The growing body of evidence that digital distraction is damaging our minds • Hacker News Board

Re: The growing body of evidence that digital distraction is damaging our minds

#231

Post by prawn » Mon, Jan 08, 2018, 9:35 PM UTC

jakobegger wrote: post #207

DamnInteresting wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I am terrified about giving smartphones to my kids. Hey smartphone makers, if you're listening: Let me set an alternate PIN that unlocks the phone in a limited access mode, or "kid mode." Only pre-approved apps are available. Only pre-approved contacts can be called/texted. In-game purchases require the more secure PIN. Maybe when the phone is in this mode I can track its location easily, and make it emit a noise.…

I‘m pretty sure Apple won‘t do that, because they want you to buy your kids their own iPhone. Why doesn‘t the iPad have this sort of multi-user mode? An iPad is the perfect device for sharing. But no, if you don‘t want your kids to read your emails, you need to buy them their own iPad.

This would be a phone for the kid that was locked into basic mode during school hours and then maybe unlocked on weekends or for a game session.

Once upon a time, kids went to school without phones, so it is possible...

Re: The growing body of evidence that digital distraction is damaging our minds

#232

Post by bjourne » Mon, Jan 08, 2018, 9:37 PM UTC

candu wrote: post #89

nakedrobot2 wrote: post #4

I am terrified about giving smartphones to my kids. France's new rule (no smartphones in schools - no exceptions) is genius, and I applaud them for that. What is a supercomputer in your pocket, with access to a significant portion of the sum total of human knowledge, good for, for most people? Playing fucking candy crush. We wish that we, humans, were better, but we are not. So what can we do about it? I have no idea…

There’s a tendency to accept without question, in these sorts of conversations, that “trivial entertainment” is bad, or at least qualifiably inferior to either “good entertainment” (less Skinner-box-ish games, going outside, socializing, etc.) or “self-improvement” (reading, thinking, practicing, etc.) IMHO, most of us in fact choose all of the above; what we should be aiming for is the proper balance, not to replace…

Of course it is about moderation, but how can you moderate yourself when there is an infinite supply available? If my fridge contained an infinite supply of chocolate and ice cream I'd get so fat so fast...

Re: The growing body of evidence that digital distraction is damaging our minds

#233

Post by Stranger43 » Mon, Jan 08, 2018, 9:37 PM UTC

bhhaskin wrote: post #147

meesterdude wrote: post #78

It's ok to use your phone. It's not OK when your phone use disrupts your relationships or consumes more time than you'd really want. What helped me, is backing away from services. Uninstall apps from your phone and use a web browser to visit them. You don't have to stop using them if you don't want to, just make them harder to get to and less noisy. My phone is mostly for texts and phone calls now, and I don't do muc…

Right, a phone is a tool like any other. It's all about how you use it.

But the mere availability of a radical new information technology tool might cause severe changes to social norms and political structures.

In a lot of ways thats why almost every new media gets attached to a bunch of fears that that later generations laugh about.

Re: The growing body of evidence that digital distraction is damaging our minds

#234

Post by vlunkr » Mon, Jan 08, 2018, 9:37 PM UTC

SamPutnam wrote: post #99

I stopped using a smartphone 2 months ago, switching to a flipphone with wi-fi calling. When I made the switch, the employees in the mobile store acted as if they had lost one of their own and outwardly displayed the 7 stages of grief for my old phone as I returned it for something without a touch screen... 1. Shock & Denial - ...I was asked if I was 'sure about this' more than 10 times during the transfer and repeat…

So how has your experience been so far?

Re: The growing body of evidence that digital distraction is damaging our minds

#235

Post by lordnacho » Mon, Jan 08, 2018, 9:38 PM UTC

nakedrobot2 wrote: post #4

I am terrified about giving smartphones to my kids. France's new rule (no smartphones in schools - no exceptions) is genius, and I applaud them for that. What is a supercomputer in your pocket, with access to a significant portion of the sum total of human knowledge, good for, for most people? Playing fucking candy crush. We wish that we, humans, were better, but we are not. So what can we do about it? I have no idea…

You are right to be concerned. My pet prediction is about the current generation of kids growing up.

Some kids will use this thing that, as you say, allows them to access the sum total of human knowledge. There will be precocious kids who learn everything to grad school level before they reach 15. There always have been, but there will be more.

There will be kids who become addicted to games and entertainment, and they will waste their lives in a way that was not possible just a few years ago. There always have been kids who wasted their lives doing nothing, but there will be more.

That depletes the middle ground; in a few decades you will run into more idiots and more geniuses than you had ever imagined possible.

I am mightily concerned. My own experience was that I wasted a fair bit of time doing games. Still made it to a world class uni, but that was on 1990s crack. The new stuff is a lot more addictive and comes in more varieties through more media. I did manage to learn some things from the internet, but it could have been much more.

Now I have two kids with my genes in them, genes that never evolved to cope with this world.

Re: The growing body of evidence that digital distraction is damaging our minds

#236

Post by Diederich » Mon, Jan 08, 2018, 9:38 PM UTC

TeMPOraL wrote: post #218

Diederich wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing I really, really love about having a Google Pixel phone is the camera, and its with me all the time. I was riding my bicycle to work on Friday and saw the sunrise...it was quite beautiful: https://www.realms.org/pics/IMG_20180105_072614_1.jpg Besides that, I have very few apps installed on my phone. I basically use it as a mobile web browser from time to time.

That's a pretty picture. I wonder though, the beautiful Voronoi-like patterns between the leaves are an intentional effect, or camera quality issues rendering as something nice by accident?

There's very little deeply 'intentional' about any picture I take. I tend to take virtually no time for composition, and shoot some large number of pics when something catches my eye.

I'm told by people who do have some actual talent that a small fraction of the pics I take are good.

For this picture, I was actually riding my bicycle, and snapped two dozen shots over 30 seconds.

Re: The growing body of evidence that digital distraction is damaging our minds

#237

Post by irrational » Mon, Jan 08, 2018, 9:39 PM UTC

matchagaucho wrote: post #71

nakedrobot2 wrote: post #4

I am terrified about giving smartphones to my kids. France's new rule (no smartphones in schools - no exceptions) is genius, and I applaud them for that. What is a supercomputer in your pocket, with access to a significant portion of the sum total of human knowledge, good for, for most people? Playing fucking candy crush. We wish that we, humans, were better, but we are not. So what can we do about it? I have no idea…

Banning smartphones because of distracting apps is equivalent to banning guitars because of heavy metal music. It's the content, not the tool. Schools should be teaching kids how to use these tools to create content; not just passively consume.

> banning guitars because of heavy metal music

My dad did that with one of my brothers. He ended up building his own electric guitar in shop class. He learned how to play it on the sly when dad wasn't around. Now he has a room full of guitars and teaches kids the evils of Simon and Garfunkel.

Re: The growing body of evidence that digital distraction is damaging our minds

#238

Post by pelasaco » Mon, Jan 08, 2018, 9:39 PM UTC

nakedrobot2 wrote: post #4

I am terrified about giving smartphones to my kids. France's new rule (no smartphones in schools - no exceptions) is genius, and I applaud them for that. What is a supercomputer in your pocket, with access to a significant portion of the sum total of human knowledge, good for, for most people? Playing fucking candy crush. We wish that we, humans, were better, but we are not. So what can we do about it? I have no idea…

Lol, as the kids would respect it here. I prefer my kid with a mobile. France isn't real safe and the next terror attack is always around the corner

Re: The growing body of evidence that digital distraction is damaging our minds

#239

Post by cortic » Mon, Jan 08, 2018, 9:39 PM UTC

mrisoli wrote: post #111

nakedrobot2 wrote: post #4

I am terrified about giving smartphones to my kids. France's new rule (no smartphones in schools - no exceptions) is genius, and I applaud them for that. What is a supercomputer in your pocket, with access to a significant portion of the sum total of human knowledge, good for, for most people? Playing fucking candy crush. We wish that we, humans, were better, but we are not. So what can we do about it? I have no idea…

How about applying some (survivorship?) bias here? Smartphones and the internet make access to knowledge easier for everyone, but that is a small amount of what is otherwise cluttered with mostly useless(and sometimes damaging content), which naturally, appeal to the larger part of the population. However, if having access to a smartphone can help some kids learn a little bit more, or maybe change someone's life by j…

curious, but what do you mean by 'damaging content'; Or would it hurt me if you told me?

Re: The growing body of evidence that digital distraction is damaging our minds

#240

Post by dragonwriter » Mon, Jan 08, 2018, 9:40 PM UTC

bjourne wrote: post #232

candu wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s a tendency to accept without question, in these sorts of conversations, that “trivial entertainment” is bad, or at least qualifiably inferior to either “good entertainment” (less Skinner-box-ish games, going outside, socializing, etc.) or “self-improvement” (reading, thinking, practicing, etc.) IMHO, most of us in fact choose all of the above; what we should be aiming for is the proper balance, not to replace…

Of course it is about moderation, but how can you moderate yourself when there is an infinite supply available? If my fridge contained an infinite supply of chocolate and ice cream I'd get so fat so fast...

If you can limit yourself not to eat everything available instantly with a finite supply, you can probably limit yourself in the same way with an infinite supply.