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What excessive screen time does to the adult brain

longevity.stanford.edu

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Re: What excessive screen time does to the adult brain

#121

Post by imaginationra »

Adult here that NEVER used any kind of mobile phone/tablet- never even had a flip/dumb phone.

I do programming amongst other creative computer based things- the thing I've noticed between me and the normal phone/tablet human- is the ability to focus. I can focus for hours, weeks, months, years on tasks etc.

Everyone around me feels like focus wimps- they focus for 15 minutes or an hour and are proud of themselves and want some kind of pat on the back. They even use apps on the devices to "help them focus" its hilarious. I don't use any medications at all or nootropics/drugs for focus either btw.

These devices destroyed peoples ability to focus amongst a myriad of other things. The solution to me seems very simple. Stop using them BUT thats like telling a heroin addict to just put down the needle. They can't do it- and neither can you (shrugs)

Also using phones has always seemed nerdy/dorky- no matter who the person is- when I see someone using a mobile phone they seem like a dweeb- like whatever aura they had fades away and they just become cringey. It doesn't matter if their screen is cracked or what case they have- there is no way to be cool while using a mobile phone- just a sea of dorks with broken brains begging for more.

Re: What excessive screen time does to the adult brain

#122

Post by tjpnz »

MrJagil wrote: post #11

“One of the biggest issues with picking up the phone right away in the morning is that when you have an object close to your face, it’s registered as a threat,” says Loeffler. “You wouldn’t want to wake up and look a bear in the face every morning. On a physiological level, it’s the same thing.” This is interesting to me. It does make some evolutionary sense but at the same time, i wake up every morning and look at m…

So, hold the phone further away and it will become less appealing?

Re: What excessive screen time does to the adult brain

#123

Post by bjornsing »

makeitdouble wrote: post #58

While trying to go a bit deeper into the sources, they honestly feel extremely weak... An example of how negative impact on the brain is backed: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11469-019-00182-2 From the abstract: > we systematically identified articles meeting the following inclusion criteria: published in English between January 1999–July 2019; human or animal subjects; primary and secondary sources incl…

Yeah and it’s not hard to come up with a hypothesis with reverse causation: people struggling with mental health tend to (on average) live more solitary lives with more screen time.

Re: What excessive screen time does to the adult brain

#124

Post by nicolas_t »

latexr wrote: post #105
komali2 wrote: post #41

This may be because I no longer live an isolated American lifestyle, but my impression in Taiwan is that adults are hopelessly addicted to their phones. This is gonna come off as obnoxious but I can't help it, whenever my partner and I go out for a nice dinner we're unable to comprehend how literally every other couple spends basically the entire meal on their phones. Sometimes one of them even has a little phone hol…

> whenever my partner and I go out for a nice dinner we're unable to comprehend how literally every other couple spends basically the entire meal on their phones. I used to play a game when out to dinner: If there’s another table with two people and you notice one of them getting up (likely to go to the bathroom), see how long it takes the other person to take out their phone. It stopped being fun pretty fast because…

My wife complains that I take my kindle to the bathroom and will read on the way and back. I'm nowhere near as addicted to my phone though.

Re: What excessive screen time does to the adult brain

#126

Post by ainiriand »

imaginationra wrote: post #121

Adult here that NEVER used any kind of mobile phone/tablet- never even had a flip/dumb phone. I do programming amongst other creative computer based things- the thing I've noticed between me and the normal phone/tablet human- is the ability to focus. I can focus for hours, weeks, months, years on tasks etc. Everyone around me feels like focus wimps- they focus for 15 minutes or an hour and are proud of themselves and…

You should be really fun at parties!

Re: What excessive screen time does to the adult brain

#127

Post by Roark66 »

imaginationra wrote: post #121

Adult here that NEVER used any kind of mobile phone/tablet- never even had a flip/dumb phone. I do programming amongst other creative computer based things- the thing I've noticed between me and the normal phone/tablet human- is the ability to focus. I can focus for hours, weeks, months, years on tasks etc. Everyone around me feels like focus wimps- they focus for 15 minutes or an hour and are proud of themselves and…

Adult here that has always had a device with a screen since they first became available. From a black and white Palm which required learning a special cursive script to write quicker, through iPhones of the 3G era to latest Samsungs today. I spend many hours "with screens" every day in addition to a programming job.

Before portable devices I always had a computer from age 10 when I got my first 8 bit computer. I was glued to screens ever since.

I never had problems with focusing on tasks. In fact when I have a particularly interesting thing I'm doing, unless I actively remind myself to have breaks I'll forget to eat and drink for many hours. So there's my anecdote :-)

Re: What excessive screen time does to the adult brain

#128

Post by Ekaros »

I'm more thinking that it is not the medium(as in screens). But the content. Which make it harmful. Social media even something like HN is tiny chunks of dopamine rushes. Same effect could be achieved by TV channel surfing or even by audio. Just have to split it up small enough. And why not even gambling like blackjack, craps or roulette?

Many of work task done on screens are much longer like writing or editing document. Maybe something like iterative debugging or coding could also be partly harmful. Or chat messages...

Re: What excessive screen time does to the adult brain

#129

Post by Roark66 »

You can't make conclusions based on that... At best these studies are a start to show where proper studies should be conducted.

You may as well measure an impact of looking at printed paper. What about the impact of the actual activity you're having? It is completely different to mindlessly watch TV, or a YouTube stream vs playing games (online or offline). Then within games there are more and less intellectual or dexterity based ones and so on. There is social interaction or just exploring the game world. And so on.

Re: What excessive screen time does to the adult brain

#130

Post by SamPatt »

NamTaf wrote: post #30
simmerup wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read but every night for 1-2hours? No way.

What's so strange about that as a concept? As someone who grew up in the 90s, the idea of doing so is totally normal for me. I mean, I don't do it, but I wouldn't blink at someone else saying they did. How do you think people achieve the goal of 50 books in a year, for example?

Also a 90s kid.

I hated going to bed as a child (all that wasted time!) but my parents cleverly said I could read in bed if I wanted to stay up.

I usually fell asleep within an hour or two anyway, and I ended up reading a huge number of books, which served me well.

My wife and I sometimes read together before bed now. It definitely aids sleep.

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