Why do you waste so much time on the internet? • Hacker News Board

Re: Why do you waste so much time on the internet?

#101

Post by DerekBickerton » Fri, May 06, 2022, 4:22 PM UTC

Tade0 wrote: post #86

DerekBickerton wrote: post #11

I'm not sure about wasting. Most of my surfing consists of unearthing gems, and I have to wade through a lot of noise and muck to find those gems, but the gems are there. If I could automate it, I would, but it wouldn't be the same. A piece of code that crawls the net looking for something I would really enjoy is a hard problem, and I would have to code in my own biases to the program to make it work properly, and th…

Can you give an example of such a gem? Normally I just rely on HN to provide me with interesting links, but lately it doesn't seem to give me the same kick it used to.

Sure. Some links I just bookmarked and will use:

https://highbrow.se/ (Alternative search engine)

https://cora-pic.com/en (Meme generator)

https://www.mightyapp.com/ (New upcoming cloud browser)

https://ossdatabase.com/ (Database of OSS)

Re: Why do you waste so much time on the internet?

#102

Post by ericskiff » Fri, May 06, 2022, 4:23 PM UTC

epalm wrote: post #95

Something that really helped me with YouTube was installing the Unhook browser extension https://unhook.app/ Unhook can remove all 'suggested' videos. The home page will just be blank, and when watching a video, there will be no other video links on the page. This means I can still use YouTube, but I have to search for what I'm looking for. This alone has completely solved the endless video merry-go-round sessions.

Thank you! Just installed

Re: Why do you waste so much time on the internet?

#103

Post by makeworld » Fri, May 06, 2022, 4:24 PM UTC

brimble wrote: post #65

alisonkisk wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

is it ADD or is it just a common pattern of human nature? Is eating sugar when it is offered a disease, or an environment that is toxic to instincts that usee to suit us well?

I'm reminded of Scott Alexanders musing re: whether someone "has ADD" if they have trouble focusing on things that are simply boring as fuck, like looking at spreadsheets (or code...) all day every day, week, after week, after week. But then if all their peers are in fact outperforming them, because they're already all self-medicating for ADD symptoms, or have a prescription for ADD meds, so they can focus on somethi…

Got a link to that post?

Re: Why do you waste so much time on the internet?

#104

Post by kixiQu » Fri, May 06, 2022, 4:24 PM UTC

Apreche wrote: post #17

Just speaking for myself, I've noticed that my habit is to eat what is in front of me, and clean my plate. I mean this both literally and figuratively. If I have dessert in the house, like a bag of chocolate, then I eat one after dinner. If I don't have it in the house, then I just don't eat dessert. If I have a social media feed full of content, then I'll scroll through all of it until there's nothing else that's ne…

https://tokimeki-unfollow.glitch.me/

Presents the Twitter accounts you're following so you can decide whether they "spark joy"... pairs well with

https://opml.glitch.me/

Which looks at the accounts you're following, looks at the links in their bios, sees if there's an RSS feed indicated at that link, and puts the whole thing together into an OPML feed (the standard XML-of-RSS-feeds format used for RSS reader import/export, among other things).

Re: Why do you waste so much time on the internet?

#105

Post by evergreyskies » Fri, May 06, 2022, 4:25 PM UTC

steve_adams_86 wrote: post #74

haliskerbas wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thought this was just me and it’s so refreshing to hear. I can never eat just part of a bag of chips. Or save the really good sandwhich for later. Or not drink another coffee because I already had one. Etc. etc Do lots of other folks experience this? I seem to only have self control when it hurts my job or income, and even then, barely.

I think a lot of people with ADHD would relate, or have been able to at some point.

ADHD here. Kids are ADHD. My Malinois has to be ADHD. Being ADHD like I am with almost two decades of IT under my belt has felt weird. I crave my YouTube channels and certain news sites since the content creators I watch/read put out daily content. Ditto my insane amount of caffeine and nicotine consumption, which I learned from having my kids diagnosed, is me self medicating in lieu of something pharmaceutical. I'm also OCD, so that doesn't help. People with ADHD/OCD need closure something fierce, so when I feel like I'm not getting it, I feel the world is not right.

On the professional side, my ADHD/OCD makes for some clean code and pedantically-set up servers. Nothing says ADHD/OCD like taking two days to crank out code which some of my colleagues can crank out in half the time. I'm told I'm too pedantic sometimes. Too much of a perfectionist. ADHD can do that to you. I'm happy with my lot in life.

Re: Why do you waste so much time on the internet?

#106

Post by dbalatero » Fri, May 06, 2022, 4:27 PM UTC

twobitshifter wrote: post #81

Has anyone tried?: * Using an apple cellular watch and leaving your phone at home * Using a smaller phone like an iphone mini * Using a lower tech feature phone * Using screentime And found success that way?

Yes, I use an Apple Watch for maps/subway directions and a flip phone for my phone. Works well, best of both worlds. Apple Watch is hard to waste time on due to the cramped UI.

Re: Why do you waste so much time on the internet?

#107

Post by operon » Fri, May 06, 2022, 4:27 PM UTC

I am compulsively curious.

Re: Why do you waste so much time on the internet?

#108

Post by the_only_law » Fri, May 06, 2022, 4:27 PM UTC

dcchambers wrote: post #21

My completely unprofessional opinion is that almost everyone that uses the internet throughout the day has developed some form of undiagnosed ADD/ADHD. The modern internet has broken our slowly evolved brains. We are not built to cope with these types of attention destroying activities and media. At least 20 years ago you had to sit down at a specific place and use a chunky computer. Smartphones have made it 1000x wo…

I remember years ago being a teenager and having limited access to computers and the internet so when I did have them I used my time to learn as much as I could.

When I didn’t, I got bored, and I picked up books. I remember reading books on history, biology, psychology, electronics, programming, etc. and learning from them, often just by flipping pages and reading passages that looked interesting. In fairness, even nowadays, it’s not uncommon for me to have a dozen Wikipedia tabs opened about random stuff that piqued my interest.

Nowadays I can’t get bored anymore. My phone is rarely out of arms reach and I own every steam game I ever wanted and a computer that can handle them.

Recently, I recall trying to work on a side project when I got stuck on a design aspect. My power went out later and with all my devices dead and I remember being bored to death, pacing around the apartment when the solution came to me.

Re: Why do you waste so much time on the internet?

#109

Post by cipheredStones » Fri, May 06, 2022, 4:27 PM UTC

makeworld wrote: post #103

brimble wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm reminded of Scott Alexanders musing re: whether someone "has ADD" if they have trouble focusing on things that are simply boring as fuck, like looking at spreadsheets (or code...) all day every day, week, after week, after week. But then if all their peers are in fact outperforming them, because they're already all self-medicating for ADD symptoms, or have a prescription for ADD meds, so they can focus on somethi…

Got a link to that post?

Not the GP, but it's https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/12/28/adderall-risks-much-mo...

Re: Why do you waste so much time on the internet?

#110

Post by epalm » Fri, May 06, 2022, 4:28 PM UTC

ericskiff wrote: post #102

epalm wrote: post #95

Something that really helped me with YouTube was installing the Unhook browser extension https://unhook.app/ Unhook can remove all 'suggested' videos. The home page will just be blank, and when watching a video, there will be no other video links on the page. This means I can still use YouTube, but I have to search for what I'm looking for. This alone has completely solved the endless video merry-go-round sessions.

Thank you! Just installed

No problem!

The real problem is "The Feed", the never ending infini-scroll. I don't think it's a coincidence that usually the item you're looking at in The Feed is shorter than the frame, so you can always see at least part of the next item, and when you scroll, you see part of the next item, and so on.

I need Unhook for Facebook and Reddit.