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Facebook is an addiction treadmill most may never be able to quit

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Re: Facebook is an addiction treadmill most may never be able to quit

#271
post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's absurd. There is no scientific basis that would support your assertion. In fact, increased social media activity leads to a higher chance of suffering from depressive episodes. Meditation has been shown to to actually combat symptoms of depression. If you can't sit still with your own thoughts for 60 seconds without spiraling, then you shouldn't even be remotely near social media.

> That's absurd. There is no scientific basis that would support your assertion. Why are you so confident in that? Have you done your research? I learned that from a licensed psychologist, and know several people who have had severely negative reactions to "mindfulness" training, but it only took 30 seconds to find these two links: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210202-how-mindfulnes... https://www.newscienti…

I would be wary with different meditation practices. I don't think it's a one-size-fits all.

Zen Buddhism and other traditions have very long history and experience with meditation. Now the West unfortunately sometimes imports ideas superficially, and meditation might be one of them. 'Mindfulness meditation' seems to have specific suggestions that probably haven't stood the test of time (or scientific evidence as mentioned).

However, sitting a few minutes quietly (without worrying about specific technique) shouldn't do any harm, is probably good for you.

Also very emphasized in those traditions is controlled breathing. It can be very helpful when stressed as well.

If it makes you feel unwell, stop doing it! Also maybe consult with someone with experience.

Re: Facebook is an addiction treadmill most may never be able to quit

#272
post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

but it's not. the vast vast majority of people spend a few minutes scrolling through fb, the same way people here scroll through HN, it's a totally meaningless time waster.

When you open your phone to do something other than look at HN , get distracted by HN, and forget why you opened your phone, that's a problem. Scrolling a few minutes here and there isn't the problem.

It's really not, that's just human nature, this happens to people all the time for all sorts of distractions on their phone.

Re: Facebook is an addiction treadmill most may never be able to quit

#273
post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, feed the enragement beast.

What do you mean? I don’t understand (honest question).

Well, the Harris quote implies that the opposite of boredom is "paying attention." I'm drawing a connection between that and what facebook likes to talk about: "engagement." But what really drives that, is when folks get enraged. I use the term "enragement."

Re: Facebook is an addiction treadmill most may never be able to quit

#274
post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those are physiological addictions that literally rewire your body chemistry and how your brain perceives reality. There's addiction and there's addiction.

What do you think happens to you when you love, when you hate, when you feel rejected, appreciated, embraced, venerated, when you feel like you're being venerated without effort, you may feel like you're cheating and get a rise of it, or feel guilty from it, but in every case there's an endocrine response. All of these chemical pathways are triggered by the hollow nonexistent social interactions, it can be an emotion…

I dare you to show me any mention in the scientific literature of a physiological addiction to facebook comparable to opioid or alcohol dependency. A reductionist approach of "everything in a body is chemistry" does not mean all chemistry is alike. Normal emotions to not create the same long-term effects in body's neurochemistry as things like opioids do. That's why people take them - you can't really just get rid of an excruciating pain by thinking about something fun. You can by taking drugs, because drugs meddle with the body chemistry in a much stronger way than the normal endocrine response does. That meddling has a bad side - since it's so much stronger and invasive, it creates permanent damage. Looking at cats on facebook also causes chemical reactions, but not nearly as strong as the drugs do.
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