How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy • Hacker News Board

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#101

Post by novaleaf » Thu, May 02, 2019, 6:20 PM UTC

filoleg wrote: post #93

novaleaf wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

somewhat similar: I used to occupy all my "down time" with podcasts or audiobooks. While mildly interesting, I found that it removes all "cognitive introspection" opportunities, so that the only time available for tat is when I'm trying to fall asleep (meaning I had trouble falling asleep!) So over the last few months I've stopped audiobooks and podcasts (I already don't watch TV). Kind of counter intuitively, I find…

>I find this "REAL down time" combined with other physical activities such as jogging and a few minutes of gardening each day provides me with greater self-control. I find it really interesting you mention gardening, because I've found that doing dishes has the same effect on me. I can just stand in front of the sink, wash the dishes, and introspect on things and let the mind wander. By the end of it, I get a dopamin…

for me I don't think it's really enjoyable, but in my weird mind having that block of time "scheduled" for jogging+gardening makes me more motivated towards keeping my schedule the rest of the day (I'm self employed, so have to really keep after myself)

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#102

Post by jvagner » Thu, May 02, 2019, 7:20 PM UTC

sizzle wrote: post #95

threwawasy1228 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the more annoying part is being out in public, there is a vast decline in basic human interaction in places that are meant specifically for that purpose even. It is much harder to meet new people at a bar for example than it was even 5 years ago. The difference is dramatic. How are you supposed to meet strangers and have interesting conversation when they won't look up long enough to see that you are attempti…

Quite frankly, I wouldn't want to meet those people. I'm looking for the ones that do the opposite, greet you with a smile and can hold a conversation about anything effortlessly.

If those people are having a moment, and not to be dismissed out of hand because in their moment they happen to be staring at their phone, it can be a lost opportunity.

Recently, I've observed that you're more likely to meet someone, and end up in a long conversation, close to the point where either you, or they, show up. So, you could strike up a conversation with someone after sitting next to them for 30 minutes, each doing your own thing... but it's been my experience that when you show up, or when they show up, there's more of an incidental openness that can be exploited with a "hello" (or whatever suits the occasion).

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#103

Post by tvanantwerp » Thu, May 02, 2019, 7:38 PM UTC

sweetheart wrote: post #2

I feel like the hardest part of learning to do nothing is getting over an initial period where your body and mind is trying to remember how to fill an hour of idle time without Instagram or Twitter or Facebook. I think after long periods of relying on these services to fill pockets of time that are otherwise hard to capitalize on, we unlearn how to simply sit and be bored. Like any form of rehabilitation, it takes ti…

The first time I tried to quit social media, I was shocked at how I instinctively tried to share every mildly amusing thought. It took hard work to relearn how to let my passing thoughts just vanish without trying to spread them around.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#104

Post by tvanantwerp » Thu, May 02, 2019, 7:40 PM UTC

lotsofpulp wrote: post #49

eswat wrote: post #20

An office building nearby renovated their ground floor with a new food court. Great idea but they also added a semi-circle of TVs all tuned on CBC News that pretty much looks over most of the seating and the food stalls. It’s hard to avoid. Easy enough to modify the environment on our phones and desktops but it’s more inconvenient to avoid IRL distractions.

Gyms that have wall mounted TVs always on is a peeve of mine, especially when it's nonsense political commentators. I actively have to avoid glancing at the TV screens.

Whenever I got to the gym in my office, if nobody else is there, I just turn the TVs off. So much better that way.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#105

Post by ssivark » Thu, May 02, 2019, 8:00 PM UTC

agentultra wrote: post #60

Doing nothing is how I often stayed productive. I used to be able to stay and think about something for hours. If I encountered something difficult I would go for a walk or take a nap. Now that I've been forced, at work, to use Slack day in and out -- I feel like I can't spend 5 minutes without flipping to another window, checking this, checking that. It's counter productive and feels like torture. I get a hangover f…

This is a beautiful application of the McLuhan quote "the medium is the message" about how our tools and interactions shape us. The more "efficient" we become, the more we prize apparent efficiency and productivity.

It feels quaint to imagine that just twenty years ago, when you agreed to meet someone, you couldn't text/call them with real time updates -- so times were plus/minus ten minutes and people had no problem waiting, sometimes even for hours.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#106

Post by vinceguidry » Thu, May 02, 2019, 8:09 PM UTC

I'm not sure how best to put this, but I'm not so sure detaching is the answer here, at least not long term. I can detach pretty easily and start daydreaming even while I'm on social media. If what I'm looking at isn't interesting enough, I start skimming. While I'm skimming my attention is divided between trying to find stimulation and whatever thing that's got my larger attention, usually some personal thing. I might bounce back and forth between these things many times while I'm social media'ing.

Work is the same thing. My mind switches between active problem solving, and detachment, while my subconscious is working out a solution. Work usually isn't maximally-stimulating, so I'm always dividing my attention there too.

For something to commandeer my full attention, it has to bear down heavily on my 'main life loop'. Social media often manages to do this, with some really smart person's Quora post incisively dissecting a topic I'm intensely interested in.

My mind 'forages' through social media looking for stimulation. No distraction can literally steal ALL my attention, I always have some left over.

I've altered all my computing environments to avoid any kind of unwanted animation. Animations on computer screens do manage to snatch me out of my current mental loop. If social media did this, then it wouldn't be useful for me and I wouldn't bother with it.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#107

Post by strictnein » Thu, May 02, 2019, 8:14 PM UTC

Buy a nice watch. One that you enjoy the look of and will wear daily.

It'll cut the number of times you grab your phone in half.

Or buy an Apple Watch (or Android equiv). You'll see your messages on there and realize a whole lot of them require little or no input. Quick glance at the wrist and then you're back to reality.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#108

Post by wnmurphy » Thu, May 02, 2019, 8:17 PM UTC

I'm absolutely convinced that social media is shortening our attention spans, and I do not think that's a good thing.

At one point I realized that I hadn't thought deeply or creatively about anything in a long time, and it was because I was constantly consuming the mental equivalent of junk food snacks. Endlessly scrolling feeds, banal and unchallenging content that demands nothing more from us than a tap/click/swipe... that little red notification icon is a psychological experiment; a Pavlovian intermittent reward. And it was specifically designed to be so.

I firmly believe the human mind needs periods of boredom, and space free from distraction. Without that space, the mind has no room for contemplation or creativity.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#109

Post by tfaust » Thu, May 02, 2019, 8:19 PM UTC

jimhefferon wrote: post #54

eswat wrote: post #20

An office building nearby renovated their ground floor with a new food court. Great idea but they also added a semi-circle of TVs all tuned on CBC News that pretty much looks over most of the seating and the food stalls. It’s hard to avoid. Easy enough to modify the environment on our phones and desktops but it’s more inconvenient to avoid IRL distractions.

It makes me crazy that the gas station has installed news shows on the pumps.

In most cases, those types of gas pumps have a series of eight buttons on the side of the screen, 4 per side. The second button down on the right side will usually mute it.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#110

Post by beat » Thu, May 02, 2019, 8:21 PM UTC

wnmurphy wrote: post #108

I'm absolutely convinced that social media is shortening our attention spans, and I do not think that's a good thing. At one point I realized that I hadn't thought deeply or creatively about anything in a long time, and it was because I was constantly consuming the mental equivalent of junk food snacks. Endlessly scrolling feeds, banal and unchallenging content that demands nothing more from us than a tap/click/swipe…

I went on a major social media purge two months ago today. I feel a lot smarter - like, able to work my brain better. I'm seeing it in my political thought. I used to debate politics incessantly online, with the usual partisan boundaries. By withdrawing from that battlefield, I'm seeing the battle differently.

Not to mention my book-reading rate has increased by around 200%. Was I really wasting four books a month of time on Facebook and Twitter? Apparently.