My lizard brain is no match for infinite scroll • Hacker News Board

Re: My lizard brain is no match for infinite scroll

#161

Post by klabb3 » Mon, Mar 07, 2022, 2:33 AM UTC

ericdykstra wrote: post #88

There's a kind of vicious cycle here where people feel disconnected from their surroundings and communities, and attention-stealing apps make a business of providing a surrogate through parasocial relationships and infinite access to the spectacle and new ways to interact with it. Parasocial relationships aren't real relationships, and the spectacle replaces doing anything directly, there is no fulfilment and the cyc…

This is the big one for me, even though I do 0 social broadcast apps (only 1:1 chats, news, reddit and hacker news). Huge improvement, yet still I use it in the same parasocial way, using your terms. It sucks!

Re: My lizard brain is no match for infinite scroll

#162

Post by irjustin » Mon, Mar 07, 2022, 2:33 AM UTC

resonious wrote: post #76

Lately I've become convinced that video games and social media are in the same class as drugs and alcohol. They're a pretty fun way to kill time, but some people are predisposed to doing too much, and too much is dangerous. Also similar to drugs/alcohol: it seems to affect some people more than others. I know people who can check FB/TikTok for a couple minutes and then they're done, and I also know people who continu…

> video games and social media are in the same class as drugs and alcohol.

Disagreed - one key aspect of the latter is physical dependance where withdraws are potentially life threatening.

It's similar sledge hammer approach to putting weed on class 1 or treating all wrong doings as 'sin'.

They are not the same things, should not be thought as the same nor treated the same.

Re: My lizard brain is no match for infinite scroll

#163

Post by cannonpalms » Mon, Mar 07, 2022, 2:37 AM UTC

tertius wrote: post #142

sodality2 wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The DNS server is set in my phone as well (still works over data). But even if it wasn't, I live in a third-world country that still has crude data caps (the United States) so consuming video would probably quickly approach it.

How are you setting DNS in your phone?

Typical DNS-level blocking software like pihole also functions as a DHCP server, allowing all devices on the network to share the DNS settings with no additional configuration necessary.

Re: My lizard brain is no match for infinite scroll

#164

Post by lrvick » Mon, Mar 07, 2022, 2:42 AM UTC

sodality2 wrote: post #24

I'm still young so maybe my mind hasn't matured enough to where I can combat this well. So I went heavy-handed - I have a button on my desk that when I press it, my server's DNS server (through which all my devices and router resolve) begins rejecting requests to reddit, instagram, twitter, hackernews, news.google.com, etc. For the next two hours, there is nothing I can do outside of SSH'ing through my mobile device…

I just ditched my smartphone entirely. Humanity survived until the 00s without them. You can too.

Re: My lizard brain is no match for infinite scroll

#165

Post by ratww » Mon, Mar 07, 2022, 2:42 AM UTC

abvdj2 wrote: post #156

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My /etc/hosts file on the machine I work on all day blocks 68k hosts 24/7. No social media sites at all except Twitter. No ads. Meanwhile, the Leechblock browser add-on stops me from using the few things I do otherwise (bits of Reddit, HN) allow between 09:00 and 17:00 which is not perfect but it's a start. Except ... I disable it a lot :(

would you share the hosts file by any chance? 68k seems better than what I have

Not OP but I can recommend those also for blocking social networks: https://github.com/jmdugan/blocklists/tree/master/corporatio...

Re: My lizard brain is no match for infinite scroll

#166

Post by askura » Mon, Mar 07, 2022, 2:43 AM UTC

Absolutely. I know this is unrelated to the psychological side of things but for the company I'm with I often have to reach out to charities or NGOs. I absolutely hate badly designed sites with infinite scroll when I'm simply trying to get to the contact in the footer.

It's infuriating!

Re: My lizard brain is no match for infinite scroll

#167

Post by magneticnorth » Mon, Mar 07, 2022, 2:46 AM UTC

b112 wrote: post #130

magneticnorth wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had some luck by going back to "simpler" books for a while - page-turner scifi, bestsellers, YA literature. For a while I only read things that really grabbed my attention, and I think that is gradually re-training my brain. I'm not back to being as avid of a reader yet, but I'm optimistic I'll get there. I'm reading more now than I have in a few years.

Read about the sentient beercan, it's an amusing page turner.

This was a bit harder to google than I anticipated - lots of fan references on the internet, it looks like.

"Expeditionary Force" by Craig Alanson if anyone else is curious. I'll check it out, thanks!

Re: My lizard brain is no match for infinite scroll

#168

Post by askura » Mon, Mar 07, 2022, 2:46 AM UTC

sodality2 wrote: post #24

I'm still young so maybe my mind hasn't matured enough to where I can combat this well. So I went heavy-handed - I have a button on my desk that when I press it, my server's DNS server (through which all my devices and router resolve) begins rejecting requests to reddit, instagram, twitter, hackernews, news.google.com, etc. For the next two hours, there is nothing I can do outside of SSH'ing through my mobile device…

I used to scoff at things like Windscribe's ROBERT which does similar things for social sites, clickbait, gambling sites, porn etc...

Thinking it's more like a child blocker. But I've had battles with addiction and issues myself with keeping focused. Being able to have some kind of actual switch for what I can access often acts as a mental toggle. It changes my mode so to speak and I end up getting more done.

There's tons of cool free filters or blockers etc but I love your method. A physical button could be great for that mental switch aspect I was talking about.

Re: My lizard brain is no match for infinite scroll

#169

Post by askura » Mon, Mar 07, 2022, 2:46 AM UTC

mikeomoto wrote: post #55

sodality2 wrote: post #24

I'm still young so maybe my mind hasn't matured enough to where I can combat this well. So I went heavy-handed - I have a button on my desk that when I press it, my server's DNS server (through which all my devices and router resolve) begins rejecting requests to reddit, instagram, twitter, hackernews, news.google.com, etc. For the next two hours, there is nothing I can do outside of SSH'ing through my mobile device…

> I'm still young so maybe my mind hasn't matured enough to where I can combat this well. I'm not sure this changes as you age, it certainly hasn't for me. :(

About to turn 34 and still with the same poor mental focusing of 14 year old me :/

Re: My lizard brain is no match for infinite scroll

#170

Post by snek_case » Mon, Mar 07, 2022, 2:51 AM UTC

irjustin wrote: post #162

resonious wrote: post #76

Lately I've become convinced that video games and social media are in the same class as drugs and alcohol. They're a pretty fun way to kill time, but some people are predisposed to doing too much, and too much is dangerous. Also similar to drugs/alcohol: it seems to affect some people more than others. I know people who can check FB/TikTok for a couple minutes and then they're done, and I also know people who continu…

> video games and social media are in the same class as drugs and alcohol. Disagreed - one key aspect of the latter is physical dependance where withdraws are potentially life threatening. It's similar sledge hammer approach to putting weed on class 1 or treating all wrong doings as 'sin'. They are not the same things, should not be thought as the same nor treated the same.

The concept of physical vs psychological dependence is kind of outdated, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EaiP31qWf0

I don't see anything wrong with talking about a video game or social media addiction. Of course it's nowhere near the same level of danger as a heroin addiction, but if it's counter-productive and there's the same kinds of behaviors involved, it can be a useful model.

Just the same, you can be addicted to coffee. Caffeine is a drug. It's not expensive, and it's not known for tearing families apart, but it builds a tolerance, it produces a withdrawal, and people will change their behavior to get access to more coffee, may become aggressive when they can't get access to it, etc.

If you think that you waste too much time on social media, then just like with drug addiction, there's a question of first realizing/accepting that this is even a problem at all. Then, once you've realized that there's a problem, you might want to think about coping strategies, replacing social media with other activities, developing healthier habits, etc. And just like with a drug addiction, you might find quitting cold turkey difficult.