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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

#91

Post by renewiltord »

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.

> People wouldn't be addicted to sex if the media wasn't shoving it down your throat 24/7.

What evidence do you have for this?

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

#92

Post by brutusborn »

bityard wrote: post #87
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.

> Media addiction is a manifestation of something, not the root cause. I only partly agree. I have two children. We are loving parents and provide them with a stable house, lots of food, plenty of attention. They have friends, toys, games, books, musical instruments, bikes, and a whole neighborhood to explore. We are an extremely typical middle-class household. But left to their own devices, they will happily spend e…

I agree with your view on the addictiveness of media, exept that the addiction has no root cause. My experience with alcohol and other substance abuse problems is that there is always an underlying psychological root cause. I beleive the same to be true of media addiction; excessive use to the point of "addiction" is escapism from some psychological distress.

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

#93

Post by emacsen »

Some of this is interesting, such as the social media aspect, but I'd like to understand exactly what your motivation is and where your funding is from.

One of the things few people know about the new "porn addiction" websites, including NoFap and "Fight the New Drug" is that there are connections between these groups and the LDS (ie Mormon) church.

It's less about "addiction" than creating a stigma around pornography use by wrapping it in pseudo-science.

While pornography can be addictive, there are other models than absence and restriction that are shown to help all addiction (not just pornography), and I'm wondering if you'd looked into them, or (frankly) if this is just another LSD-funded scheme to turn people off of the idea of porn.

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

#94

Post by lolc »

As somebody who had a porn addiction (as in: I feel my consumption negatively impacted my life) I don't understand why some commenters here say it's "only" treating a symptom.

Sure, if I'd felt more engaged in other areas during my youth, I might not have started consuming porn. And I might not have stopped consuming if it weren't for changes in my life that prompted me to do so. But please, when treating addiction you can't try to solve all the other problematic patterns in a person's life. Often only after resolving the addiction people are enabled to address their other pain-points.

If this app -- and I wouldn't trust that thing on any of my devices -- helps people get off porn when they want to get off of it, I don't see how this is problematic. Or any more problematic than the use of apps for making life decisions in general.

There are many ways to manage one's habits and if something else works for you, good for you. That doesn't invalidate the approach chosen for the app.

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

#95

Post by read_if_gay_ »

randomhodler84 wrote: post #60
read_if_gay_ wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you say the same about quitting smoking? Or harder drugs?

Yeah, probably. Who you who didn’t like smoking. Doh, Godwin’d. Anti drug people are the worst kinda authoritarians too.

You’re conflating liking the act and liking the consequences of the act.

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

#96

Post by crispyambulance »

zero_billion wrote: post #58
read_if_gay_ wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.yourbrainonporn.com/relevant-research-and-articl... > 56 neuroscience-based studies [...] All but one provide support for the addiction model as their findings mirror the neurological findings reported in substance addiction studies. > Over 60 studies reporting findings consistent with escalation of porn use (tolerance), habituation to porn, and even withdrawal symptoms > over 40 studies linking porn use/…

i guess these are studies that indicate the harmful effects. but, the question was about whether quitting porn can make people happy. i guess that's not quantified. also, happiness is quite difficult to quantify in general.

The username and the obsessive refs by the person you're responding to make me want to totally dismiss him. You see that kind of stuff a lot with this particular topic.

HOWEVER, many people simply want to change their own behavioral patterns and have a hard time doing it. Will they be measurably "happy" if they succeed? That's not the point. There's value in being able to do something (or stop doing something).

None of these things are ever going to be "quantifiable" in a practical sense.

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

#97

Post by randomhodler84 »

zero_billion wrote: post #62
randomhodler84 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it was voluntary, there would be no need for a app. It’s policing and enforcement. Of some personal morality.

even with the app, only those who think our app will help them will install. it's not for everyone. we are firm believers in the free market economy and we are in no way saying that porn is bad or immoral etc. we are only assisting people who need help in quitting a problematic behavior.

You say this, but you appear to have dedicated your profession to blocking porn. (Multiple apps). I have trouble believing that this is not a moral crusade for you, dressed up as “helping people recover”. You are just setting up a censorship regime, which does not deal with the supposed underlying issues. I’m sorry for not assuming good faith here.

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

#98

Post by Shindi »

bityard wrote: post #87
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.

> Media addiction is a manifestation of something, not the root cause. I only partly agree. I have two children. We are loving parents and provide them with a stable house, lots of food, plenty of attention. They have friends, toys, games, books, musical instruments, bikes, and a whole neighborhood to explore. We are an extremely typical middle-class household. But left to their own devices, they will happily spend e…

> There most certainly _is_ something incredibly mentally addicting about passive content consumption. It doesn't need a root cause, just like you don't need one with alcohol and other substance addiction.

One of the problems with porn is that it's so easily accessible. With alcohol or cigarettes or dieting it helps to have the thing out of site, ie don't buy it. But with porn, you can hop on any of the many available devices and in seconds get access to new videos every day. Also porn is very easy to hide. it's a lot harder to hide cig smoke, being drunk or high.

I think that's the beauty of this app - it has a strong blocker that makes porn not as accessible and the community aspect makes it hard to hide.

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

#99

Post by dogorman »

randomhodler84 wrote: post #60
read_if_gay_ wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you say the same about quitting smoking? Or harder drugs?

Yeah, probably. Who you who didn’t like smoking. Doh, Godwin’d. Anti drug people are the worst kinda authoritarians too.

[flagged]

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

#100

Post by dogorman »

randomhodler84 wrote: post #97
zero_billion wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

even with the app, only those who think our app will help them will install. it's not for everyone. we are firm believers in the free market economy and we are in no way saying that porn is bad or immoral etc. we are only assisting people who need help in quitting a problematic behavior.

You say this, but you appear to have dedicated your profession to blocking porn. (Multiple apps). I have trouble believing that this is not a moral crusade for you, dressed up as “helping people recover”. You are just setting up a censorship regime, which does not deal with the supposed underlying issues. I’m sorry for not assuming good faith here.

> I’m sorry for not assuming good faith here.

You're not sorry.

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