insight and recent developments, and, essentially, quitting the front line.

I think I am observing it being destructive in a family setting. I fear for what this will bring in 20 years.

this is what they said about TVm rock and roll, comic books computer games etcetera etcetera going back to the dawn of time.

As Socrates's says “The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise.”

Not mention the shocking depravity of shaving and painting statues blue

Re: 'Our minds can be hijacked': tech insiders who fear a smartphone dystopia

#52

Post by arkitaip »

chrisco255 wrote: post #24

Does anyone think that Hacker News fits the bill of addictiveness? Or is HN different than Facebook/Reddit/Twitter for some reason?

HN might be worse because it's easy to label it as necessary or useful in your professional life.

Re: 'Our minds can be hijacked': tech insiders who fear a smartphone dystopia

#53

Post by bit_logic »

Something that helps a lot is to be ruthless with notifications on a smartphone. I basically have it set to only bother me for calls, SMS, and chat apps. Everything else is turned off.

And whenever I get a new phone, it surprising how bad the defaults are. Basically every apps default is to spam notifications.

Re: 'Our minds can be hijacked': tech insiders who fear a smartphone dystopia

#54

Post by Karrot_Kream »

hackermailman wrote: post #35
pavelromashkin wrote: post #3

I agree with him that social media could be very distracting, especially in the family settings, but, I get a ton of useful information and stay up-to-date with the latest research through Twitter, Reddit and HN. Cutting those out would mean putting an iron curtain on the latest insight and recent developments, and, essentially, quitting the front line.

You don't need those sites. Find professors in your chosen field, click on their personal pages and there should be a list of all their PhD student's personal pages. Follow those and any related academic journals, throw in Stack Overflow/Exchange, Google Scholar, and occasional HN and you'll be far more informed than anybody wading through countless junk posts on reddit or twitter. For example if you're a user interf…

Even that's not enough. I spent the last year or so switching over to consuming news through RSS, moving myself and close friends out of Facebook, and downloading textbooks. I've been teaching myself advanced mathematics that I didn't get a strong hold of in graduate school.

I found myself in the middle of a category theory exercise stuck. I wasn't getting anywhere, and couldn't figure something out. Break time, so I opened my RSS reader. Even if my RSS reader has curated content, it's easy to read. An article about urban planning here, optimizing latency there, and before I know it, an hour has passed. I spent none of that time focusing on my problem, and I'm just as stuck as ever.

I think, at least for me, I need to stem this constant flow of information. I need to take time to step aside of it, live without it, then get back.

Re: 'Our minds can be hijacked': tech insiders who fear a smartphone dystopia

#55

Post by baq »

40acres wrote: post #22

It seems like the root cause of all this is advertising. Social media companies need attention grabbing features to draw eyes on ads, makes you wonder if we'd still be facing this dilemma of social media was sites were a paid service.

And advertising is needed mostly to sell stuff. If there wasn't any need to sell, there wouldn't be much advertising. I don't see non-free social media of current scale possible, unless you count the telephone network and the whole Internet as one. You already pay for that.

Re: 'Our minds can be hijacked': tech insiders who fear a smartphone dystopia

#56

Post by dehef »

I made exactly the same move.

I can recommend K9 as the best self-control app.

I use it with recommended settings + any social media. I thinking about adding linkedin to the list. Maybe one day Hacker news also :)

I now use a basic phone after years using a iphone.

You know why?

I had some jobs interviews 2 years ago, and I had many problem to answer basic questions. I felt a so powerfull programmer.. But my memory was not as strong that I though.

I remember how it was before, when I was in my university. I used to know how to learn new things. And at 34 I cant think its just age. I think that google already hi jack a part of my learning process...

I can't work without google or searching SO time to time but I will for sure stop using social media, and I will try more and more to learn like I used to. Like watching video and taking note on a real paper.

But for next generations that is a real problem I think

Re: 'Our minds can be hijacked': tech insiders who fear a smartphone dystopia

#57

Post by callmeed »

bit_logic wrote: post #53

Something that helps a lot is to be ruthless with notifications on a smartphone. I basically have it set to only bother me for calls, SMS, and chat apps. Everything else is turned off. And whenever I get a new phone, it surprising how bad the defaults are. Basically every apps default is to spam notifications.

This. Aside from quitting FB, this has been the biggest win for me. I only have notifications on for sms/iMessage. Email is pull only.

And, if you can get away with it, don’t install work “productivity” apps like Slack and Asana on your personal phone.

Laptops seem just as bad now so I usually don not disturb my MBP as soon as I start my day.

Re: 'Our minds can be hijacked': tech insiders who fear a smartphone dystopia

#58

Post by saagarjha »

droopybuns wrote: post #42
skizm wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean Steve Jobs tried to treat his completely curable pancreatic cancer, which was caught early, with alternative medicine and diet changes. The guy was a genius at some things, but not everything.

When did pancreatic cancer get a reputation for being curable? I was under the impression that it is one of the most fatal cancers.

It was diagnosed very early, which made it much easier to handle.

Re: 'Our minds can be hijacked': tech insiders who fear a smartphone dystopia

#59

Post by lsmarigo »

bit_logic wrote: post #53

Something that helps a lot is to be ruthless with notifications on a smartphone. I basically have it set to only bother me for calls, SMS, and chat apps. Everything else is turned off. And whenever I get a new phone, it surprising how bad the defaults are. Basically every apps default is to spam notifications.

Twitter on ios mobile has given me such a headache with those highlights notifications. No way to disable them, infuriating.

Re: 'Our minds can be hijacked': tech insiders who fear a smartphone dystopia

#60

Post by hackermailman »

Karrot_Kream wrote: post #54
hackermailman wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't need those sites. Find professors in your chosen field, click on their personal pages and there should be a list of all their PhD student's personal pages. Follow those and any related academic journals, throw in Stack Overflow/Exchange, Google Scholar, and occasional HN and you'll be far more informed than anybody wading through countless junk posts on reddit or twitter. For example if you're a user interf…

Even that's not enough. I spent the last year or so switching over to consuming news through RSS, moving myself and close friends out of Facebook, and downloading textbooks. I've been teaching myself advanced mathematics that I didn't get a strong hold of in graduate school. I found myself in the middle of a category theory exercise stuck. I wasn't getting anywhere, and couldn't figure something out. Break time, so I…

You may be interested in these slides from a lecture (yet more information to consume) on how to find answers to grad level math like using oeis.org to identify sequences, where to post on stack exchange/mathoverflow to get answers, using the inverse symbolic calculator ect http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~15751/2016-lecture1.pdf

That lecture drastically reduced the time I spend now finding answers which usually I found myself drifting into the attention economy while I stopped working to search for things.

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