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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

#91

Post by clumsysmurf »

droopybuns wrote: post #40
jgibson wrote: post #4

Does anyone see an analogy with highly processed, sugary foods? Highly addictive, thought to be miracles of convenience, but ultimately detrimental when consumed in excess, and now we are starting to realise that and demand better. I wonder if society will go through the same rejection phase with attention-seeking media consumption. Or maybe those who grow up with it will be better able to control themselves.

Yes. I’ve been running with this model too. I also think about distractions (pop ups, bullshit social media, etc) as interrupts that disrupt program execution. The mindfulness movement has organic parallels. Is mainstream news nourishing to my brain? The biggest story of the week (year?) has no leakers and limited facts. The media have made virtually no progress on explaining who this person was in Las Vegas. We do h…

> I also think about distractions

There is a book on this idea "Infinite Distraction"

https://www.amazon.com/Infinite-Distraction-Theory-Dominic-P...

The idea being that our media experience is modulated in a way that people can't individually or collectively focus indignation.

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

#92

Post by wutbrodo »

gnaritas wrote: post #82
ShabbosGoy wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Get hooked at young ages, and their tastes develop around the overly sweet/salty foods. Thus becoming adults still addicted to them. Anecdotal, but I've noticed that higher caliber restaurants have very subtle flavors. As opposed to mass produced/fast food that tend have very strong flavors.

Subtle aka bland.

I'm not sure these are quite the same things. Take a North Indian curry for example: even it's detractors wouldn't call it particularly bland, but the flavors are obviously way more subtle than, say, pixie stix. This isn't particularly surprising given that you put half a teaspoon of a dozen different spices into a curry while the pixie stix are literally just sugar and maybe a single flavor, wired directly to a part of our brain that likes sugar.

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

#93

Post by chiefalchemist »

notaboutdave wrote: post #38

Ever see that photo of Mark Zuckerberg surrounded by hundreds of people in VR headsets? The backstory of the original Matrix movie doesn't seem as far fetched anymore. http://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-virtual-reali...

Not only that but I believe the look on his face was one of joy or at least accomplishment. The media parroted that spin.

That said, metaphorically we're already in The Matrix. Humans were just fuel for the system. When I see so many over-weight/obese "consumers" I can't help but think how happy the system is to have them; how well they're fulfilling their role. VR glasses will simply close the loop.

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

#94

Post by craftyguy »

seanlinmt wrote: post #90

One thing UN's declaration of Human Rights doesn't seem to cover is the right to free will. http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/ Perhaps it should?

Gosh, if only the existing ones were even remotely enforceable.. There's a lot of good stuff there, but the phrase "talking to a wall" comes to mind when I read it.

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

#95

Post by lhuser123 »

KGIII wrote: post #71
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.

I consider it a luxury to not need to carry a phone. I only know where my phone currently is because I made the effort to find it. I have a couple of dollars and can afford lots of luxuries. Yet, it's the things I don't do that seem the most luxurious. I spent years tethered to my phone. I was on call, at all hours of the day and in pretty much any location. To not be beholden to a cell phone is true luxury.

I turn off WiFi, data and location for a good part of the day.

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

#96

Post by chubot »

jgibson wrote: post #4

Does anyone see an analogy with highly processed, sugary foods? Highly addictive, thought to be miracles of convenience, but ultimately detrimental when consumed in excess, and now we are starting to realise that and demand better. I wonder if society will go through the same rejection phase with attention-seeking media consumption. Or maybe those who grow up with it will be better able to control themselves.

There is another part to the analogy: we've all woken up to the fact that corporations re-engineered the food supply after World War II. They were hacking the human body. I think I didn't get this say in the year 2000, but I really get it now.

Think about what your grandparents ate vs. what your parents ate (assuming you grew up in the U.S. and are in the 20's-30's age range. Anecdotally the effect seems to have been particularly strong in the midwest.). It's like night and day.

It's not a coincidence that the food was remade by large corporations during that time. And likewise it seems obvious to me that we will look back on this time in 20 years and see that big corporations were hacking the human brain, like they were hacking the human body 50 years ago.

Now I don't think it is a matter of evil people in dark boardrooms. But if you believe in capitalism, and you believe in biology, then this effect is almost inevitable. It would be surprising if it did NOT happen.

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

#98

Post by krapp »

seanlinmt wrote: post #90

One thing UN's declaration of Human Rights doesn't seem to cover is the right to free will. http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/ Perhaps it should?

There's evidence that the self-awareness and intent commonly believed to be "free will" could be be a post-hoc illusion generated by the brain after decision making occurs[0]. How can something which may not even exist, or which doesn't even have an objective definition, be a right?

[0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroscience_of_free_will

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

#99

Post by mmphosis »

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?

things I am (currently) addicted to: coffee, hackernews, news, computers, programming, problem-solving/puzzles, youtube/shows/movies, games/poker, reading articles, ...

I think we need to be aware of what we are (currently) addicted to. The author of the like button has been able to break free of social media, and like a former smoker, it sounds as if he is on a crusade to help others break free too. I am unsure that democracy/capitalism as the author describes is working/evil -- both are 'like' systems that allow a person to choose and receive a reward, and we can choose not to participate. There are worse systems. And, perhaps we can create better ones.

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

#100

Post by KGIII »

lhuser123 wrote: post #95
KGIII wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I consider it a luxury to not need to carry a phone. I only know where my phone currently is because I made the effort to find it. I have a couple of dollars and can afford lots of luxuries. Yet, it's the things I don't do that seem the most luxurious. I spent years tethered to my phone. I was on call, at all hours of the day and in pretty much any location. To not be beholden to a cell phone is true luxury.

I turn off WiFi, data and location for a good part of the day.

I do use it to browse when I'd otherwise be idle. I do sometimes email from it. I do SMS, MMS, call, and take a picture once in a while. I use a dedicated GPS and MP3 player, as needed. That's about it.

There aren't any apps on it that it didn't come with. Other than a few settings, I've only really modified the ring tones. I sometimes use it as an alarm clock, if I'm on the road.

Hell, I don't even have voicemail configured. You can call up the provider and they will disable it, if you've already set it up and change your mind.

I did give smartphones my attention but I've since realized how much happier I am without being beholden to it. It's a personal thing, but I'm happier not being obligated to answer the phone, or to respond in a timely manner.

It works for me. I expect many people are much happier with their Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and the likes. If someone wants my attention bad enough, my door is unlocked. Everyone else has learned to be patient. I'll respond when I have both time and motivation.

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