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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

#191

Post by brutusborn »

argc wrote: post #155
brutusborn wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I think this is completely wrong, our brains have reward pathways and someone could just as easily be escaping mild boredom rather than psychological distress. I have known a number of opiate addicts, including myself for a time, and in all cases it was triggered by a prescription due to an accident, or experimentation among otherwise exceptionally happy kids. In two cases this resulted in the person's death by overd…

I think I follow your logic, but I think it has an ommission. Using your model, how do you explain the majority of people who use addictive things with no issue, they have reward pathways the same as the "addicts". Are there not other factors that make the difference between a user and an abuser of something?

To use your example of mild boredom: boredom is felt by everyone yet most people choose healthy choices over addictive behaviour. Is there simply some luck in how we are exposed to an addictive experience or do some people seek addictive rewards to overcome some greater pain?

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

#192

Post by dang »

throwawayswede wrote: post #187
csande17 wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, all of humanity is inherently tainted by profit motives or whatever. That doesn't change the fact that trusting a Y Combinator startup with this kind of sensitive private medical information is a uniquely terrible idea. That information is going to leak, whether intentionally (maybe they'll "pivot" to selling it) or unintentionally via security issues like poor internal access control. Doctors also earn money,…

That was my point, I don't know why everyone got what I said as anti capitalist rant. The only reason I would trust a therapist with my personal life details is because of doctor patient confidentiality and there's absolutely no digital record of our conversation. I think trusting any app or online service with such details is absolutely wrong with zero room for budging, and arguing that "well, maybe this company is…

> I don't know why everyone got what I said as anti capitalist rant.

If you post snarky, shallow internet rhetoric, of course it will be misinterpreted in all sorts of ways. That's precisely to be expected.

Would you please stop posting like that to HN? It's destructive of what this site is supposed to be for. Please make your substantive points thoughtfully. Other people will be more likely to hear what you actually mean in that case too.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

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

#194

Post by lolc »

edgyquant wrote: post #183
lolc wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The therapists (and the app) are supposed to capitalize on improvement. Saying that they capitalize on pain takes a dystopic perspective that I find unjustified. Until they are shown to employ dark patterns, we shouldn't dismiss them like that.

That’s fair but I think the difference is arbitrary. They exist because people are in pain or suffering so their market is people who are suffering. Again I do not think it’s a bad thing that people capitalize on their suffering as long as they are providing a (mutually) beneficial service.

I see what you mean. And I still find "capitalize on pain" too broad a framing for what the app. Characterizing it that way does not inform and draws parallels to other, less ethical players that "capitalize on pain". Such as Purdue Pharma for example.

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

#195

Post by voxic11 »

irthomasthomas wrote: post #116

This is a refreshingly wholesome startup. Well done! I am really interested in the social media blocking. I have been quitting social media for 5 or 6 years now. The hardest for me was Quora, I think. I don't know why, they where like the mafia: "Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in" What worked for me was blocking them on the router and the hosts files[0]. This meant there where two steps to unlocki…

Do you not consider hackernews to be social media?

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

#196

Post by snypher »

voxic11 wrote: post #195
irthomasthomas wrote: post #116

This is a refreshingly wholesome startup. Well done! I am really interested in the social media blocking. I have been quitting social media for 5 or 6 years now. The hardest for me was Quora, I think. I don't know why, they where like the mafia: "Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in" What worked for me was blocking them on the router and the hosts files[0]. This meant there where two steps to unlocki…

Do you not consider hackernews to be social media?

It can be a dangerous trap to convince oneself that "they have quit before and can quit again if they choose".
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