If editing the hosts file is enough to dissuade you... I'm guessing your not a distributed sysadmin by trade :/
Using an $8 smart outlet to avoid brainrot
21–30 of 91 posts
Re: Using an $8 smart outlet to avoid brainrot
#22I also hear that a rubber band on your wrist is useful for addiction.
It's better than "I have to get off my arse" as it provides some real negative stimuli rather than appealling to sloth.
Re: Using an $8 smart outlet to avoid brainrot
#23my problem with things like this is that it's trivially easy to just.. stop the script. What's the point when it adds so little friction?
If you're getting to the point where you have to open a terminal, elevate to root and edit your hosts file, that's beyond a bored impulse. You know exactly what you're doing and you can stop yourself. That tiny bit of friction is enough to defeat the ingrained impulses and make you think.
> That tiny bit of friction is enough to defeat the ingrained impulses
I don't know how people can keep saying this when I have first hand experience with it not being enough
Re: Using an $8 smart outlet to avoid brainrot
#24my problem with things like this is that it's trivially easy to just.. stop the script. What's the point when it adds so little friction?
Trivial to some. I think the point is that the person a) dislikes getting up to click a switch, b) finds making such changes prohibitively difficult, at least enough to prove a dissuasion
Re: Using an $8 smart outlet to avoid brainrot
#25Instead of adding friction, part of the work of oneself is about finding the root cause of why we go into those places and understand up to which point spending too much time on those is not only detrimental to society but to me personally.
I mean, a doctor would tell me that « you have brain rot » would freak me so much that I would do anything to reverse or get rid of it asap.
Idk, maybe after +20y of wasting time online I got that it’s a ressource I won’t ever get back and I resent wasting it too much now, which gets me off using all the links he blocked without efforts.
Re: Using an $8 smart outlet to avoid brainrot
#26At top of my uBlock Origin "My Filters" tab, I have a list of the Web sites like the following, which I comment (by prefixing each line with `!`) and un-comment, as needed. ||reddit.com^$important ||ycombinator.com^$important This is sufficient to defeat whatever muscle-memory you have to visit the site. If your addiction/habit is stronger, you might need to invest that $8.
Another approach is adding them to /etc/hosts as 127.0.0.1, which makes it slightly more cumbersome to edit and also stops muscle-memory from going CTRL+T then press "N" then down arrow then enter.
No, not for me personally, I'd never.
Re: Using an $8 smart outlet to avoid brainrot
#27Can switches like this also detect usage, like current flowing? It might be a fun and healthy twist to plug a walking pad/treadmill into a smart plug and then either make it so brainrot websites are only viewable when the treadmill is being used or make a small app that tracks the time the treadmill is used and then only allows that amount of time on brainrot websites.
Re: Using an $8 smart outlet to avoid brainrot
#28One thing that finally worked for me was using: https://one-sec.app/
It basically forces you to do a little breathing exercise before you can visit the site that you have on its block list.
It has been life changing. It adds enough friction for me to stop any impulsive visits but also is not so annoying that I would completely disable it in a weak moment.
One Sec was developed by someone with ADHD, I think and it definitely shows.
It is important to understand that not every solution will work for everyone. There can be many reasons why you struggle with social media addictions. Ultimately those corporations are spending millions and employ state of the art psychological manipulation tactics to keep you engaged so it is important to be kind to yourself. Don't give up. You might find something that works for you.
Re: Using an $8 smart outlet to avoid brainrot
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you're getting to the point where you have to open a terminal, elevate to root and edit your hosts file, that's beyond a bored impulse. You know exactly what you're doing and you can stop yourself. That tiny bit of friction is enough to defeat the ingrained impulses and make you think.
> That tiny bit of friction is enough to defeat the ingrained impulses I don't know how people can keep saying this when I have first hand experience with it not being enough
People exist on a wide continuum of impulsivity. I have ADHD and nothing short of truly unbypassable restrictions on all my devices are enough. Mail me if interested.
Re: Using an $8 smart outlet to avoid brainrot
#30One thing that finally worked for me was using: https://one-sec.app/ It basically forces you to do a little breathing exercise before you can visit the site that you have on its block list. It has been life changing. It adds enough friction for me to stop any impulsive visits but also is not so annoying that I would completely disable it in a weak moment. One Sec was developed by someone with ADHD, I think and it def…
I tried it and it literally could not last one launch on my phone. The only action that can save me from Instagram is uninstalling the app. I have the web app installed but it's too slow to feed my addiction, so I rarely open it.