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Technology has created a barrage of notifications and interactions

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Re: Technology has created a barrage of notifications and interactions

#61

Post by nobody9999 »

malux85 wrote: post #41
qppo wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hard to square this take against the billions of dollars spent optimizing dopamine feedback loops on social media and dark patterns to trick users into falling victim.

Just. Turn. It. Off. The author makes a bunch of dumb, easily fixable decisions and then writes a blog post whining about them. It’s so tiresome.

>The author makes a bunch of dumb, easily fixable decisions and then writes a blog post whining about them. It’s so tiresome.

Actually, she wrote a book[0] about it.

[0] https://www.amazon.com/Cant-Even-Millennials-Burnout-Generat...

Re: Technology has created a barrage of notifications and interactions

#62

Post by nobody9999 »

samatman wrote: post #40
gitpusher wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, she likely exaggerated things for narrative effect. I sympathize with those who are enslaved to their devices. It's an addiction, and it often correlates with mental health issues. Such people need help and guidance – not sarcastic dismissal. But, like any other addiction, the first step is taking responsibility. Instead of blaming the world for "hacking" your brain and sub-dividing your attention ad infinitum…

The AA twelve-step program isn't Gospel, and it wasn't handed down on tablets at Sinai. But it does encapsulate a lot of wisdom, and the first step is to admit powerlessness over the addiction. That's what you're missing here, is that by definition addicts feel out of control of their own behavior. Without that loss of control, it's not an addiction, it's just a habit you spend a lot of time on. Look, it's obvious th…

>The AA twelve-step program isn't Gospel, and it wasn't handed down on tablets at Sinai.

>But it does encapsulate a lot of wisdom, and the first step is to admit powerlessness over the addiction.

That's right, except about being powerless. I'm not downing AA, as it has helped many people over the years.

In fact, My brother is a friend of Bill and has been clean for 36 years. And up until the lockdowns, he still went to meetings.

However, the twelve steps aren't a panacea. In fact, some estimate[0] that only 5-8% of those who engage with AA actually end up clean and sticking with it.

I disagree with the idea that you need to "admit powerlessness." And the rest of the pseudo-religious mumbo-jumbo is just that.

Addiction is not a failure of willpower. To beat it, willpower is required, but it's often (usually) not enough.

>Look, it's obvious this isn't a subject you know anything about, and congratulations on that. But maybe stop making confident pronouncements which don't work.

It may not have been for GP, but it is for me -- not just WRT my brother -- but in my own life and issues with substance abuse.

There is no one right answer for everyone. And AA's methods, while not harmful (and often beneficial, even if the message is couched in hokey religious terms) can and does help many people. But it's not the only, nor is it the best, way to help people address addiction -- whether that be alcohol, drugs, technology or anything else.

[0] https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/04/the-irr...

Edit: Corrected estimate of success rate for AA.

Re: Technology has created a barrage of notifications and interactions

#63

Post by nobody9999 »

crazygringo wrote: post #49

The thing that bugs me constantly is that my #1 technology wish is that dismissing a notification on one device would automatically dismiss it on all of them. I legitimately want notifications of calendar events, missed calls, and messages on whatever screen I'm looking at now -- my desktop, my laptop, my watch, and my phone vibrating in my pocket for when I'm not looking at anything. But once I get the message -- on…

>I look at a new device, the first thing I need to do is remove notifications I've already seen. Sometimes I have to click into an app and navigate to notifications just to get the red dot to also disappear. Sometimes I have to delete an e-mail notification as well.

That's weird. Is it really that difficult on IOS?

I'm not being snarky or sarcastic, but as I don't use Apple gear, I had no idea.

On my mobile device, I just swipe down to pull up all notifications, then pull them up a bit (if necessary) to reveal a 'clear all' option, and they're all gone, both on-screen and in the status bar.

As for sharing state between all devices, that's more complicated.

I guess it would be nice, but I'm not sure I want to give whatever application that performs such actions that much access into my life. Especially if it was something controlled "in the cloud" (read: On someone else's servers). Even more so if it was owned/controlled by the user data Mafia (Google, FB, Apple, etc.)

Re: Technology has created a barrage of notifications and interactions

#64

Post by pixl97 »

TurkishPoptart wrote: post #14

>I go on a walk. I get interrupted once, twice, 15 times by one of my group texts. Here's a problem. Walk/exercise WIHTOUT devices.

Like ones that help track how much you walk, your heart rate, your blood sugar, or other functions?

Any other good advice?

Re: Technology has created a barrage of notifications and interactions

#65

Post by SOLAR_FIELDS »

Swizec wrote: post #45
selestify wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More like, the house guest is a sweet talker who cajoles you into letting them stay every time despite them not doing much for you in return. Let’s not pretend like technology isn’t vigorously A/B testing its way into being as psychologically addicting as possible.

Like a vampire, needs to be invited in, won’t leave. Only solution is to aggressively deny all push notification requests

As an example of how this can be used maliciously I will put forth Grubhub. Anytime you request a delivery, they ask for push notifications, ostensibly such that they can alert you to the status of your delivery. But then they start to push advertisements after. Not directly after, mind you, but a week or two or even more after you got your delivery.

One cat-and-mouse solution here might be the “know your location” notifier that iOS uses - allow push notifications only for today.

Re: Technology has created a barrage of notifications and interactions

#66

Post by crazygringo »

nobody9999 wrote: post #63
crazygringo wrote: post #49

The thing that bugs me constantly is that my #1 technology wish is that dismissing a notification on one device would automatically dismiss it on all of them. I legitimately want notifications of calendar events, missed calls, and messages on whatever screen I'm looking at now -- my desktop, my laptop, my watch, and my phone vibrating in my pocket for when I'm not looking at anything. But once I get the message -- on…

>I look at a new device, the first thing I need to do is remove notifications I've already seen. Sometimes I have to click into an app and navigate to notifications just to get the red dot to also disappear. Sometimes I have to delete an e-mail notification as well. That's weird. Is it really that difficult on IOS? I'm not being snarky or sarcastic, but as I don't use Apple gear, I had no idea. On my mobile device, I…

No, clearing notifications isn't difficult.

It's the fact that every time I switch devices I have to look at my notifications, figure out if any are new or if they're all ones I've seen before on a previous device, and then clear them.

It's nothing specific to Android or iOS or PC's or Macs, the problem is the same everywhere.

And I'm not talking about any single centralized access or "mafia". The only entity with the ability to remove a notification would be the one that sent it in the first place. The notification is identified by a unique non-predictable UUID. Zero user data or privacy concerns, and security should be straightforward with existing technologies.

Re: Technology has created a barrage of notifications and interactions

#67

Post by hurrdurr2 »

cortesoft wrote: post #50
hurrdurr2 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I could post the definition of irony here but I'll likely get down-voted to hell and back for "snark" or some such, but I'm pretty sure this situation being ironic and/or as a way to "learn from your mistakes" is not mutually exclusive.

I guess it depends on where you find the irony... I think I have a pretty good understanding of what irony is, so maybe you can just explain where you see it in the situation you describe?

I'm pretty sure my first comment describes where I find the irony.

Re: Technology has created a barrage of notifications and interactions

#68

Post by nicbou »

jonpurdy wrote: post #47
gitpusher wrote: post #6

There are real problems here. But I can't see past the author's terrible personal habits that magnify every single one of them. Nobody forced them to: - start their day by reviewing COVID numbers - allow push-notifications from "news" apps - listen to NPR while showering - generally allow social media to dictate their mood/schedule All of these habits are as easy to change as they are damaging. Edit to add: In no way…

There is some middle ground between the "just turn it off" folks and the article. For me, by default I deny notifications to apps. Only communications (like WhatsApp/Signal/iMessages/email client) and stuff that NEEDS to notify me (like UptimeRobot). For email, I only get notifications when emails hit a certain filter. For WhatsApp, I mute all the groups.

This is also what I do, not only on my phone but on other sites. I'm now thinking of hiding notification badges and other distractions.

The only problem is that when I get bored, I still want to see if I got emails, reddit notifications, Hacker News replies etc. I still open the app to cjeck then get distracted. Someone aptly compared this to a slot machine where the prize is a small rush of dopamine.

Re: Technology has created a barrage of notifications and interactions

#69

Post by nicbou »

crazygringo wrote: post #49

The thing that bugs me constantly is that my #1 technology wish is that dismissing a notification on one device would automatically dismiss it on all of them. I legitimately want notifications of calendar events, missed calls, and messages on whatever screen I'm looking at now -- my desktop, my laptop, my watch, and my phone vibrating in my pocket for when I'm not looking at anything. But once I get the message -- on…

Mine would be to denounce or bundle notifications. I'd be fine with an hourly digest for most notifications (email). Some should wait until office hours (Slack). Some should ping once even for multiple events (group chats).

Maybe there should also be a "not now" mode that hides the notifications, icons and badges. Silent mode still distracts my when I use my phone as a motorcycle GPS.

Re: Technology has created a barrage of notifications and interactions

#70

Post by bryanrasmussen »

easytiger wrote: post #38
bryanrasmussen wrote: post #2

Yes it was much better in the old days when I used to work at Sunshine Desserts with those unbelievable idiots and had to brown nose C.J about what a genius he was, and then later when I had that great career swilling pigs until my back gave out. Back then, Work was an inescapable paradise.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fall_and_Rise_of_Reginal... ?

Yes, one of my favorites about the wonderful world of work.
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