81–90 of 171 posts
Throwing away the devices is a radical and unrealistic measure for many.
If you need to live on a lonely island somewhere in the Pacific for 18 months then by all means, do so.
I quite like it in the civilization when I am focused and not constantly distracted though. And that's achievable.
How do you separate the enriching part from the addictive part? To me the problem is that my laptop and my phone are magical doors that lead to both smart people at HN and some niche subreddits/blogs that really make me think, change my opinion, make my life more interesting... and right next to it there are social media bubbles, overwhelming stream of news and insight porn that I can read/watch for hours anxious tha…
How do you separate the enriching part from the addictive part? To me the problem is that my laptop and my phone are magical doors that lead to both smart people at HN and some niche subreddits/blogs that really make me think, change my opinion, make my life more interesting... and right next to it there are social media bubbles, overwhelming stream of news and insight porn that I can read/watch for hours anxious tha…
The answer is discipline. That’s not the answer people generally like , but it is real and honest. I wake up at the same time every day, have the same routine every day, and have the same commute most days. To an extent, software has made it possible to chuck my own bad habits in the bin and start anew, but it doesn’t have a say in how I spend my time. I read Hacker News and comment here because I like to, but if I n…
Fundamentally, I don't think this is true. I think free will is a meme.
When you exercise self-possession to change your habits (insofar as you really did it consciously to begin with[0]), you're moving within a predefined space whose boundaries are encoded by myriad factors beyond your control. If, in that space, there's both "succumb to bad habits" and "break bad habits", and you managed to move to "break bad habits", great. But what if the space is only confined to "succumb to bad habits" for some people? That's the fundamental difference here: the conventional concept of agency assumes everyone's decision space is equally voluminous or that they can navigate with equal effort.
Especially disgusting to me is that holders of this view can recline in the comfortable callousness their ignorance or mythology affords them. If someone hasn't improved their circumstances, it's their moral failing, so they deserve their misery.
On the other hand, the callousness that materialist elitism affords you, that someone who can't improve their circumstances deserves their misery, is less comfortable, so it's a better kind of callousness. Many of us couldn't survive without the coddling of our parents and our civilization, and, on average, our civilization is a better place for our participation in it. Given our highly collective world of artifice, why would someone have a worldview that emphasizes some kind of Darwinism? It's a little silly and less palatable than the handwaving of moral virtue, so the end the result is that you're more forgiving of people's failures and proactive in their success.
0: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/free-will-...
This year, I've begun a concerted campaign to reduce my phone time. The latest iOS screen time tracker ironically, has been a help. I look forward to the weekly reports that say "Your screen time has been reduced by x minutes per day". So far this year, the downward trend has continued.
I spent the weekend just gone reading a lot more, and also taking up painting again after a nearly 3 decade break from it.
1. Audiobooks & Music
2. Mobile Authenticators
3. Flash Card apps (anki)
4. Podcasts
Is it also valuable to get rid of those things? Are they part of the problem, or would they be a casualty of the abstinence?
I'm 37, and I have never really had a smartphone, because I don't want one. I know I tend to be addicted to the internet (I can't resit my laptop when it's nearby with wifi), so I think it's more healthy for me to just not have a smartphone than to resist temptation (like an alcoholic simply not going into bars). I'm a Software Engineer and I've never downloaded or used an "app" on a smartphone. I did buy a new Andro…
In my current job I'm almost daily going by subway and see most people fumbling on their phone all the time. Many can't even stop when hopping on/off the train. Now when I carefully look at just what it is that captures their attention, it's mostly cheap games or endless-scroll taboola-style crap. A guy sitting next to me the other day simultaneously phoned and frantically clicked on random crap on his phone with no…
I had a girl like this next to me on a train. For the whole one hour journey she scrolled and switched between apps in a spasmodic manner. At times she would lay the phone down for a few secs then resume at once.
It looked sick. It looked like someone on amphetamines.
We made a mistake with this thing.
I am amazed at how my brain's ability to focus on long term tasks has been diminished over the past few years. I used to be a voracious reader, but lately have struggled to read (offline) more than a few pages at a time. I won't blame smartphone usage entirely, but it certainly has been a large contributor to that. This year, I've begun a concerted campaign to reduce my phone time. The latest iOS screen time tracker…
For people who advocate getting rid of their smartphones, what about apps for: 1. Audiobooks & Music 2. Mobile Authenticators 3. Flash Card apps (anki) 4. Podcasts Is it also valuable to get rid of those things? Are they part of the problem, or would they be a casualty of the abstinence?
All but the second may be served by a sim-cardless smartphone/mini tablet. Putting aside if you should there are alternatives.
For people who advocate getting rid of their smartphones, what about apps for: 1. Audiobooks & Music 2. Mobile Authenticators 3. Flash Card apps (anki) 4. Podcasts Is it also valuable to get rid of those things? Are they part of the problem, or would they be a casualty of the abstinence?
1. Audiobooks & Music - I don’t really listen to music on the go but I’m considering an MP3 player
2. Mobile Authenticators - most password managers can handle OTPs
3. Flash Card apps (anki) - Using a Kindle for Mandarin and Bible Greek. It has language learning features that work okay, maybe a little better because there’s less temptation to quickly switch to another app.
4. Podcasts - Same as number 1
I still use a flip phone, even though its getting harder now that they are trying to force everyone to use smartphones. For example, ticketmaster is mobile only now (for NFL games at least). There is no option to get your tickets physically sent. No matter how hard it gets, it simply won't ever be worth the massive privacy implications to me.