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Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Free Will

m.nautil.us

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Re: Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Free Will

#171

Post by alexashka »

tribune wrote: post #34

I've been coming to resent my smartphone more and more, essentially because of this. I recently quit using tobacco. I remembered all the warnings from my school health classes about how hard it was to quit once you start, how there's a physical dependence and all that. It was uncomfortable at times, and there were plenty of cravings to get over, but I was ultimately successful. I can compare this to the couple of tim…

This post has a lot of hyperbole. I'd suggest you visit a third world country for some perspective.

There are plenty of people having real problems. If a phone in your pocket is the biggest problem you're having - you're not doing enough with your life.

Re: Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Free Will

#172

Post by erikbye »

946789987649 wrote: post #94
auggierose wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't check your work email on the go. Quit facebook. It is actually pretty simple!

I really don't understand the hate for facebook, it really is what you make it. For me, it's a glorified messaging app and nothing more. Well...Maybe also a museum of my less than attractive younger years.

From what I've seen addicts both hate and love their drug.

Re: Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Free Will

#173

Post by aryehof »

I think that modern media is something that needs to be carefully regulated.

The degree of civil liberty one enjoys should be not only be considered as freedom from rules and regulations that limit our unreasonable actions and speech, but also freedom from being mentally assaulted and manipulated by those seeking to influence and control our thoughts, spending, votes, and opinions.

Re: Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Free Will

#175

Post by woodandsteel »

Great article. I have a couple of thoughts.

One is that the reason humans can be so easily manipulated is our built-in neurological mechanisms for directing attention were designed by evolution for the very different environment of a hunter-gatherer existence.

The other thought has to do with what to do about the problem. A lot of people are talking about things that individuals can do, like limiting their time on their smart phone.

Well, that can work for them, but most people won't do that, so it doesn't solve the much larger problem of having a society that is becoming deeply dysfunctional in part because of media manipulation.

It seems to me that to solve this we need two things. One is web decentralization. The other is that people need to learn good critical thinking skills, and also skills for problem-solving discussion, as in Marshall Rosenberg's book Nonviolent Communication.

Re: Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Free Will

#176

Post by stcredzero »

telchar wrote: post #88
stcredzero wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's the old adage: If you can't beat 'em, join 'em! Let's take that seriously. It has always been much easier to imitate the semblance of meaning than it was to find the substantively meaningful. Things with only the semblance of meaning have always proliferated. Idle talk, children's rhymes, songs, music, myths... all of these have always proliferated. Why did they not drown out actual meaning? I think the above…

I would argue that those things historically have drowned out actual meaning, if by actual meaning you mean factually correct and significant information. Only with the advent of science have we been able to reliably sort the meaningless from the meaningful. I think the major concern here, aside from the general deleterious effects of addiction of any sort on people, is that the tide of meaningless factoids and usele…

I would argue that those things historically have drowned out actual meaning,

Which is precisely why humanity didn't progress, never invented science, never improved human rights and the standard of living, and we died out in a state of primitive brutishness.

Clearly, actual meaning has found its way through, somehow.

I think the filter you mention exists but is struggling in this environment more than in the recent past.

What is your evidence for this? Can you quantify this in objective terms?

Re: Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Free Will

#177

Post by UncleSam »

mulmen wrote: post #156
mquander wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For example Hangouts makes me lose at least half a hour of productity a day but if I uninstalled it and never checked it then I would never talk to all of my friends on Hangouts which is not a trade-off that I am willing to take. A lot of people say this one (usually about Facebook), but I don't understand it. If you want to talk to those friends, why doesn't it suffice to schedule spending time with them in the same…

Exactly. And not just 2000, Hangouts was released in 2013, are these friendships less than four years old? Phones and email still exist. If your relationship is predicated on a single internet based communication service then it's probably not a relationship worth maintaining. Just use a different communication mechanism. It's really not that hard. Send a postcard, it's fun, I promise.

For me, it's actually about having additional communication that didn't exist before Hangouts came out. My family is spread around the country and hardly visits or calls each other. With Hangouts, we suddenly started communicating more, and that's not something I want to revert.

Re: Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Free Will

#178

Post by shaunparker »

Sorry if this is off topic, but Nautilus seems to really need support[0].

I received an email this morning from the editor asking "to make an end of year tax deductible contribution to keep the stories coming. Anything you could donate would be greatly appreciated".

If you enjoy their content, please consider subscribing.

I'm not affiliated with Nautilus in any way, just a concerned subscriber.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14227337

Re: Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Free Will

#179

Post by lovich »

mquander wrote: post #97
Hextinium wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This may work well for you but there are somethings that cause you to have to check email and Facebook for fear of external consequences which is what the OP is saying. For example Hangouts makes me lose at least half a hour of productity a day but if I uninstalled it and never checked it then I would never talk to all of my friends on Hangouts which is not a trade-off that I am willing to take. Same for email, if I…

For example Hangouts makes me lose at least half a hour of productity a day but if I uninstalled it and never checked it then I would never talk to all of my friends on Hangouts which is not a trade-off that I am willing to take. A lot of people say this one (usually about Facebook), but I don't understand it. If you want to talk to those friends, why doesn't it suffice to schedule spending time with them in the same…

I don't know about your age but in 2000 I was in middle school and all my friends communicated by aim since we didn't have the ability to go where we wanted when we wanted. That social structure has carried over into adult life where I have several close friends that I get to see maybe twice a year due to our schedules, but can still talk to them everyday. Dropping communication through messaging apps would probably mean we just aren't friends anymore. The barriers to us meeting up more often aren't just laziness

Re: Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Free Will

#180

Post by anigbrowl »

jayess wrote: post #62
genzoman wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no idea why so many people choose to give any government more and more power. This is similar to a cultural nuclear weapon. Maybe it will work in the right persons's hands for an agent of good, but really, over the course of time, is limiting what people can hear going to be a good thing for them? How can you tune your personal BS meter, if you never hear any BS? Who watches the watcher? There is no singular p…

The baffling conceit here is that people in government are angels and people in business are evil. They’re still people, with all the same motivations.

No it isn't. It's the more prosaic observation that governments are more accountable by procedural mechanisms than privately owned firms. How well those mechanisms work is subject to wide variance; nobody believes that North Korea actually operates in a democratic fashion,. but there are many countries that self-evidently do. The concept of a constitutional republic (as opposed to all of its real world implementations) is one of maximizing the citizenry's ability to participate in the decisions that affect them.

Most corporations not only function but are structured as autocracies, in which junior employees have no rights over their conditions of employment other than departure.

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