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Why do you waste so much time on the internet?

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

#281

Post by Aromasin »

ehnto wrote: post #153
acwan93 wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've read that the decline of religion also plays a role here. Aside from the religious aspect, the sense of community and regularity you get meeting the same people on a regular basis is lost. It's kind of the mix of a loss of "third place" (institutions, coffee shops, etc.) and the increase of social media bubbles that pushes us to be more polarized, I think.

The only place I've gotten the regularity feeling of a third place was a really specific gym I used to both work and train at. Everyone knew who I was even if I didn't train with them, because I also worked there, so when I trained there it was my third place as well and I was always having great conversations. I haven't had anything like it since, and I've been relatively proactive too. I have hobbies, go to meets,…

I always say to people that CrossFit is my church, and while I say it with mild sarcasm, internally it is true. Everyday I turn up, see the same people, build a community to the extent we do socials, help each other out with all manner of things, and honestly it gives me fulfilment more so than anything else I do.

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

#282

Post by riekus »

haliskerbas wrote: post #59
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…

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.

This is me so bad. I have it in the good and bad ways.

In the good I will run couple marathons a month and in the bad I will eat whatever I can find.

I always felt like an outcast, good to hear I am not alone :)

For media consumption it is exactly the same. The good is that I get to the nitty gritty of technical problems. But I also read the unless crap till no end.

I have been able to ditch Twitter, reddit, Facebook and Instagram but I just substitute it with hackernews and YouTube.

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

#283

Post by [deleted] »

jimbokun wrote: post #279
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…

There was a study with a soup bowl that would automatically refill, and found people ate a lot more than they would if just given a regular soup bowl. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15761167/ It strikes me the Internet is now a bottomless soup bowl of content, and we have know indicators to tell us when we should stop.

[deleted]

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

#284

Post by jmrm »

No one mentioned, but when we are here, looking anything at the screen, we aren't thinking about those thing we don't want to do, and this could be a coping mechanism to avoid doing those things.

After a severe burnout I would also say that we need some time everyday to not do anything who require some mental or physical energy, and that could be browsing the internet, watching the TV, or just laying in the sofa looking at the ceiling.

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

#285

Post by riekus »

thoughtpeddler wrote: post #208
skocznymroczny wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An easy way to have self control is to switch to a keto-like diet. You don't even have to count calories and carbs in most cases. There's a variant called lazy keto, where you just stick to approved foods and don't need to count. It's surprisingly hard to overeat on things like cauliflower and pork chops. Be wary however of the more "extreme" advice on keto-like diets. You don't have to stuff yourself with fats, or p…

100% this. People often ask me "How do you stick with keto? It's such a strict diet." I always answer: "It's actually one of the easiest diets: the answer to most 'can I eat this?' question is 'no'." There isn't a persistently high cognitive load on deciding what you can eat, once you master the foundational knowledge of eating low-carb.

I really want to follow it, but what about the bad breath?!

It's definitely a thing, you can smell when people are in ketosis

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

#286

Post by [deleted] »

leodriesch wrote: post #28
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…

Doing the same, but this does not really apply for algorithmic feeds. When you open YouTube the recommendations are always the first thing you see, same for TikTok and Twitter (although at least you can configure it there). Sure you can say “just don’t use recommendation systems” just as you can say “just don’t go on YouTube”.

[deleted]

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

#287

Post by 331c8c71 »

fdsfdsafds wrote: post #254
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…

You're on the path, and the end is almost inevitable - no social media accounts at all, and no smartphone. It's wonderful.

Haven't been using social media for more than five years and it doesn't feel like I'm halfway there.

Now I am using my smartphone pretty much in the same way I was using my PC when smartphones didn't exist (e.g. 20 years ago): quite a bit of browsing and few comments here and there.

It's not that I can't do without smartphone: on holidays I can totally avoid using it for browsing. But that inevitably comes back to "normal".

And I'm pretty sure I was distracting myself with literature in a similar way when I was even younger (e.g. 25 yrs ago). I read very fast and hardly retain anything:) Is it in any way healthier? Not so sure, it feels like binge reading is as addictive and unsatisfying -- I do that nowadays (rarely) too.

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

#288

Post by motoboi »

chefandy wrote: post #214

This sounds like a major depressive episode. A very experienced psychologist recently told me that even folks with no hint of mental health trouble started having a hard time with motivation and mood in the pandemic, but many with existing tendencies towards depressive states were plunged straight into oblivion. Talk therapy and medication can be a big help, but CBT exercises can also help if you're against using med…

For those who didn't get the memo:

Be warned, folks! Depression is not about sadness, but about not being able to do things.

If you are feeling incapable of doing things, like physically siting in front of the computer and not being able to do any work, you are probably depressed.

Sometimes you'll sit in front of the computer, try to start some task but somehow end opening hackeer news, digg, youtube.

Seek help as soon as possible, do not wait until you are fired.

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

#289

Post by 331c8c71 »

Aromasin wrote: post #281
ehnto wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only place I've gotten the regularity feeling of a third place was a really specific gym I used to both work and train at. Everyone knew who I was even if I didn't train with them, because I also worked there, so when I trained there it was my third place as well and I was always having great conversations. I haven't had anything like it since, and I've been relatively proactive too. I have hobbies, go to meets,…

I always say to people that CrossFit is my church, and while I say it with mild sarcasm, internally it is true. Everyday I turn up, see the same people, build a community to the extent we do socials, help each other out with all manner of things, and honestly it gives me fulfilment more so than anything else I do.

I know next to nothing about crossfit and it definitely looks like religion to me. I'm not even sure where this impression comes from but it's probably first or second thing that comes into my mind when I hear "crossfit" (the other thing is that someone I vaguely know does it to keep in shape -- but we never discussed it in any detail).

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

#290

Post by s5300 »

jotm wrote: post #262
evergreyskies wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I don't know why this comment feels like a punch in the face... I have severe ADHD, it's been getting worse and only medication helps, and I cannot get it. I have failed my whole life, I cannot start shit, I cannot finish anything, I'm just an impulsive monkey who is unfortunately aware of their own situation, stuck inside a body, forced to watch a deadly trainwreck in slow motion. The little I've achieved has taken…

Why can’t you get medication? Is it because of the country you live in?
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