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Ask HN: How do you deal with information and internet addiction?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with information and internet addiction?

#161

Post by evancox100 »

I feel you 100%. Recently I have started asking myself "Is this what I want to be doing right now" and actually taking time to consider and answer the question. It is not a perfect solution but it gives me some space to reconsider whether what I'm doing is serving my needs. Sometimes the alternative is to go watch a movie/play a game/read a book instead, it doesn't have to be either Something Serious.

Also I think meditation helps. It is not a cure all but you are literally practicing letting your brain go unstimulated for a period of time.

If your phone is your main source of distraction then put it out of reach, power it down, put it in a drawer on the other side of the house, etc.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with information and internet addiction?

#162

Post by NovaPenguin »

CobrastanJorji wrote: post #28

I wonder if this can be a good forum for your question. You must suspect every answer here simply because everyone here is a self-selected group of people idly reading and commenting on Hacker News threads. It is like asking your friends at the bar for suggestions on how to quit drinking: many there have no interest in it, and the rest are interested but have not succeeded.

This could be a good location, at least personally I think so. My time on here is maybe 15-20 minutes a time. Usually once or twice a week although the last week has been a bit more frequent. ;)

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with information and internet addiction?

#163

Post by balaji1 »

CobrastanJorji wrote: post #28

I wonder if this can be a good forum for your question. You must suspect every answer here simply because everyone here is a self-selected group of people idly reading and commenting on Hacker News threads. It is like asking your friends at the bar for suggestions on how to quit drinking: many there have no interest in it, and the rest are interested but have not succeeded.

I do not feel so good about 30 items hitting my brain each time I open HN. (even though I am only scanning, sometimes just filtering by the vote count).

Is there a smaller number like 10 that might make me feel less guilty?

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with information and internet addiction?

#165

Post by ravivooda »

My mantra

  - Don't use anything that has recommendation engine. Especially the opaque ones. I don't need to watch "what Crypto crash means" when I recently searched and watched Cricket videos!
  - The only exception is Hacker News. 
  - If I want to watch something on YouTube, be goal oriented. What exactly am I here to watch.
  - I've also cut down on streaming content. Started buying the content I wanna watch. I feel paralyzed and drowning with the array of content from each provider. And somehow they never have the content that I exactly want.
Started enjoying boredom a lot more with my kid.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with information and internet addiction?

#166

Post by travisjungroth »

tippytippytango wrote: post #111

I’d bet your information diet has become mostly stuff recommended to you by algorithms. This kills our creativity because we are just thinking about the same stuff that every other person is getting recommended at this moment. There’s no room for us to think your own thoughts, we just jump from latest thing to latest thing and sound like a twitter summarizer bot at parties. There’s a simple way to solve this. You get…

> This kills our creativity because we are just thinking about the same stuff that every other person is getting recommended at this moment.

I agree with you on “no time to think our own thoughts” but I really don’t think this part about algorithms is true. 50 years ago, people were “recommended” way less stuff. Most televisions had less channels than there are videos on your YouTube homepage. And your page is different than mine.

I mean, I wouldn’t have even seen this comment of yours. Maybe in a letter to the editor?

It’s the extreme diversity inside non-diversity that’s the problem. The monotonous novelty. Want an opinion on last week’s F1 race? Sure, here’s a hundred from a hundred people. Video about pottery in Greece? Have a thousand of those, all slightly different, all engaging in their own way. And pick the political opinion of your choice and I can find more people than an ancient Human would meet in their entire lifetime all acting as if this obviously true. It’s enough to convince your brain that anyone who thinks differently is a danger and should be immediately exiled from the tribe.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with information and internet addiction?

#167

Post by enos_feedler »

I encountered the same problem and had a pretty unique solution: I made the constant flow of information the focus of my own stuff. Instead of trying to detach myself from it, I just embraced it. I've never been happier.

I accepted that what I loved to do was gobble information and to gain more time what I really needed to do was kill my job. I started tuning all my information gathering and consuming towards balance sheets, SEC filings, hedge fund disclosures, quarterly earnings calls, investor conferences, etc. I started making money trading stocks on the side. I got comfortable and have replaced my salary for the last 3 years with trading profits.

Maybe stock trading isn't for you, but you could just find a job or career where you feed off the constant flow of information. Make that your stuff.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with information and internet addiction?

#169

Post by jesterson »

The answer is simple: you don't. Just enjoy uselessly wasting your time on podcasts and browsing internet while your life passes by.

If you are perfectly fine with that - no need to change anything. If you are not - you will find strength to change it.

It's harsh but is simple as that.

Not trying to be condescending at all - speaking from personal experience.

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