Solving Tech Addiction Is an Underappreciated Market Opportunity • Hacker News Board

Re: Solving Tech Addiction Is an Underappreciated Market Opportunity

#241

Post by nkurz » Thu, Oct 11, 2018, 1:45 PM UTC

bachbach wrote: post #187

ddtaylor wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Adults are much harder to reach because they can always simply go buy a new computer or phone and circumvent any measures put in place to help them.

Habits are hard to break but I've also found it surprisingly easy to manipulate yourself by putting an annoying obstacle in the way. For getting work on time I can't snooze-beat the combination of a wake up light and a distantly located mobile alarm. On internet use restriction the best solution so far has been to use a simple electronic plug timer connected to a laptop without a battery. Zap - no internet for you. T…

@bachbach: As you guessed (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18191949) your account does appear to be banned as of today, your comments are autodead, and vouching for them does not vivify them. As none of your comments seem offensive, and since you don't seem to have been flooding the submissions, it doesn't make sense to me. You should write to 'hn@ycombinator.com' and ask what's up.

Re: Solving Tech Addiction Is an Underappreciated Market Opportunity

#242

Post by chrisjack » Thu, Oct 11, 2018, 4:00 PM UTC

gregw2 wrote: post #8

example of underappreciation: chrome no longer respects /etc/hosts so I can't block my addictions the simple way

use firefox. And the bonus is that you won't have all the privacy consern chrome pose.

Re: Solving Tech Addiction Is an Underappreciated Market Opportunity

#243

Post by bluntfang » Thu, Oct 11, 2018, 6:10 PM UTC

TeMPOraL wrote: post #181

bluntfang wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think you're talking about commercial grade pizza then. Do you mean something like Pizza Hut/ Papa John's or a local pizza shop?

Yes, both local and chain pizza places. From what I can tell, they do source cheapest ingredients available... which is also what every individual I know does, mostly from the same sources. And they do not seem to add any extra salt & sugar beyond what I'd expect in a homemade meal of similar quality. I realize now that using the phrase "commercial-grade" might have implied I mean stuff like frozen pizzas in grocery…

AFAIK there's a big difference between national/global chain and local pizza shop ingredients, mostly due to cost savings related to supply chain and the requirement for consistent products for the larger chains. Do you have any sources that local pizza shops and large chains use the same brand?

Re: Solving Tech Addiction Is an Underappreciated Market Opportunity

#244

Post by daneyh » Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 11:15 AM UTC

AlwaysRock wrote: post #49

Bakary wrote: post #6

In my own experience struggling with addiction I've found that it is a symptom rather than a cause. Once you craft a life that is actually stimulating the tech loses its hold over you pretty quickly, if not instantly (for example when you go on a weekend outing in nature and completely forget your phone). Of course, the time and energy wasted due to the dysfunctional behavior presents a chicken-and-egg roadblock agai…

This is what I've realized about myself and addition. I get into new things fast and tend to over commit or over indulge early on and once I realize it pull back. I've got it under control now because I realized my excessive drinking or drug usage was in large part because I was bored. Shit television or movies are much more entertaining when drunk or high. Social engagements that are not mentally stimulating to me a…

Wow, really succinct comment and you seemed to sum up a lot of what i'm feeling re: this whole thing.

Re: Solving Tech Addiction Is an Underappreciated Market Opportunity

#245

Post by twodave » Sun, Oct 14, 2018, 5:54 PM UTC

mbrock wrote: post #140

twodave wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are definitely nuggets of truth to what you say, but I can say first hand that often the biggest challenge (after admitting your flaws, of course) in battling addiction is determining what exactly it is that I am missing. If things are going well in my life generally (marriage, work, friends, spiritually, etc) and yet I still feel the pull to this coping mechanism, why is that?! I don’t have any latent trauma t…

The internet is the most fascinating thing in the history of humanity. Of course you're "addicted" to it, why wouldn't you be? In the old days you would have been addicted to reading books, probably. Every second you're faced with the choice "should I do nothing in particular or should I reach into my pocket for the ultimate information entertainment device?" Why wouldn't you take a look at what the internet has to o…

Actually I was speaking about addiction more generally, but yes actually there are lots of other things to be addicted to. Sex, drugs and alcohol immediately come to mind. The Internet, while quite interesting and addictive in its own right, does not provide quite the same physical sensations. And often the choice isn't between "nothing in particular" and your vice of choice. Part of what makes an addiction harmful is that when faced with a choice between healthy relationships and your addictive vice, you choose the vice (and ultimately isolation, which works to increase the grip of your addiction).