181–190 of 383 posts
I actually read more books now. I download them and load them up on my phone and read them like crazy. Also discussions on sites like this have expanded my articulation and understanding of many concepts and topics. I spent a lot of time, years, dedicating a significant potion of my life to reading educational material of all sorts. I don't know if I use the internet differently, maybe, I don't use Facebook or twitte…
HN represents a wellspring of deeper reading than is generally afforded by the current entertainment cruft portals of the web - reddit, FB, insta, USA today, financial times, etc etc down to the SEO hellholes of recipe sites, youtube product placement; you get the idea. Let's appreciate HN for the quality of reading material and its curb on our drift to the rest of the 'popular' web. And I don't think I'm alone in al…
I used to read books all the time. I spent most of my waking hours as a teenager reading books. I’m 35 now and can barely hold attention on anything, I read maybe 3 books a year if I’m lucky. Even on Hacker News I almost exclusively read and comment on the comments, not the actual article unless I see someone says “have you read the article?” I don’t really know why. I have 8+ hours a day screentime on my iPhone, whi…
> In short, voracious readers ultimately become critical thinkers. No relationship whatsoever. You develop critical thinking when you are in touch with reality, or when you do stuff, more than spending your time in books.
Personally, my weakness is video-games and I have lost the ability to stop playing once I start. Gaming sessions usually last for hours and hours until I feel satisfied (Doesn't matter whether I am winning or losing). I tried several strategies for self-control but none worked out, so I have taken extreme measures to completely stay away from gaming.
- I have deleted my steam and similar profiles (they don't make this easy)
- I do not own a mouse anymore (switched to a trackpad completely)
- If I really feel the need, I just watch a gaming-stream on twitch/highlights on youtube - I would like to phase this out as well, but have not found an effective strategy to do so yet, since blocking these websites is not a reasonable option.
Finally, about reading, I have been doing more of it lately, but I usually read research-papers related to my work and some popular self-improvement books. What really helped me is purchasing a kindle - it offers a free feature to convert PDFs to kindle format - which doesn't work so well with research papers with lots of images and charts but otherwise really helpful.
That is downright laughable. So much hinges on the internet these days that society would literally grind to a halt even without considering anything non-essential. Databases offline, communications down, supply chains gone in an instant. Most businesses would be bankrupt within a week not being able to access their CRM, or emails, or you know... bank accounts. People would be too busy dying to protest.
But sure some teenagers with a mild psychological addiction to browsing tiktok or whatever would be upset! Self centered writers with jobs that entail scribbling down fiction on a piece of paper seem to easily forget what are considered essential utilities in this world these days and how fragile is the house of cards we've built.
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Nah, doesn't work for me. I know the games I like; they are all old and I know I love them. I don't follow the news on new games at all. I simply can't concentrate on the games I like for more than 15 minutes. I get distracted, I alt-tab out all the time, and eventually I close them. It's the same with movies or books. It takes a superhuman effort for me to sit still and watch a movie. If anybody has any recommendati…
I feel related to this. I wish I had a way out to tell you but I can only provide comfort in the thought that someone else feels the same. I think a big part is the constant dissatisfaction, that time is wasted, and I should be doing something more productive. I start a movie, I see where this is going, this is not even that great -> I should be doing something else... I play a game, I understand the mechanics, I see…
Very productive discussion here with lots of tips shared here. I am grateful that HN is one of the places which still feel worth the time spent. I would like to share my own thoughts as well.. Personally, my weakness is video-games and I have lost the ability to stop playing once I start. Gaming sessions usually last for hours and hours until I feel satisfied (Doesn't matter whether I am winning or losing). I tried s…
Hands down the biggest addiction among my friends in their late 20s and early 30s.
The problem is that none of them see it that way.
They take breaks from "known" addictions (alcohol, cannabis) repeatedly, only to still fail to reach their goals, without ever acknowledging the gaming issue.
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I used to read books all the time. I spent most of my waking hours as a teenager reading books. I’m 35 now and can barely hold attention on anything, I read maybe 3 books a year if I’m lucky. Even on Hacker News I almost exclusively read and comment on the comments, not the actual article unless I see someone says “have you read the article?” I don’t really know why. I have 8+ hours a day screentime on my iPhone, whi…
I kinda feel like we were trained to be maximally receptive in an era when information was just recently proven to be the most valuable thing, but also was still kinda rare. And then they just fucking dropped the information hose into our livingrooms and... now I'm blinded.
For example, I'm fascinated by how people on TikTok conceive of the algorithm and the mutual push-pull of category definition. How the hell do I explore that without spending 2 hours derailed by fun history facts? Answer: I do not.
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> I used to read books all the time. I spent most of my waking hours as a teenager reading books. I’m 35 now and can barely hold attention on anything, I read maybe 3 books a year if I’m lucky. Even on Hacker News I almost exclusively read and comment on the comments, not the actual article unless I see someone says “have you read the article?” I used to be this way too. Then I just started reading again and now I ca…
Usually this kind of literature are however more similar to university textbooks for which I prefer to read them as PDFs on the iPad as my Kindle tends to mess up the formulas and figures if you get them in an Amazon Ebook format. Sometimes you get a PDF from Amazon to begin with, for which I find the the Kindle a subpar experience.
I feel it has become an standard of document viewing when it should have never gone beyond document sharing.