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

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

#561

Post by neuronic » Sat, May 07, 2022, 7:43 AM UTC

comboy wrote: post #546

ebingdom wrote: post #524

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You spend time on reddit because you want to. It seems unproductive to tell yourself that you don't. This seems like a mischaracterization of how addiction works.

Addiction is just a pattern, a framework of looking at reality. You could say you are suffering addiction withdrawal when you are away from somebody or some place you love. Addiction framework and associated solutions seem to be pretty effective for things like stopping heroin usage. Quite likely it can work for reddit too, but I'm guessing PC already tried it. I'm just offering a different framework and way of looki…

Addiction isn't "just a pattern". Stop treating people like logic-driven robots.

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

#562

Post by bowsamic » Sat, May 07, 2022, 7:45 AM UTC

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…

That’s why the only thing that really helped me was Buddhism, which directly tackles these questions and understandings

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

#563

Post by desas » Sat, May 07, 2022, 7:47 AM UTC

tayo42 wrote: post #85

spir wrote: post #29

I am addicted to twitter and reddit. Especially reddit. It often takes the place of reading, hobbies, quiet moments, improving my home, talking with my spouse, and playing with my baby. When reddit records a click or an upvote, it thinks it has been a Good Product, and created Engagement. Reddit then takes those feedback loops and tunes the algorithm and feedback loops to create further engagement. But in reality, th…

my problem with reddit (and here i guess?) is idk what else to do with like 5-30minutes of down time. I dont really have my life optimized for constant activity and idk what else to fill that with now.

Something like Duolingo? Read a book?

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

#564

Post by bowsamic » Sat, May 07, 2022, 7:47 AM UTC

mmlkrx wrote: post #554

The only times in my life where I stopped "wasting time on the internet" was upon returning from a 10-day Vipassana meditation retreat. Especially after the first one this lasted for around 3-5 months. There was no effort involved on my side. It simply came very naturally to me to not check reddit/hackernews/fav blog first thing in the morning or during idle time (or at all really). Some of that I can probably attest…

Why not continue the practise to a greater degree? My social media use negatively correlates with my effort put into zazen

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

#565

Post by lowwave » Sat, May 07, 2022, 7:47 AM UTC

m463 wrote: post #553

giulio wrote: post #531

I don't. These days I try to be online only to do something specific: searching for specific, writing, email etc. I am online for 2/3 hours/day. I use Facebook Twitter etc. but not that much. Here's a trick: turn notifications off on all your devices and you'll be happier. The idea is to "consume" only the content you want and only at the time you want.

I can't help but think - the people who don't waste time on the internet won't be replying to comments here. It's sort of like a self-unselecting population

HN is one of the places online that is NOT a wast of time. It is full of useful informations. After using internet since mid 90's, and being one of first people that got the first gen iPhone, now days I try to NOT use smart phone or internet unless I need to. This is has significantly improved my life quality. Having more fun, I focus on the people around me and the 3d reality more. Then when I was using a lot of smart phone. Of course that is not the only thing, I had to do however it is a VERY good starting point. Highly recommend everyone who owns smart phone to try using it only in airplane mode.

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

#566

Post by dt3ft » Sat, May 07, 2022, 7:51 AM UTC

This thread should be our collective start page. Whenever you open a new tab, this should be the first thing we see :)

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

#567

Post by sidcool » Sat, May 07, 2022, 7:54 AM UTC

This thread is golden. It has the answers to the questions raised in the post.

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

#568

Post by grozzle » Sat, May 07, 2022, 7:55 AM UTC

The Answer, the thing that Helps, might be just around the next click.

I know, rationally, what I have to do, but the part of myself with all the neurotransmitters is convinced there must be an easier way, and it'd be more efficient to keep looking for it.

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

#569

Post by jholman » Sat, May 07, 2022, 7:56 AM UTC

comboy wrote: post #546

ebingdom wrote: post #524

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You spend time on reddit because you want to. It seems unproductive to tell yourself that you don't. This seems like a mischaracterization of how addiction works.

Addiction is just a pattern, a framework of looking at reality. You could say you are suffering addiction withdrawal when you are away from somebody or some place you love. Addiction framework and associated solutions seem to be pretty effective for things like stopping heroin usage. Quite likely it can work for reddit too, but I'm guessing PC already tried it. I'm just offering a different framework and way of looki…

I think there's some value in most of what you're saying. Your overall proposal, etc etc.

But when you say "You could say you are suffering addiction withdrawal when you are away from somebody or some place you love", you demonstrate that you have no idea what addiction is. No idea.

With respect, I strongly advise you to not say things like that. It's super wrong (which is okay but sub-optimal), you look dumb (which is bad for you), and it's hurtful to other people (which is bad for other people).

I hope you can continue to be naive about addiction for your entire life.

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

#570

Post by sgtnoodle » Sat, May 07, 2022, 7:56 AM UTC

ricardobeat wrote: post #312

sgtnoodle wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's pretty common. I personally call it "Goldfish syndrome", although apparently that's caught on with another informal meaning according to the internet. Eating and drinking delicious high calorie things rewards your brain. On an evolutionary time scale, delicious things were relatively rare and often required expending a lot of energy to acquire. In the last 100 years or so, modern technology has shifted t…

> Rather than order a pizza ever again, learn how to make a really good hand stretched pizza dough from scratch This is good for different reasons, such as less additives in your food which might be healthier in the long term, taste, and the pleasure in the activity itself, but is unlikely to help with weight loss. There is little difference in calorie content between two similar pizzas, home made and from a restaura…

My point is it's good to make lifestyle changes that lead to healthier choices on average. Pizza is inherently calorie dense, and easy to eat too much of. You might as well make it a relaxing hobby that requires some effort and forethought, rather than something you order out for several times a week because you're stressed out and exhausted. Good dough takes 24 hours to optimally ferment, and requires at least a few minutes of kneading by hand. Stretching the dough, topping it, and then baking it require some focused attention. It's not a big time commitment, though. The activity, mindfulness and the delayed gratification are the healthy part.

Neapolitan style pizza in particular is very thin crust, and the emphasis is on carefully chosen high quality ingredients rather than quantity. It is significantly less calorie dense than typical American pizza. Eating a whole pizza with toppings might be 1000 calories, while a single slice of cheese pizza from Costco is around 800 calories.

It's also very informative to see for yourself the ingredients going into what you're eating. Buying a can of cake frosting at the store gets you roughly the same outcome as making it from scratch using a whole stick of butter and several cups of sugar, but the latter seems more likely to influence the size of the piece you take, or at least make it obvious why you feel bleh after eating it.