Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Internet addiction and the habit of book reading

benwajdi.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

301–310 of 383 posts

Re: Internet addiction and the habit of book reading

#301

Post by hardwaregeek »

Hendrikto wrote: post #125
hardwaregeek wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay I do like HN—I'm here for a reason after all—but it is flawed like any other curation. For one, I find that it veers extremely literal and nerdy. For some topics such as programming and math, this is wonderful, as programming and math are both topics where literalism and nerdiness are required. But in some cases this blend is not great. I wouldn't put HN as a great place to get your knowledge of more social, cul…

> predominantly white and Asian and male, indeed predominantly cis-hetereosexual male What I appreciate about HN is that we don‘t make everything about race, gender, and politics, for no reason.

I'm not a huge fan of the "make it about race/gender/politics" rhetoric, and frankly this demonstrates the issues I mentioned in the post. The entire framing of "making XYZ about race/gender/politics" implies that XYZ was not about race/gender/politics and that the addition was simply unnecessary. However these issue of race/gender/politics permeate our society and do have an effect on a lot of issues. If I'm being honest, it's usually the demographics who have the least discrimination and the most power who think that these issues do not permeate. It's quite easy to think racism has no relevance to your daily existence when you don't get stopped by the police; when people don't commit hate crimes on people who look like you; when your existence is validated by media, government and society as a whole. Racism doesn't operate on a neat time clock. It shows up everywhere.

Of course there are exceptions. Some people of color truly do believe this "not bringing race" rhetoric. The very existence of Black and Asian republicans demonstrates this. But they're pretty rare. And there are people of color who use race as a cudgel to attack others. But they're also pretty rare. I'd advocate that if you see someone bring up race/gender/politics, try to not see it as someone "bringing in race", but someone sharing their experiences, experiences that may not be yours, but are still valid experiences.

Re: Internet addiction and the habit of book reading

#302

Post by Izkata »

kqr wrote: post #83
wincy wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to read books all the time. I spent most of my waking hours as a teenager reading books. I’m 35 now and can barely hold attention on anything, I read maybe 3 books a year if I’m lucky. Even on Hacker News I almost exclusively read and comment on the comments, not the actual article unless I see someone says “have you read the article?” I don’t really know why. I have 8+ hours a day screentime on my iPhone, whi…

> I used to read books all the time. I spent most of my waking hours as a teenager reading books. I’m 35 now and can barely hold attention on anything, I read maybe 3 books a year if I’m lucky. Even on Hacker News I almost exclusively read and comment on the comments, not the actual article unless I see someone says “have you read the article?” I used to be this way too. Then I just started reading again and now I ca…

> Sometimes I only get a few minutes of reading here and there. Sometimes there's a few hours at a time. But it's on the level of when I was a child and teenager again.

So I dunno about everyone else, but thinking back on my teenage reading habits (which, like plenty others here, I could sit and read for hours and never find time nowadays), I didn't only read for hours at a time. I always had a large book in my backpack I could read a few pages of between classes, a smaller book that would fit in a pocket outside of school for similar short waiting times, and a third book sitting next to my bed where I'd read one full chapter each night. Then the full-day reading times would usually be if I found a fourth book where I couldn't help myself.

I brought back the one-chapter-per-night thing several years ago and I've been getting through books fast enough I no longer feel like I'm missing out. It's still rare that I sit for hours reading, but so many times I've had to make myself stop and go to sleep I no longer feel like it's out of my reach.

Re: Internet addiction and the habit of book reading

#303

Post by yholio »

moffkalast wrote: post #186

> I sometimes wonder what will happen if the internet gets suddenly shut down worldwide? Will hundreds of millions of internet addicts go down the streets protesting, and possibly overthrowing their governments? That is downright laughable. So much hinges on the internet these days that society would literally grind to a halt even without considering anything non-essential. Databases offline, communications down, sup…

That sounds like a wild exaggeration. The internet is a fast communication tool but most critical communication tasks can still be performed by telephone, mail, courier etc. All of the physical production and transport infrastructure is still there, people are smart and resourceful and will quickly route around the failed part of the infrastructure, albeit with degraded performance.

You might not hear from your grandmother for a while, but the John Deere company will immediately cough up their root "internet only" master key when the army show up at their door demanding those tractors work for national security.

A company might go bankrupt by way of CRM crash today, when every competitor has a working CRM. If their activity becomes critical for keeping a large part of the population alive, then silly things like investor and management decisions, accounting law, employee freedom to not come into work etc. go out the window. Money is ultimately just a symbolic representation of work and value, in a crisis they can be completely ignored for a limited time.

Re: Internet addiction and the habit of book reading

#304

Post by iamacyborg »

jimmygrapes wrote: post #98
frosted-flakes wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My experience matches those of others in this thread. I barely read anymore and find it difficul to focus. Largely, my tastes have calcified and narrowed quite a lot. I used to be an adventurous reader and always tried random books I saw on the library shelves, but these days I find it difficult to get into something new, and if I do read a book I've probably read it before. I think if I just start reading it'll come…

One thing that seems to have helped some of my friends who have experienced the same issue of not wanting to read anymore is to find one particular book or style they liked before and go deep into that author's backlog or similar styles. And to add to that, don't be afraid of reading pulpy fiction; you're not trying to impress anybody with what you're reading, you're doing it for yourself. Enjoy it. Read young adult…

> And to add to that, don't be afraid of reading pulpy fiction;

Amen. I have an unreasonably large collection of 40k books, they’re ace.

Re: Internet addiction and the habit of book reading

#305

Post by fouric »

najqh wrote: post #137
klohto wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had the same experience but my problem was from the sheer amount of games being released. I couldn’t pick one, became overwhelmed and then lost the drive to try something. So I stopped worrying about the reviews, about length about all the details behind a game. I check out Steam 250 or SteamDB charts, pick one out and just try it. I have no expectations going in, and I’m happy to drop it if I don’t find it enjoyab…

Nah, doesn't work for me. I know the games I like; they are all old and I know I love them. I don't follow the news on new games at all. I simply can't concentrate on the games I like for more than 15 minutes. I get distracted, I alt-tab out all the time, and eventually I close them. It's the same with movies or books. It takes a superhuman effort for me to sit still and watch a movie. If anybody has any recommendati…

Two suggestions:

(1) Try learning a highly complex game like Dota 2. You can't alt-tab (well, you can, but you'll likely die fairly quickly), and the sheer number of things going on at once will require your full attention... but there are still many small things that you can succeed at that will keep it fun while you're learning.

(2) Consider doing some "concentration training" where you engage in a non-media activity (that's still enjoyable) in order to improve your concentration. For instance, for me, this is programming - unlike a movie (which I also get bored while watching), I can dedicate my entire brain to programming and still not be bored - but it's still enjoyable for me, and doesn't feel like work.

Re: Internet addiction and the habit of book reading

#306

Post by marcusverus »

wincy wrote: post #36
senortumnus wrote: post #22

HN represents a wellspring of deeper reading than is generally afforded by the current entertainment cruft portals of the web - reddit, FB, insta, USA today, financial times, etc etc down to the SEO hellholes of recipe sites, youtube product placement; you get the idea. Let's appreciate HN for the quality of reading material and its curb on our drift to the rest of the 'popular' web. And I don't think I'm alone in al…

I used to read books all the time. I spent most of my waking hours as a teenager reading books. I’m 35 now and can barely hold attention on anything, I read maybe 3 books a year if I’m lucky. Even on Hacker News I almost exclusively read and comment on the comments, not the actual article unless I see someone says “have you read the article?” I don’t really know why. I have 8+ hours a day screentime on my iPhone, whi…

> I have 8+ hours a day screentime on my iPhone.

For a long time I thought that my constant internet use was a symptom of my disinterest in other things, but more recently I've come to realize that it is, in fact, the sole cause of said disinterest. The quick dopamine hits you get on the internet have subconsciously convinced your brain that the internet is what matters, and that everything else (i.e. your life) is simply a distraction.

Don't take my word for it. You can test this hypothesis in ~2 hours. Hide and/or turn off all of your electronics, and wait. You'll sit on the couch, you'll eat a snack, you'll find that your phone has magically appeared in your hand (how?!?), but just put it back down. As you try to go 2 hours without any passive entertainment, and I can almost guarantee that you'll discover that your mind will begin to show interest in things like hobbies/reading. If you can't get online, a book sounds pretty nice.

There's the rub--if getting online is an option, it's always the best option. The only way to do other stuff is to carve out time where getting online (or, for me, passive entertainment of any kind) is not an option.

Fun fact: If you can forego passive entertainment for the week, you will see all of that junk for what it really is, to your horror and eternal benefit.

Re: Internet addiction and the habit of book reading

#307

Post by szundi »

marcusverus wrote: post #306
wincy wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to read books all the time. I spent most of my waking hours as a teenager reading books. I’m 35 now and can barely hold attention on anything, I read maybe 3 books a year if I’m lucky. Even on Hacker News I almost exclusively read and comment on the comments, not the actual article unless I see someone says “have you read the article?” I don’t really know why. I have 8+ hours a day screentime on my iPhone, whi…

> I have 8+ hours a day screentime on my iPhone. For a long time I thought that my constant internet use was a symptom of my disinterest in other things, but more recently I've come to realize that it is, in fact, the sole cause of said disinterest. The quick dopamine hits you get on the internet have subconsciously convinced your brain that the internet is what matters, and that everything else (i.e. your life) is s…

Tried that and worked. Started programming :)

Did anyone else try?

Re: Internet addiction and the habit of book reading

#308

Post by jrochkind1 »

I consider myself to have an internet addiction, and it has definitely cut down on my previously extensive book-reading, and I don't like it.

> Personally I’d been deprived of access to computers and the internet for several straight months. It was a tough experience—not by choice, but by obligation.

Wait, what happened to the author that led to this obligation to not use computers for several months?

Re: Internet addiction and the habit of book reading

#309

Post by batman-farts »

bambax wrote: post #48
standardUser wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's like saying we have a driving addiction or a going to work addiction. Not everything can or should be couched in that kind of language. I've always found articles about internet and game addiction to be incredibly myopic, assuming that the "normal" of the 60's or 70's or 80's is somehow universal or worthy of being preserved, and that any deviation from it is an illness.

Addiction exists, though. I often browse Twitter for no particular reason. Six months ago I changed my year of birth for something like 2017 because I was annoyed it was compulsory. That resulted in an immediate suspension, as Twitter forbids minors to use it (rightfully so); the suspension would only be lifted if I submitted an ID. At first I thought "who cares?" But then I found myself in want of browsing the (few)…

I browse directly to the accounts of the few people I still want to follow, and refuse to log in or use the general feed. There’s a nagging pop-up demanding that you log in if you try to click away into a retweeted thread these days, so that helps keep me from getting sucked into the rabbit hole. Maybe that can help for you.

Re: Internet addiction and the habit of book reading

#310

Post by chrisandchips »

marcusverus wrote: post #306
wincy wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to read books all the time. I spent most of my waking hours as a teenager reading books. I’m 35 now and can barely hold attention on anything, I read maybe 3 books a year if I’m lucky. Even on Hacker News I almost exclusively read and comment on the comments, not the actual article unless I see someone says “have you read the article?” I don’t really know why. I have 8+ hours a day screentime on my iPhone, whi…

> I have 8+ hours a day screentime on my iPhone. For a long time I thought that my constant internet use was a symptom of my disinterest in other things, but more recently I've come to realize that it is, in fact, the sole cause of said disinterest. The quick dopamine hits you get on the internet have subconsciously convinced your brain that the internet is what matters, and that everything else (i.e. your life) is s…

Even though I can see the value in what you’re saying and agree completely, I can’t help but feel like my attention span has been ruined by my casual internet usage.

I’ve been reading again, before I go to bed, and after months of picking back up the habbit I still only feel half as able to concentrate on novels as I was as a teenager.

Post reply on HN