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We live in an age of distractions, dealing with constant mental stimulus

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Re: We live in an age of distractions, dealing with constant mental stimulus

#11

Post by UnpossibleJim »

eingineer43 wrote: post #2

I love how you summarize the dilemma of a digital native. May I add some juicy polarization by referencing the quote "I don't know how to live, but I got a lot of toys" from the song 21st Century Digital Boy? Your article gives great reason to rethink. How to use the time we have been given in a meaningful way, to be labelled as a sentient being rather than a robot. It is definitely a daily test to one's choice: Rath…

I've been reading technical books for so long, hunting for information and with my shortened attention span, I now have difficulty reading for the sheer pleasure of it. I tried reading fiction not too long ago and found it laborious. It was the most disappointing feeling in the world to me.

Re: We live in an age of distractions, dealing with constant mental stimulus

#12

Post by hybridtupel »

zzzeek wrote: post #9
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #7

It is interesting how manufactured distraction-free sessions like yoga, meditation, paid retreats, have emerged to fill the demand for idle time. We’re forgetting how to unplug unless it’s a product or service that we can buy. The distraction issue is the number one issue holding back most of the young people in the mentorship group I’m part of. They’re so glued to their phones to check minute-by-minute updates about…

> It is interesting how manufactured distraction-free sessions like yoga, meditation, paid retreats, have emerged to fill the demand for idle time. We’re forgetting how to unplug unless it’s a product or service that we can buy. I meditate every day and it's cost me nothing, uses nothing, does not require going anywhere, literally brushing my teeth is more of a commercial activity than meditation is. Meditation is ex…

I think what was meant here are the countless (monetarized) apps and courses which gamify the meditation experience of course. You are totally right that the original intention of meditation is quite the opposite. No app, gadget or anything else required.

Edit: Grammar

Re: We live in an age of distractions, dealing with constant mental stimulus

#14

Post by mandelbrotwurst »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #7

It is interesting how manufactured distraction-free sessions like yoga, meditation, paid retreats, have emerged to fill the demand for idle time. We’re forgetting how to unplug unless it’s a product or service that we can buy. The distraction issue is the number one issue holding back most of the young people in the mentorship group I’m part of. They’re so glued to their phones to check minute-by-minute updates about…

I am personally finding myself getting caught in exactly these kinds of traps much more often since COVID showed up and all of the opportunity for in person social interaction dried up.

Stillness has become difficult and while the digital interactions haven been an imperfect substitute, they’re better than nothing and it’s even more challenging to engage in good digital habits when you’re leaning on these networks for such basic needs.

It’s been a challenge.

Re: We live in an age of distractions, dealing with constant mental stimulus

#15

Post by shortandsweet »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #7

It is interesting how manufactured distraction-free sessions like yoga, meditation, paid retreats, have emerged to fill the demand for idle time. We’re forgetting how to unplug unless it’s a product or service that we can buy. The distraction issue is the number one issue holding back most of the young people in the mentorship group I’m part of. They’re so glued to their phones to check minute-by-minute updates about…

Curious about your mentoring program. How does it work? I always feel that who am I to really provide advice?

I was recently asked to attend a virtual mentoring session and I didn't due to scheduling conflicts but I had no idea what to say had I attended. I was going to kick it off if they had any questions about anything and then move into my career over the years. I didn't want to share too much because I feel it would be bragging.

Re: We live in an age of distractions, dealing with constant mental stimulus

#16

Post by defterGoose »

UnpossibleJim wrote: post #11
eingineer43 wrote: post #2

I love how you summarize the dilemma of a digital native. May I add some juicy polarization by referencing the quote "I don't know how to live, but I got a lot of toys" from the song 21st Century Digital Boy? Your article gives great reason to rethink. How to use the time we have been given in a meaningful way, to be labelled as a sentient being rather than a robot. It is definitely a daily test to one's choice: Rath…

I've been reading technical books for so long, hunting for information and with my shortened attention span, I now have difficulty reading for the sheer pleasure of it. I tried reading fiction not too long ago and found it laborious. It was the most disappointing feeling in the world to me.

This is interesting, and I kind of know what you're getting at. I've never been a super avid reader, but ive always enjoyed fiction and most sci-fi type stuff. As i get older i find myself gravitating towards more non-fiction. I recently read "Shadow Divers" which is the true story of some divers who discover an unknown U-Boat off the coast of New Jersey and spend years and several divers' lives in the pursuit of an identification. It was completely riveting which id rarely if ever experienced in a piece of non-fiction; felt like i remember the Harry Potter books feeling when i was a teenager. So maybe try expanding the scope of your search a little.

Re: We live in an age of distractions, dealing with constant mental stimulus

#17

Post by warent »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #7

It is interesting how manufactured distraction-free sessions like yoga, meditation, paid retreats, have emerged to fill the demand for idle time. We’re forgetting how to unplug unless it’s a product or service that we can buy. The distraction issue is the number one issue holding back most of the young people in the mentorship group I’m part of. They’re so glued to their phones to check minute-by-minute updates about…

> Bitcoin is especially distracting right now, as they’re all nervously watching the real-time changes of their $1000 portfolios to see if they need to be sad about losing money because it’s crashing or sad about not investing more money because it’s going up.

Great way to articulate this! This very experience is relatable although in my case with normal stocks, and something very interesting happened.

I sold some stocks for a modest profit, checked a few days later, and read that if I had just held a little longer then my profit would have been like double. It was very frustrating, and there was that negative emotional reaction. Then I realized I'd somehow misread the numbers, and in fact I would have had my initial investment cut in half. My frustration melted into relief and happiness. But more than that, it shocked me into realizing something very important: in the moment, my emotions seemed real, but were actually completely disconnected from reality. Further, the sense of "control" I thought I had was revealed to be a complete illusion.

After that, these "bets" (gambles) have completely stopped affecting me, and I haven't experienced FOMO since.

Hope more people have the same liberating realization!

Re: We live in an age of distractions, dealing with constant mental stimulus

#18

Post by keiferski »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #7

It is interesting how manufactured distraction-free sessions like yoga, meditation, paid retreats, have emerged to fill the demand for idle time. We’re forgetting how to unplug unless it’s a product or service that we can buy. The distraction issue is the number one issue holding back most of the young people in the mentorship group I’m part of. They’re so glued to their phones to check minute-by-minute updates about…

The blank page is unpopular these days. People have lost the ability to be creative, as in “create from scratch.” Everything must be appified and scheduled, offered with multiple preplanned choices and not with anything open-ended. This is easy to see with an example like kids toys or Legos: most of their new (and lucrative, I imagine) products are branded franchise ones, which is a far cry from the freeform building blocks of just a few decades ago.

Re: We live in an age of distractions, dealing with constant mental stimulus

#19

Post by teach420 »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #7

It is interesting how manufactured distraction-free sessions like yoga, meditation, paid retreats, have emerged to fill the demand for idle time. We’re forgetting how to unplug unless it’s a product or service that we can buy. The distraction issue is the number one issue holding back most of the young people in the mentorship group I’m part of. They’re so glued to their phones to check minute-by-minute updates about…

> they’re all nervously watching the real-time changes of their $1000 portfolios to see if they need to be sad about losing money because it’s crashing or sad about not investing more money because it’s going up.

I'd say those students are learning a lot.

A few could make a profit or loss that is life-changing to them (this might also be a surprisingly small amount of money), and they are also presumably learning how to assess their risk profile in reality (as user warent describes in their comment) and be less likely to squander a much larger portfolio later.

Re: We live in an age of distractions, dealing with constant mental stimulus

#20

Post by burade »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #7

It is interesting how manufactured distraction-free sessions like yoga, meditation, paid retreats, have emerged to fill the demand for idle time. We’re forgetting how to unplug unless it’s a product or service that we can buy. The distraction issue is the number one issue holding back most of the young people in the mentorship group I’m part of. They’re so glued to their phones to check minute-by-minute updates about…

It's called being young. They're emotional and inexperienced.

50 years ago this used to be normal. Now for some reason everybody expects perfection out of everybody at all times.

Insanity.

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