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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

#281

Post by free_everybody »

asabjorn wrote: post #270
free_everybody wrote: post #256

Stop carrying your smartphone. Leave it at home. If you must because your family/work depends on you, then delete every app. Use your laptop as your main driver. If you need to, get a laptop with better battery life. Start developing a personal philosophy of internet usage. Here is mine: Category 3 [Abstain from completely] Reddit (Yes, all of reddit), Facebook ... Category 2 [Check once every couple days ~15 min tot…

Much of our news media is currently designed to be sports-like, so if your goal is to be informed then this strategy is very wise. To make news more sports-like news channels like CNN offer generous pay to people that are willing to spout controversial cartoonish opinions on national news as explained here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pS4x8hXQ5c It is very questionable if these controversial opinions are represe…

Great points.

If you stop consuming cable television and take a step back, you can see that pundit news shows and professional sports have so much in common. It's "right" vs "wrong", "red" vs "blue", "stupid" vs "smart", "weak" vs "strong", etc. There's a winner. There's a loser. You aren't a loser, are you? Don't forget to buy Doritos.

Since media isn't going way, we really need to create alternative systems that stimulate our empathy instead of our anger.

>...the default state of a society is not a working democracy and you have to fight to keep it.

That's something to think about.

Re: Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Free Will

#282

Post by chiefalchemist »

Not to sound old school - because I am - but I believe that the medium effects the ability to comprehend the message (which happens before the wonky / faux message is received). That is, there is a difference between reading (e.g., newspaper or magazine) and watching.

Reading is proactive (so to speak). It engages the brain because the brain must be engaged in order to complete the activity. Furthermore, pausing to digest, or "rewind" to reread is completely natural. So much so, for a given read you probably do it more than you realize. (I know I do.)

On the other hand, watching is passive. The brain can step back / dial-down and still complete the activity. From that position, you're less likely (on average) to question what's presented you. Stoners don't pick up War & Peace, they turn on the TV, right :)

Note: Yes, these are generalization. Yes, there are always exceptions.

In addition - and there is some science that supports this - there is a difference between reading via paper and via a screen. My hunch is the brain gets conditioned to the medium. If your screen is mostly for junkfood (as it seems to be for so many of us) the brain is more likely to enter that relationship (so to speak) making certain presumptions. I suppose this could be similar to any learning. For example, they say that if you want maximum results for taking an exam you should study in the room where you'll take the example. Context effects learning / understanding.

Re: Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Free Will

#283

Post by mjevans »

enraged_camel wrote: post #268
free_everybody wrote: post #256

Stop carrying your smartphone. Leave it at home. If you must because your family/work depends on you, then delete every app. Use your laptop as your main driver. If you need to, get a laptop with better battery life. Start developing a personal philosophy of internet usage. Here is mine: Category 3 [Abstain from completely] Reddit (Yes, all of reddit), Facebook ... Category 2 [Check once every couple days ~15 min tot…

I carry my smartphone with me but I keep it on DND most of the time unless I'm expecting a call or an email. That way I get the best of both worlds: lack of constant interruptions and the ability to use important features such as maps, camera, etc. when I need.

My smartphone is used mostly for the combination of checking emails (if necessary sending a quick reply that I'll follow up on later), and predominantly as a portable entertainment device.

I have setup SOME trusted contacts (mostly family, skilled coworkers who understand decorum) to pierce the DnD veil.

Re: Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Free Will

#284

Post by vvanders »

eckza wrote: post #264
free_everybody wrote: post #256

Stop carrying your smartphone. Leave it at home. If you must because your family/work depends on you, then delete every app. Use your laptop as your main driver. If you need to, get a laptop with better battery life. Start developing a personal philosophy of internet usage. Here is mine: Category 3 [Abstain from completely] Reddit (Yes, all of reddit), Facebook ... Category 2 [Check once every couple days ~15 min tot…

I love this, I love this, I love this. Right now, I am about a month along with no Facebook or Messenger. Previously I spent hours per day on both, running a pretty large community group and supporting its members. I disappeared; no explanation. Stress levels are down, I have so much more time to do things, and I have so much more attention for the things that really matter. Anybody that needs me, has my phone number…

I love my Pebble for the same reason and I'm really dreading when they will become hard to come by. I already lost one Time Round to a swelling LiPo and nothing else has a similar form factor.

Re: Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Free Will

#285

Post by projektir »

free_everybody wrote: post #281
asabjorn wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Much of our news media is currently designed to be sports-like, so if your goal is to be informed then this strategy is very wise. To make news more sports-like news channels like CNN offer generous pay to people that are willing to spout controversial cartoonish opinions on national news as explained here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pS4x8hXQ5c It is very questionable if these controversial opinions are represe…

Great points. If you stop consuming cable television and take a step back, you can see that pundit news shows and professional sports have so much in common. It's "right" vs "wrong", "red" vs "blue", "stupid" vs "smart", "weak" vs "strong", etc. There's a winner. There's a loser. You aren't a loser, are you? Don't forget to buy Doritos. Since media isn't going way, we really need to create alternative systems that st…

> There's a winner. There's a loser. You aren't a loser, are you?

The whole world runs on this. If you catch it at the right time, you can avoid a lot of mental traps.

Re: Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Free Will

#286

Post by agumonkey »

gkya wrote: post #277
agumonkey wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it's funny, your comment makes me think.. the world has too many moving parts to follow them all, so a carefully curated summary of events would be interesting. annnnd that's the press (which got injured by the stream fad.. irony)

I dream about an AI service that can curate me a newsletter given some sources (RSS, Twitter feeds, youtube feeds, whatnot) and send it to me regularly on a given interval. It would avoid duplicates and essentially identical stuff [1], weigh and choose the most interesting ones, and present them to me in a nice, readable format. Ironically I would not use such service if it existed because it would be very anti-priva…

can't say if it's just fatigue or a valuable idea but at that point I want no more tech, I want to see people working together, even if it means lo-tech

Re: Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Free Will

#287

Post by forapurpose »

reubenswartz wrote: post #212

"What information consumes is rather obvious. It consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention." - Herbert Simon, Nobel Prize-winning economist, back in 1971.

> Herbert Simon, Nobel Prize-winning economist

Believe it or not, that understates the man. He's also one of the fathers of AI and won the Turing Award, he wrote the book (of his era) on industrial organization, and was a leading researcher in many fields, including cognitive psychology and cognitive science. His PhD was actually in political science. A true polymath.

Re: Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Free Will

#288

Post by nemo44x »

All the time you spend on social networks, news sites and other junk food properties you should spend time reading tech docs of various techs you don't yet really understand. Just read their docs and blogs, etc instead of reading wasteful sites.

It's tough but it really feels good when you get a good streak going.

Re: Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Free Will

#289

Post by HoppedUpMenace »

dps7ud wrote: post #269
HoppedUpMenace wrote: post #120

"The First Amendment protects freedom of speech, but it doesn’t necessarily protect freedom of attention." Are you suggesting that people's free will is so easily lost that we needed to have, in the First Amendment, a clause stating "freedom from external thought influences"? "Modern Media is a DoS Attack on Your Free Will" Only if you allow it to be, just like with any other compulsive activity, if it starts affecti…

I think this is addressed in the article: > Isn’t it our own fault that we’re too easily distracted? Maybe we just need more self-discipline. > That kind of rhetoric implicitly grants the idea that it’s okay for technology to be adversarial against us. The whole point of technology is to help us do what we want to do better. Why else would we have it? ... > Does personal responsibility matter at all? > I don’t think…

Its funny because these points sound exactly like the ones I've heard made by former casino developers whom worked on any number of slot machines or video poker.

In any case, I'd have to disagree and say that even though you can't escape ads or even 100% avoid the lure of electronic clicks and taps, its ultimately up to you to decide what you do with your time and money and if you cannot do this yourself, then you need to seek help.

Just because a corporation has unlimited resources committed to targeting a person with ads or tappy and clicky stuff, it does not mean they should be held accountable for people's addictive habits or tendencies, just as you can't hold any existing casinos liable for a person's poor gambling choices.

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