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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?

#411

Post by qiskit »

senjin wrote: post #322

I know exactly why I do it and it feels impossible to stop. I scroll endlessly to avoid the pain of everything else in life. Doing work, doing chores, doing hobbies, talking to anyone, making decisions even about projects I'm excited to work on, it all causes a small hit of emotional pain. I don't really know where this pain comes from either. Maybe some childhood trauma that I can't even remember? I don't know. The…

> I know exactly why I do it and it feels impossible to stop.

The mind commands the body and it obeys. The mind commands itself and meets resistance.

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

#412

Post by benlivengood »

jordanpg wrote: post #379
senjin wrote: post #322

I know exactly why I do it and it feels impossible to stop. I scroll endlessly to avoid the pain of everything else in life. Doing work, doing chores, doing hobbies, talking to anyone, making decisions even about projects I'm excited to work on, it all causes a small hit of emotional pain. I don't really know where this pain comes from either. Maybe some childhood trauma that I can't even remember? I don't know. The…

I believe the sociologists of the future are going to look back at this era and cite the manifest lack of meaning in human life as source of the ennui that is the subject of this thread. For a long time, religion filled this void, but for almost everyone, it no longer does. I don't even think most people who hold themselves out as religious really find any significant meaning there -- not doubting their sincerity, on…

To put a fine point on it, the problem is not that life is meaningless but that it has significant meaning and value and also death exists. Death is the antithesis of most human values and we're so far powerless to deflect it on a long-term basis, while religion gave hope or belief of circumventing or ameliorating death.

I scoff at all of the "accept it as part of the natural order" rationalizations; death is the enemy and my goal is to push it as far toward the heat death as possible. That final end will be a defeat, but much less of a tragedy than the ~120 years we get now. If meaning and memory can exist for 10^100 years instead then that's a prize worth fighting for.

I think all the proof anyone needs of this is the joy of children; death is unlikely and far from them and so they have nearly boundless ability to enjoy life and its meaning.

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

#413

Post by rchaud »

drpotato wrote: post #378
senjin wrote: post #322

I know exactly why I do it and it feels impossible to stop. I scroll endlessly to avoid the pain of everything else in life. Doing work, doing chores, doing hobbies, talking to anyone, making decisions even about projects I'm excited to work on, it all causes a small hit of emotional pain. I don't really know where this pain comes from either. Maybe some childhood trauma that I can't even remember? I don't know. The…

Mate, if you haven’t already, go talk with a therapist. I’ve struggled with avoidance my entire adult life – avoiding awkwardness, pain, risk, “bad”emotions, difficult conversations, conflict – and talking with a professional has really helped me.

Much like making new friends past university, therapists are a crapshoot. Some simply aren't a good fit or have poor sofa-side manner or fail to develop a sense of trust.

If the therapy is part of an employer funded benefit, you also only get a limited number of sessions, and only with the employer-approved provider.

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

#415

Post by rchaud »

gigaflop wrote: post #100
aantix wrote: post #42

I wonder if this is because we're lonely..? Just wondering out loud here. E.g. Twitter - feels like many of the "thought leaders" I follow, their "friends" are also on Twitter. And they tweet/respond so much I often wonder if they're really ever "building a business". And are they ever interacting with their real-world friends or family? Or if their lives just consist of a constant refresh of their feed. Even at dinn…

It feels like a semantically-strained take, but I think Twitter is more of a place for people to say things, than it is for having conversations. Most people seem to use the site to broadcast something to their audience without really engaging.

Exactly. Twitter is a broadcast megaphone that tends towards rewarding cults of personality, so it's no surprise celebrities, a president and self-important CEOs love it.

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

#416

Post by jokethrowaway »

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…

That happens when I'm depressed, almost word by word.

I also treat it in the same way by cutting everything. That doesn't fix the problem though, and eventually I replace the bad habits with new ones.

For a proper fix for that you need to solve the underlying causes of your depression.

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

#417

Post by mfgs »

Once you have an internet connected phone or PC (as we all do) then the cost in physical or mental effort, time, or money to click another link or watch another video is basically zero. It also gives relatively high levels of dopamine as you're constantly seeing or learning new things.

So with practically no barrier to sitting there longer and a constant stream of stimulation the cost to benefit _ratio_ is incredibly low, arguably lower than anything else we're likely to do regularly. Any real world activity, which all require time and mental or physical effort, yield likely a much higher cost to benefit ratio.

Wasting time on the internet is basically just the path of least resistance and the best "deal" in your own mental economy.

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

#418

Post by rchaud »

30944836 wrote: post #392
muwtyhg wrote: post #357

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What movies are these? An average shot length of less than 2 seconds sounds like it would give me a massive headache.

Here's a list I stole from Quora: https://www.quora.com/What-films-have-the-lowest-average-sho... ASL 1.55 - Doomsday (2008) : 4052 shots over 105 minutes ASL 1.72 - Transporter 3 (2008) : 3360 shots over 96 minutes ASL 1.73 - Domino (2005) : 4046 shots over 116 minutes ASL 1.83 - Quantum of Solace (2008) : 3198 shots over 98 minutes ASL 1.84 - Crank: High Voltage (2009) : 2718 shots over 84 minutes ASL 1.92 - Transp…

Who knew that random passersby on Sunset Blvd that got pulled into a Hollywood film screen test had this much power?

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

#419

Post by aurizon »

incrudible wrote: post #406
aurizon wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.ndtv.com/health/top-10-reasons-why-you-should-no...

This is a very low effort, unsourced listicle, that is probably wrong on several points. Disregarding that, I was more curious about how this particular person managed to get hospitalized.

True enough, but it does outline the potential nutritional shortfalls of extreme food regimes, most of which I was aware of. It seemed to sum up most of the obvious shortfalls - I was only passingly interested and this was a low hanging answer. I have seen numerous extreme diets. Many of which are OK in the short term - but not in the longer term. Unless the OP replies - I have no idea in detail what befell him?

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

#420

Post by bluefirebrand »

rchaud wrote: post #413
drpotato wrote: post #378

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mate, if you haven’t already, go talk with a therapist. I’ve struggled with avoidance my entire adult life – avoiding awkwardness, pain, risk, “bad”emotions, difficult conversations, conflict – and talking with a professional has really helped me.

Much like making new friends past university, therapists are a crapshoot. Some simply aren't a good fit or have poor sofa-side manner or fail to develop a sense of trust. If the therapy is part of an employer funded benefit, you also only get a limited number of sessions, and only with the employer-approved provider.

Also, your employer funded therapist will likely have a specific mandate to basically help you get back to work, meaning no longterm solutions or help, only bandaids.
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