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The Acceleration of Addictiveness

paulgraham.com

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Re: The Acceleration of Addictiveness

#151

Post by hugh3 »

dmoney wrote: post #135

Internet use seems to be my "ground state", what I fall into when I'm done with the stuff I have to do. But recently I've realized that, even though it's addictive, I don't really find it all that relaxing. So I've been trying to reclaim my old ground state of reading books. The internet for me is like the concentrated form of reading a book: you don't have to stay with any one topic longer than it holds your interes…

Y'know, yesterday I declared it "internet-free Sunday" and just turned my internet connection off. I was amazed by how many hours there were in the day. I did some exercise, read some books, went shopping, read some more books, fixed some things around the house I'd been meaning to fix, did some writing, and watched a movie I'd been meaning to watch. I was sad when it came around to Monday and I had to sit in front of a computer again.

Internet usage is a crappy ground state. You can easily do six things at once, all borderline-interesting, none useful. I think I'll make internet-free Sunday a weekly event.

Re: The Acceleration of Addictiveness

#152

Post by jmatt »

There is a broader underlying cause for these addictions. We can't adapt our culture fast enough to address technological change. What applies to these new addictions equally applies to our laws and other social customs. And through other parts of science. Cloning, Stem cells, privacy laws, DRM etc. In the broader context these are all unsettled ideas for our civilization. Example of settled areas from an ethics standpoint - slaves, civil rights, women's right, property ownership, etc.

I remember a philosophy professor discussing this a decade ago. And as time has gone by what she said has made more and more sense. Maybe because technology continues to accelerate while relatively speaking our social customs stay (nearly) the same.

EDIT: added to it. Clarified.

Re: The Acceleration of Addictiveness

#153

Post by joshcrews »

Letting others be the canaries in the coalmine is a great strategy. This is what the Amish have been doing.

150 years ago, they were not that different from the surrounding culture. They became distinct as the pace of innovation took off.

As new innovations come, they allow a whole generation to consume it on the outside, then consider adopting it only after it's been out for decades.

They seem kinda weird to us, but its a very wise strategy. Just because its shiny doesn't mean its helpful for human living.

Re: The Acceleration of Addictiveness

#154

Post by [deleted] »

pg wrote: post #145
drewcrawford wrote: post #48

Let me play devil's advocate for a minute. Why is this "new" addiction wrong ? What does it mean to say it is bad ? pg is taking great pains to distance himself from real addiction, like crystal meth. Yet he never explicitly explains anywhere why the new "addiction" is actually bad , other than trying to loosely associate it with alcohol. I don't think that the "addictiveness" of a thing alone is enough to call it ba…

I defined bad as things you don't want to want. E.g. because while they give you initial pleasure, they might give you net less pleasure in the long run. Though that isn't the only reason you might not want to want something. For example, you might dislike the environmental cost, or the thing might conflict with some principle you held. I don't think there's a sharp distinction between "real" addiction and other type…

[deleted]

Re: The Acceleration of Addictiveness

#155

Post by fleaflicker »

drewcrawford wrote: post #48

Let me play devil's advocate for a minute. Why is this "new" addiction wrong ? What does it mean to say it is bad ? pg is taking great pains to distance himself from real addiction, like crystal meth. Yet he never explicitly explains anywhere why the new "addiction" is actually bad , other than trying to loosely associate it with alcohol. I don't think that the "addictiveness" of a thing alone is enough to call it ba…

Dr Drew always says the hallmark of addiction is progressive use in the face of adverse consequence (effects on school or work, health, finance, legal, relationships).

Re: The Acceleration of Addictiveness

#156

Post by guelo »

abstractbill wrote: post #56

Technological progress means making things do more of what we want. There are two reasonably distinct categories of things I want. I don't have good names for them, so I'll just label them A and B: A is things like: Artificial organs, cheap clean energy, cheap clean and fast transportation, robot house-cleaners, faster-and-faster computers. B covers things like: When I was quitting smoking, I wanted more alcohol and…

Artificial organs, cheap clean energy, cheap clean and fast transportation, robot house-cleaners, faster-and-faster computers.

Rich people problems

Re: The Acceleration of Addictiveness

#158

Post by DenisM »

patio11 wrote: post #119

I worry about the acceleration of addiction in particular subgroups of the population. WoW (or Farmville), for example, is not crystal meth... but that flippant observation is a response to a core truth that some people just have a lot of trouble saying no. Maybe they're poorly educated, maybe they're genetically predisposed to addiction, maybe they're clinically depressed, for whatever the reason they've got a weake…

And what do you do if you're a startup founder at the next Zynga and discover...

It depends on what your goals were. :) If you were in it for the money you plow right ahead. If you waned to make the world a better place (and get paid for that) you dump it on your investors and move on to the next thing.

Another option is to see if you can put what you learned about compulsive behaviors to better uses - I think the world would be better off if people were compulsive about maintaining good finances, hygiene, business schedule etc. Better yet, compulsively making sure they did the best they could for their family.

Re: The Acceleration of Addictiveness

#159

Post by sliverstorm »

It's funny; I have always had what I considered an addictive personality.

Yet, neither cigarettes nor hard liquor have managed to snare me, and I gave both quite a fair shot. Nor has WoW wrapped me in it's tendrils.

The ironic thing is I definitely have fixations and addictions, but they are to stupid things you never would have thought you could be addicted to.

Re: The Acceleration of Addictiveness

#160

Post by warpwoof »

xiaoma wrote: post #141
tmsh wrote: post #4

The link to the Paleolithic diet made me think that one strategy against increasing addition is to normalize for evolutionary time. Still requires a lot of learned, subjective insight. But basically, anything that has proved itself via evolution is more sturdy and is worth congregating around (these include immediate things that affect the body, but also the evolution of societies, etc.). Bravo on another great essay…

The Paleolithic diet is one of the dumbest ideas I've encountered in my entire life. Its followers tend to discount vast piles of medical research in favor of tiny experiments that suggest what they hope to be true. This kind of behavior is common for adherents of any fringe diet, but paleo goes a step further. Even its concept is flawed. Some things it discards, such as wheat are barely changed from what our ancesto…

I'd like to respond and not leave your assertions unchallenged, but I think your post is a bit too charged and absolutistic to engage with..pretty clear there is little room for debate.

I'll just say that since switching to a diet that contains whole foods consisting of meat, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds, I've never felt better or been in better shape. I've seen the same results in many friends. If I have a big meal of grains I'll feel sick and almost hungover as a result.

Your mileage may vary, but have you tried it and seen what happens to your body? I've experimented with many types of diets, including strict veganism for about 3 months. So far a "paleo" diet has worked the best, for me.

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