Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 350 posts

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#131

Post by 15457345234 »

goosejuice wrote: post #81
15457345234 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The user is more likely to turn to a drug or their phone if they find their life unsatisfying but that doesn't alter the fact that the drug/phone can be far more stimulating than any experience they'd encounter 'organically' That's the issue; the real world can only offer up so much so fast. Drugs and the scroll can offer it faster. Expecting people to turn away from that even when it's visibly harming them isn't rea…

I think we agree that things are addictive. Perhaps we disagree on the practical approach to resolving that. You aren't going to rid the world of fentanyl or cell phones. So now what?

The physical world is hard to manipulate; the digital one less resistant to legislation.

India banned TikTok by legislation and made it stick. Rule that social media properties are either dangerously addictive or enemy cyberweapons and ban them.

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#132

Post by 15457345234 »

vonjuice wrote: post #119
15457345234 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the way to treat that addiction is to address the underlying issue Given that a very very large number of people are _visibly_ addicted to their phones, what would that look like, what action would you propose, what resources would be deployable? Are you saying that a majority of the population have an 'underlying issue' that needs to be addressed? What is that issue?

The issues can be as varied as the individuals. I think one action is this, talking about it, raising awareness. To some it might be obvious that being glued to a tiny screen to the point that you need to constantly look at it while you're driving is a problem, but in some circles it's normalized.

I have seen a number of motorcycle delivery drivers in the city in which I live who have _two_ phones on holders on their scooters - one for the delivery app, one for tiktok. They jam up the traffic lights because they don't notice when the lights go green because they're literally glued to the tok. It's genuinely disturbing.

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#133

Post by dorkwood »

karaterobot wrote: post #7

I just checked the Screen Time statistics, and my average daily screen time last week was 18 minutes, the week before that was 22 minutes. I've never been in danger of becoming addicted to smart phones, just like I've never been in danger of being addicted to alcohol or gambling: none of them really appeal to me that much. But there are plenty of things I know I am addicted to, and I'm pretty sure the way to treat th…

I spend longer than that just responding to people's messages. Do you use something else for messaging?

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#134

Post by vonjuice »

15457345234 wrote: post #132
vonjuice wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issues can be as varied as the individuals. I think one action is this, talking about it, raising awareness. To some it might be obvious that being glued to a tiny screen to the point that you need to constantly look at it while you're driving is a problem, but in some circles it's normalized.

I have seen a number of motorcycle delivery drivers in the city in which I live who have _two_ phones on holders on their scooters - one for the delivery app, one for tiktok. They jam up the traffic lights because they don't notice when the lights go green because they're literally glued to the tok. It's genuinely disturbing.

I'm a fairly calm person and not many things produce anger in me, but seeing someone on their phone while driving is one of the few things that make me rage.

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#135

Post by 15457345234 »

goosejuice wrote: post #78
15457345234 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the way to treat that addiction is to address the underlying issue Given that a very very large number of people are _visibly_ addicted to their phones, what would that look like, what action would you propose, what resources would be deployable? Are you saying that a majority of the population have an 'underlying issue' that needs to be addressed? What is that issue?

There are many making money using manipulation and I certainly don't condone that. Hopefully we can push for regulations where it makes sense. Even still there will always be obstacles in life to overcome. CBT has been helpful for many so it may be a place to start. CBT can help one understand the underlying issue and replace the vice with a healthier coping mechanism.

I think this focus on their being an 'underlying issue' is problematic; many times there is no underlying issue, these are just normal humans with normal brains being totally normally affected by a product that's designed to be addictive. They don't need therapy because there's nothing wrong with them, in fact if there was something wrong with them they'd be less likely to become addicted. They just need to remove themselves from the influence of the addictive substance i.e. put the phone down, socialise normally and build strong bonds with their family and their local community.

People by and large don't need therapy and to pathologise and dwell on nonexistent issues, they really just need to hang out more with other people and realise that what they're seeing online isn't representative of reality.

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#136

Post by jkepler »

CalRobert wrote: post #123
BeetleB wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The only issue is my smartphone is now my GPS, my payment method, my home lighting controller, my car/house key, and my health tracker. If you use GPS only for navigation in a car, get a Garmin or something similar. Payment: Is it that hard to use a CC like most people do...? I only recently used my phone for payments (lost card and was waiting for replacement), and did not find it any more convenient than using a…

I very often need to deal with 2fa when paying online, though I suppose a dumb phone could do.

I'm pretty sure you can deal with 2fa on Kai OS feature phones. They also include Gmail, Google maps, and WhatsApp access... on a tiny screen where you won't get sucked in for hours.

However, they also come with a ton of tracking, and are a disaster for privacy.

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#137

Post by [deleted] »

XorNot wrote: post #99
darth_avocado wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Addiction to smartphones, porn, shopping, eating, coffee, gambling etc. all work on the same neurological pathways. While it’s not the same as a drug addiction, “just don’t do it” isn’t that straightforward. People have to go to therapy and rehab to get rid of some of these, but somehow when it comes to smartphones, the opinion is that “it’s not that hard”.

People can go to therapy and rehab for being addicted to their smartphones, but all of those things are voluntary activities. You have to choose that you want to get better. Externalizing the locus of your problems is itself a pathology: "I receive too many notifications from social media apps" in a normal person leads to "so I just silenced them all" or "that's why I don't install social media apps, who needs that?"…

[deleted]

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#138

Post by littlecranky67 »

allthecybers wrote: post #15

I'd love to quit my smartphone and have looked at options like Lite Phone to replace it. The only issue is my smartphone is now my GPS, my payment method, my home lighting controller, my car/house key, and my health tracker. Plus, was a convenient way to keep tabs on work messages. Half a decade ago I eliminated all my social media. Then about a year ago I started by removing work email and messaging from my phone.Th…

As others have pointed out alternatives, you can also just ask yourself whether the convenience of those things you listed in total are worth more than the drawbacks. If you constantly lose time by mindless scrolling, if you are unable to focus anymore, if you start suffering from FOMO all the time, if you social interactions and friendships suffer etc. the question is whether the comfort of those conveniences are worth the drawbacks. And some very obvious point about that: All of the things you mentioned, you didn't have 10 years ago. Was your life that bad (becaues of the lack of those things) at that time?

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#139

Post by GoblinSlayer »

reacharavindh wrote: post #127
Syonyk wrote: post #83

I am so glad to see this backlash. It's been a long time coming. We've tried smartphones out for the past... oh, decade and change. They've been around longer, but were niche enough that they didn't dominate society, and even around the start of the iPhone era, "Crackberry" and such were common enough terms (with "Put all your devices in the center, whoever picks theirs up first buys the next round" being a fun game…

As is most things in life, the balance is the hardest thing to achieve. I’d think of giving up my smartphone, but that’d mean I’d not be able to use WhatsApp to communicate with family and friends that are on it. Heck the parents group at my kids school is on WhatsApp. I’m not going to make everyone switch to “this other special” app. I gotta be where others are in this context. Another is Maps - it is modern conveni…

Dumbphones have cameras, so if you can't or don't want to remember a map, you can take its photo. My short term memory if good enough for that. Random installable apps are really the only edge smartphones have.

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#140

Post by 15457345234 »

vonjuice wrote: post #134
15457345234 wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have seen a number of motorcycle delivery drivers in the city in which I live who have _two_ phones on holders on their scooters - one for the delivery app, one for tiktok. They jam up the traffic lights because they don't notice when the lights go green because they're literally glued to the tok. It's genuinely disturbing.

I'm a fairly calm person and not many things produce anger in me, but seeing someone on their phone while driving is one of the few things that make me rage.

The topic that interests me more is the effect on the general population of addictive apps so if you're going to one-track this onto your pet peeve I'm gonna peace out; it's pretty obvious that using the phone while driving is a bad idea, there's just not a lot left to say on the topic, it's all been said... more interested in discussing a new and vibrant topic than something that's been literally done to death, I mean, people were probably ranting about cellphone drivers on usenet in 1995...
Post reply on HN