Waiting for a new category in Google Adsense, next to "content based ads" and "interest based ads", will we soon see "disorders based ads"?
How Depressives Surf the Web
111–119 of 119 posts
Re: How Depressives Surf the Web
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
> without having to log thousands of peoples internet usage. > why the high ups seem so intent on making sure we're HAPPY. You just rediscovered the age-old correlation between a desire for totalitarian control and a preoccupation with superficial happiness. The theory is that the best way to ensure that existing structures of power and domination remain in place in perpetuity is to ensure that everyone is happy. Bec…
I thought something similar myself, but what I don't understand is this: If the powers that be just want to keep us happy to paper over the shittiness that their regime brings, why are they so adamant about banning drug use? If I were in charge, I'd see that as a cheap way to buy the population happiness of the kind that makes them not want to rebel. In fact, in the Brave New World world, that's exactly what they do…
In Brave New World, everyone uses drugs to get happy, the drug itself is relatively safe and doesn't hurt productivity, and everyone thinks it's perfectly normal to use drugs.
In the actual world, only a subset of the population uses drugs frequently, only a subset of available drugs can be used without serious side effects (we haven't invented the perfect Soma yet), and there is a lot of moralizing about drug use. Under these circumstances, nothing the government does will make everyone happy, so the government optimizes for the happiness of the voters who matter the most: conservative parents who get all worried about their kids doing ecstasy.
Re: How Depressives Surf the Web
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
What is in those 30-40 tabs? I am genuinely curious!
Here are my tabs: Window 1: 1. Episode guide for Babylon 5, which I'm currently watching my way through on days that I'm not watching Euro 2012 matches. 2. Strategy guide for a game I play. 3. Scott Chacon's "Pro Git" book, which I've been meaning to read. 4. A reddit/r/metal thread recommending doom metal bands, since I've liked a few doom metal songs on that subreddit and are meaning to get into the genre more. 5,…
I kind of like
3, 4: A page about "GTD for hackers", which I found on HN awhile back
Maybe I should be happy about Firefox (granted: Beta) being extremely buggy for me when restoring sessions. Just today it killed my equally big list of things I meant to look at again and never did.
Re: How Depressives Surf the Web
#114How does increased amounts of online chatting lead to a diagnosis of depressive symptoms? To be honest, my brain is so slowed down by depression, I can't muster much energy to chat or comment excessively online.
Besides, in my opinion, having 20+ tabs of news and information etc helps stave off depression. It sure beats sitting staring blankly at a wall or wallowing in it by reading self-help books.
Re: How Depressives Surf the Web
#115Earlier quoted context omitted.
Here are my tabs: Window 1: 1. Episode guide for Babylon 5, which I'm currently watching my way through on days that I'm not watching Euro 2012 matches. 2. Strategy guide for a game I play. 3. Scott Chacon's "Pro Git" book, which I've been meaning to read. 4. A reddit/r/metal thread recommending doom metal bands, since I've liked a few doom metal songs on that subreddit and are meaning to get into the genre more. 5,…
I kind of like 3, 4: A page about "GTD for hackers", which I found on HN awhile back drowning in that list. Maybe I should be happy about Firefox (granted: Beta) being extremely buggy for me when restoring sessions. Just today it killed my equally big list of things I meant to look at again and never did.
There's a saying among people with messy desks: "clean desk, empty mind". Personally I don't mind having so many tabs, but once it affects performance I go and clean them up. Many of the tabs I listed are now gone, and while a few new ones are open, I think I have fewer in aggregate.
Re: How Depressives Surf the Web
#116I've often felt like the internet is a gathering place for people who are stressed out by the real world and seek a refuge. It's a symptom. When the real world causes a certain level of anxiety, this can lead to depression. If you imagine how people you might label as happy and social IRL use the net, they're online either to work or reinforce their real life connections. For them, the net is a tool rather than a des…
You're probably right. It seems like a crutch for some people. Instead of battling through it and becoming stronger, they escape to the Internet and never truly overcome the issue. Personally, getting rid of the bigger pleasures in my life really helped to face the bigger pains. Maybe I'm a unique and special snowflake, but I doubt it.
Re: How Depressives Surf the Web
#117Earlier quoted context omitted.
Perhaps it's not that we overload our brains with information, rather it's the way society expects us to be. We turn into walking talking trivia machines. There's so much information that it becomes a necessary skill to separate or distill essential information from the non-essential. I've noticed that many of the techniques or guidelines out there on the web involve resisting society or technology in someway. For ex…
I agree with you until you say that "depressed" is normal. Really, it isn't, it is abnormal. It is also treatable. People who eat better, get exercise, and regulate their use of stimulants / sedatives tend to do well. Adding in a course of cognitive behaviour therapy (from an experienced practitioner) effectively cures many people. Adding medications helps lots of people too. Perhaps you're saying that modern life pu…
Define normal. ;)
Re: How Depressives Surf the Web
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
> without having to log thousands of peoples internet usage. > why the high ups seem so intent on making sure we're HAPPY. You just rediscovered the age-old correlation between a desire for totalitarian control and a preoccupation with superficial happiness. The theory is that the best way to ensure that existing structures of power and domination remain in place in perpetuity is to ensure that everyone is happy. Bec…
Although some geniuses have mental disorders, don't make the mistake of thinking that all people with mental disorders are geniuses or have special insights - we're just run-of-the-mill people that run the gamut of abilities and personalities. And "happy" is not the right word to use for depression. As Peter Kramer said in his book, AGAINST DEPRESSION, the opposite of depression is not happiness, but resilience. If y…
Agreed. Depression isn't about happiness versus sadness. Depression is about feeling so overwhelmed by everything in life, about every problem and issue being the same "volume" in your head and being unable to prioritize. This leads to a feeling of helplessness and impairment and withdrawal from decision making - a cycle that perpetuates itself.
Re: How Depressives Surf the Web
#119This is bullshit. I'm under the spell of heavy depression but I hit none of the main points of the article. I'm not a gamer, I almost never watch movies and don't use much P2P, I only listen to music maybe three to four times a month because I can't get in the mood much these days, the only use I have for email is for billing, subscriptions and anything that requires it. "It would monitor your Internet usage and aler…
There are depressed people who don't use the internet at all. Your symptoms would just fall into something like "IRL symptoms". I think the the study is trying to point out a detection mechanism for depressives who use internet. It wouldn't be a holistic diagnosis. That said I'm not sure corelation and causation in this study. I feel like people can use the internet for "escape" and "entertainment" and still lead perfectly fulfilling lives.