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The internet is kind of a predatory cesspit now

stephendiehl.com

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Re: The internet is kind of a predatory cesspit now

#271

Post by rglover »

seydor wrote: post #146

In a previous generation, people would detect those technological snake oil sellers , call them out , even chase them. Because they could tell scammers from non-scammers. Now we have already 2-3 generations raised to consider scam practices to be the norm , and even to celebrate behavioral tricks and audience maximizing optimization at any cost (clickbait!). I cannot be convinced this is a normal thing. Over time, th…

"There's a sucker born every minute" is a saying for a reason. It's a damn shame, but these things exist and happen because they work to a non-trivial degree. There are two forms of capitalism: in service to your fellow man (solving a problem/fulfilling a need) or in opposition (arbitraging naivety and ignorance). There are customers for both and always will be [1].

[1] https://youtu.be/WiUsWg5l04E?t=70&is=M_OmEcG4_d1HM6pR

Re: The internet is kind of a predatory cesspit now

#272

Post by II2II »

akudha wrote: post #134
Biologist123 wrote: post #24

> People increasingly behave like addicts because addiction is the business model. I sense my internet addiction got a lot worse in recent years. I don’t use social media, but I consume news, blogs and newsletters - and comment threads - voraciously. I think the addiction began as soon as I started to work at a desk behind a computer which had internet access - 20+ years ago. Like putting an alcoholic to work behind…

The most dangerous part of this addiction is that it doesn't feel like addiction. Suppose we spend 4 hours in an afternoon consuming random content - starting somewhere on a Google search, landing on Wikipedia, end up reading dozens of articles on various topics in that 4 hours. Unlike alcohol or drugs, this is knowledge addiction - afterall, we learned about a bunch of things in those 4 hours, didn't we? We didn't s…

> The most dangerous part of this addiction is that it doesn't feel like addiction.

I've started framing addiction as something that we feel compelled to do even when we know it has a detrimental effect on more important aspects of our life. In that respect, yes, it does feel like an addiction.

> Unlike alcohol or drugs, this is knowledge addiction - afterall, we learned about a bunch of things in those 4 hours, didn't we?

Did we learn anything? If we aren't using that knowledge, even in casual conversation, chances are that retention is very low. I'm not even talking about useful learning here, since it is pleasurable to learn something for its own sake. I'm talking about the stickiness.

Another way to think of it is: are we even interested in learning? I have downloaded the entire Wikipedia to my computer, along with Project Gutenberg, as well as various technical documentation. (Kiwix is wonderful.) On top of that I have enough books (digital and physical) to last a lifetime. I have a multitude of resources that I can tap into without touching the Internet, and accessing it is all very low resistance (e.g. I don't have to get off my ass to go to the library). So why do I even have home Internet access? Communicating with people certainly doesn't require a high speed connection.

Re: The internet is kind of a predatory cesspit now

#273

Post by chistev »

akudha wrote: post #134
Biologist123 wrote: post #24

> People increasingly behave like addicts because addiction is the business model. I sense my internet addiction got a lot worse in recent years. I don’t use social media, but I consume news, blogs and newsletters - and comment threads - voraciously. I think the addiction began as soon as I started to work at a desk behind a computer which had internet access - 20+ years ago. Like putting an alcoholic to work behind…

The most dangerous part of this addiction is that it doesn't feel like addiction. Suppose we spend 4 hours in an afternoon consuming random content - starting somewhere on a Google search, landing on Wikipedia, end up reading dozens of articles on various topics in that 4 hours. Unlike alcohol or drugs, this is knowledge addiction - afterall, we learned about a bunch of things in those 4 hours, didn't we? We didn't s…

What if you consume those things but still have time for relationships and health etc?

Re: The internet is kind of a predatory cesspit now

#274

Post by DivingForGold »

Biologist123 wrote: post #24

> People increasingly behave like addicts because addiction is the business model. I sense my internet addiction got a lot worse in recent years. I don’t use social media, but I consume news, blogs and newsletters - and comment threads - voraciously. I think the addiction began as soon as I started to work at a desk behind a computer which had internet access - 20+ years ago. Like putting an alcoholic to work behind…

This is an amazing read. Hunter S. Thompson would be proud.

Re: The internet is kind of a predatory cesspit now

#275

Post by egonschiele »

bakugo wrote: post #203
egonschiele wrote: post #92

I love Stephen's writing, and this is so well written. > I was very wrong. The grift economy is massive. More disturbing still, it is participatory. A large and growing share of the population now appears willing to devote every waking hour to fleecing their fellow man as a career choice. I find myself worrying about this a lot. For what it's worth though, the non-grifters, the people interested in building a communi…

> I love Stephen's writing You mean you love Claude's writing.

I've followed Stephen for a while now, and I don't think this is Claude.

Re: The internet is kind of a predatory cesspit now

#276

Post by bluefirebrand »

foobarbecue wrote: post #184
asdfman123 wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're interested in what helped me overcome the worst aspects of my internet addiction, I learned to reframe it. I wasn't overcome with addiction, but I was CHOOSING to take a break. There are good reasons to read the news, there are good reasons to take breaks. End the war against yourself and take more wholesome breaks, so your subconscious doesn't take over and force them. It may involve forcing yourself to be…

Forcing a short delay is such a powerful technique. I use this when I'm at risk of binging a show. If I'm tempted to let Netflix continue into the next episode, I say "ok maybe, but let's get up and do something else for a few minutes first and see if I still want to" and before I know it I'm building a robot instead.

I'll vouch for this too

This is something I've been working on a lot myself. It's so easy to wind up sliding into the familiar patterns and routines, and reaching for the phone. I'm finding that discipline is less about resisting it and more about redirecting it to something more productive

Re: The internet is kind of a predatory cesspit now

#277

Post by Biologist123 »

paxys wrote: post #156
Biologist123 wrote: post #24

> People increasingly behave like addicts because addiction is the business model. I sense my internet addiction got a lot worse in recent years. I don’t use social media, but I consume news, blogs and newsletters - and comment threads - voraciously. I think the addiction began as soon as I started to work at a desk behind a computer which had internet access - 20+ years ago. Like putting an alcoholic to work behind…

> I don’t use social media You are using social media right now.

Fair enough.

Re: The internet is kind of a predatory cesspit now

#278

Post by Biologist123 »

da02 wrote: post #217
Biologist123 wrote: post #24

> People increasingly behave like addicts because addiction is the business model. I sense my internet addiction got a lot worse in recent years. I don’t use social media, but I consume news, blogs and newsletters - and comment threads - voraciously. I think the addiction began as soon as I started to work at a desk behind a computer which had internet access - 20+ years ago. Like putting an alcoholic to work behind…

What type of work was it? Customer service/tech support? Software development?

Corporate law.

Re: The internet is kind of a predatory cesspit now

#279

Post by egonschiele »

GlibMonkeyDeath wrote: post #149

The thing is, the "old" internet is still out there. No one is stopping you from writing a futile blog (as I do.) Or using YouTube only for instruction for tasks around the house. Or learn about any topic imaginable. It's just that the bigger ecosystems have followed their incentives to their logical conclusion (hyper-addictive content to maximize earnings from ad sales.) Any new, "for the people" platform is going t…

100% agree. Only thing is, as the last few years have shown, if you don't jump into the cesspit but a majority of your fellow humans do, it affects you anyway.

Re: The internet is kind of a predatory cesspit now

#280

Post by bakugo »

egonschiele wrote: post #275
bakugo wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I love Stephen's writing You mean you love Claude's writing.

I've followed Stephen for a while now, and I don't think this is Claude.

Well, I'm sorry to say, but you've been reading AI slop for a while now.

https://www.stephendiehl.com/posts/piranesi/

> Piranesi is the opposite: everything stripped to the bone, every sentence load-bearing.

Yikes.

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