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I'm rebelling against the algorithm

varunraghu.com

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Re: I'm rebelling against the algorithm

#31

Post by IAmGraydon »

overvale wrote: post #25

Here's what worked for me: 1) Deleted all social media accounts, deleted apps and logged out of anything that has what you might call a newsfeed (including RSS). 1.1) Switched all important notifications to email. 2) Uninstalled the web browser from my phone. 3) Stopped reading the news and blocked my most frequently visited sites using parental controls. Instead of reading the news I just ask an AI (Grok is good at…

>Instead of reading the news I just ask an AI (Grok is good at this) to summarize the latest headlines and I can ask any many follow up questions as I’d like.

So just to make sure I'm understanding you - you think it's a good idea to cut yourself off from the outside world and then proceed to get your news solely from an AI that is known to be actively manipulated by its CEO to output disinformation? If I wanted to immerse myself in a false reality, this would probably be the best possible way to do it. If you are seriously doing this, please stop.

Re: I'm rebelling against the algorithm

#32

Post by ahamilton454 »

I am somewhat in the same boat as this. At least i try to be super intentional about it. I replaced my iphone with the Hibreak bigme pro which is an e-ink phone.

Its not perfect. Ironically I still can doomscroll on it, but it is much bettter.

For youtube if you disable reccomendations, shorts eventually the feed disappears. I also use an extension called youtube block feed, which only allows me to see my subscriptions.

Its an imperfect firewall, but I am happy with it so far.

Re: I'm rebelling against the algorithm

#33

Post by qiqitori »

I personally think one or more of the following should just be made illegal:

- Infinite scrolling

- Use of recommendation algorithms

- When feeding a recommendation algorithm, taking into account how long a user viewed a certain post without otherwise reacting to it (also disregarding users starting to type a reply that they end up discarding, etc.)

Re: I'm rebelling against the algorithm

#35

Post by overvale »

IAmGraydon wrote: post #31
overvale wrote: post #25

Here's what worked for me: 1) Deleted all social media accounts, deleted apps and logged out of anything that has what you might call a newsfeed (including RSS). 1.1) Switched all important notifications to email. 2) Uninstalled the web browser from my phone. 3) Stopped reading the news and blocked my most frequently visited sites using parental controls. Instead of reading the news I just ask an AI (Grok is good at…

>Instead of reading the news I just ask an AI (Grok is good at this) to summarize the latest headlines and I can ask any many follow up questions as I’d like. So just to make sure I'm understanding you - you think it's a good idea to cut yourself off from the outside world and then proceed to get your news solely from an AI that is known to be actively manipulated by its CEO to output disinformation? If I wanted to i…

Ok, sorry I mentioned wrong AI, replace it with whatever your choice of AI is that has web access and is good at summarizing current events and answering questions about them.

I come up against this argument a lot, that by stopping reading the news I've somehow "cut myself off from the outside world". I still read books, study history, do research on topics that interest me, talk to my friends and family about what's happening in the world. I'm not cutting myself off from the outside world, I'm cutting myself off from simulacrum of the world created by news media and social networks.

Re: I'm rebelling against the algorithm

#36

Post by BigGreenJorts »

loloquwowndueo wrote: post #30
the_snooze wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a class-centric gym, so announcements are about changes in schedule and programming, especially if there's inclement weather.

Just show up and do whatever they’re doing? No need to know in advance.

"Just waste your time traveling to the gym when you could have known in advance that the class was cancelled and made other plans instead."

Re: I'm rebelling against the algorithm

#37

Post by gnarlouse »

sangeeth96 wrote: post #6
cornfieldlabs wrote: post #2

There's a subreddit dedicated to something like this: https://old.reddit.com/r/digitalminimalism/ We are also building a non-algorithmic private social network if anyone's interested: https://waitlist-tx.pages.dev (Thanks to everyone who have already joined the waitlist and provided feedback)

I wish we didn't stuff being "anti-algorithm" under "minimalism". It's just not the same thing. I don't want to go minimalist even if I respect the folks who do. I wish I could pay for YouTube and other apps and they'd stop cramming their decisions on my feed and instead let _me_ control the experience. At least, let me have reverse-chronological feeds on my home, mute/block channels I don't care about, hide content…

DFTube (distraction free) is a browser plug-in that kills 99% of algorithm html. ublock origin kills ads. Perfect YouTube experience. So good I’d pay yearly for it.

Re: I'm rebelling against the algorithm

#38

Post by fatbird »

Cutting yourself off from tech is part of the strategy, but simply developing a deep interest in something non-digital works great, and compliments the blockers and filters. Woodworking with hand tools; bookbinding; any creative pursuit without a digital aspect. Many, many fields have incredibly deep wells of knowledge and skill to explore.

One example: I built a workbench for myself out of 4"x6" fir beams (quite a cheap solution). I had to glue several together for the work surface, which required ensuring that beams had perfectly flat surfaces to come together under pressure. I broke my planer on the first one. I had to use my hand planes, so first I had to get good at planing, learning to sharpen them properly, tune them for fast work, and then start planing in earnest. I used winding sticks to check the parallel-ness of the surface. Then I set to work planing the perpendicular surface, constantly checking with a t-square. Many evenings, lots of sweat, lots of learning what works and doesn't, and then just suffering a lot of repetitive doing and measuring and doing and checking.

Google helped a lot at finding various messageboards and articles that hinted at how to do it, but nothing replaced the experience of doing it, nor offered the knowledge and skill gained.

Re: I'm rebelling against the algorithm

#39

Post by ryandrake »

Brajeshwar wrote: post #17

I’ve been doing this for a while, and I love it. On my regular walks, I don’t even carry the phone; the watch[1] is enough for the list of whitelisted people to call me if needed (all else are DND by default). Another thing I’ve noticed about people, even when we’re talking in person. Whenever a topic arises that requires confirmation or something similar, they pull out their phone and start “googling.” I’m OK with s…

The biggest quality-of-life difference is turning off the notifications. Turn em all off by using DoNotDisturb mode 24/7. No notifications ever. Send calls to voicemail, check messages and E-mails on your own schedule, not when other people interrupt you, and use apps purposefully when you want to, not when the apps want you. I've been living this way for at least 10 years now and it's wonderful. Those calls and texts you used to think were urgent really aren't.

Re: I'm rebelling against the algorithm

#40

Post by ryandrake »

overvale wrote: post #35
IAmGraydon wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Instead of reading the news I just ask an AI (Grok is good at this) to summarize the latest headlines and I can ask any many follow up questions as I’d like. So just to make sure I'm understanding you - you think it's a good idea to cut yourself off from the outside world and then proceed to get your news solely from an AI that is known to be actively manipulated by its CEO to output disinformation? If I wanted to i…

Ok, sorry I mentioned wrong AI, replace it with whatever your choice of AI is that has web access and is good at summarizing current events and answering questions about them. I come up against this argument a lot, that by stopping reading the news I've somehow "cut myself off from the outside world". I still read books, study history, do research on topics that interest me, talk to my friends and family about what's…

Just be careful you're not moving from the news-media created simulacrum to an equally bad AI created simulacrum.
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