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Launch HN: Atmana (YC S21) – An app to help cut down on compulsive porn usage

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Re: Launch HN: Atmana (YC S21) – An app to help cut down on compulsive porn usage

#21

Post by zero_billion »

f6v wrote: post #15

Isn’t it like dieting? What I mean is that digital escapism is a symptom, not a problem. Before social media existed, people used to fill up their time with: 1) Having many children 2) Watching TV 3) Excessive alcohol use etc. Media addiction is a manifestation of something, not the root cause.

i do agree this could be a symptom of another problem like depression etc. But, this is not true for all people. There are people who were perfectly normal and started watching porn out of curiosity or for entertainment and it became an escalating and eventually a compulsive behavior.

Re: Launch HN: Atmana (YC S21) – An app to help cut down on compulsive porn usage

#22

Post by yaseer »

crsv wrote: post #10
zero_billion wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

after speaking to users, we figured out that what to replace with is best left to the user based on their choices. a lot of our users keep posting in our forums that they took up weight lifting, exercises, meditation etc. to distract them from their problematic behavior. as to studies, there is very little research on impact of porn. but, our users seem to be happy when they make progress and stay off porn for a long…

So that's a "no" to the question of whether there is any empirical evidence saying that this intervention has a positive effect. Got it. No evidence.

This isn't an 'intervention'. These are individuals choosing to make a change in their habits.

It's for that person to decide whether changing their habits is a positive goal to pursue.

Re: Launch HN: Atmana (YC S21) – An app to help cut down on compulsive porn usage

#23

Post by goto11 »

rockbruno wrote: post #20

I know this isn't your fault, but I dislike society's tendency of trying to band-aid things instead of solving the actual issue. People wouldn't be addicted to sex if the media wasn't shoving it down your throat 24/7. If I open Netflix now, I guarantee at least half of the recommended shows are about sexual relationships, if not porn/sex worker stories explicitly. You can't get away from it.

Sex existed (and made people obsessed) before mass media.

Re: Launch HN: Atmana (YC S21) – An app to help cut down on compulsive porn usage

#24

Post by zero_billion »

erklik wrote: post #19

This is really interesting. Glad to see a new solution. I do wonder if there's a way to take constant screenshots of the screen, use a ML model to recognize any "porn" and then disable it. It's a terrible idea but my mind immediately went to it.

we did explore this option but screenshots drain down the battery heavily and hence, we had to drop this. we are still exploring this based on a certain risk score depending multiple factors like time, location, website accessed etc.

Re: Launch HN: Atmana (YC S21) – An app to help cut down on compulsive porn usage

#26

Post by ekster »

goto11 wrote: post #23
rockbruno wrote: post #20

I know this isn't your fault, but I dislike society's tendency of trying to band-aid things instead of solving the actual issue. People wouldn't be addicted to sex if the media wasn't shoving it down your throat 24/7. If I open Netflix now, I guarantee at least half of the recommended shows are about sexual relationships, if not porn/sex worker stories explicitly. You can't get away from it.

Sex existed (and made people obsessed) before mass media.

> Sex existed before mass media

Reading the comment you are replying to, I don’t think they were trying to say it didn’t, but that it’s different now (for the reasons they enumerated)

Re: Launch HN: Atmana (YC S21) – An app to help cut down on compulsive porn usage

#27

Post by zero_billion »

rockbruno wrote: post #20

I know this isn't your fault, but I dislike society's tendency of trying to band-aid things instead of solving the actual issue. People wouldn't be addicted to sex if the media wasn't shoving it down your throat 24/7. If I open Netflix now, I guarantee at least half of the recommended shows are about sexual relationships, if not porn/sex worker stories explicitly. You can't get away from it.

that's true. our modern society is overly stimulating and using our innate instincts to attract attention.

Re: Launch HN: Atmana (YC S21) – An app to help cut down on compulsive porn usage

#28

Post by rockbruno »

goto11 wrote: post #23
rockbruno wrote: post #20

I know this isn't your fault, but I dislike society's tendency of trying to band-aid things instead of solving the actual issue. People wouldn't be addicted to sex if the media wasn't shoving it down your throat 24/7. If I open Netflix now, I guarantee at least half of the recommended shows are about sexual relationships, if not porn/sex worker stories explicitly. You can't get away from it.

Sex existed (and made people obsessed) before mass media.

While probably true at some extent for adults, I don't think 14 year old kids were masturbating 24/7 in medieval times. The situation is definitely worse today

Re: Launch HN: Atmana (YC S21) – An app to help cut down on compulsive porn usage

#29

Post by jeffrwells »

CovenantEyes has pretty advanced blocking/monitoring tech with a similar accountability system, you may want to check it out.

They use a VPN config on iOS to monitor traffic, and on MacOS make their monitoring app very difficult to uninstall without an uninstall key (which notifies your accountability partners)

Re: Launch HN: Atmana (YC S21) – An app to help cut down on compulsive porn usage

#30

Post by DeusExMachina »

goto11 wrote: post #23
rockbruno wrote: post #20

I know this isn't your fault, but I dislike society's tendency of trying to band-aid things instead of solving the actual issue. People wouldn't be addicted to sex if the media wasn't shoving it down your throat 24/7. If I open Netflix now, I guarantee at least half of the recommended shows are about sexual relationships, if not porn/sex worker stories explicitly. You can't get away from it.

Sex existed (and made people obsessed) before mass media.

Pervasive sexually explicit imagery definitely didn't.
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