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Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Free Will

m.nautil.us

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Re: Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Free Will

#471

Post by BellsOnSunday »

addicted wrote: post #216
submeta wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually I dont' think the analogy is valid. Tobacco is addictive, true. And tobacco has only one use. A smartphone has many use cases (mp3 player, camera, compass, notebook, encyclopedia and many more). And why would you like to "quit internet"? Yes, many sites try to get your attention, try to manipulate you into buying their products. But you can avoid that. Using ad blockers wherever you can. And regarding Facebo…

I agree that the analogy isn’t valid. Only because information technologies today are a lot worse than tobacco. Unlike apps, tobacco does not have a team of PHDs constantly reformulating itself to draw in those people who have found a way out of it, and ensuring that the ones already addicted remain.

I think the tobacco industry has been no slouch in the marketing department, but the real difference is that there's no way to use tobacco that is safe and beneficial for you.

Re: Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Free Will

#472

Post by Angostura »

vvanders wrote: post #284
eckza wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love this, I love this, I love this. Right now, I am about a month along with no Facebook or Messenger. Previously I spent hours per day on both, running a pretty large community group and supporting its members. I disappeared; no explanation. Stress levels are down, I have so much more time to do things, and I have so much more attention for the things that really matter. Anybody that needs me, has my phone number…

I love my Pebble for the same reason and I'm really dreading when they will become hard to come by. I already lost one Time Round to a swelling LiPo and nothing else has a similar form factor.

Certainly a few months ago, there were Time Rounds going on Amazon on clearance (refurb stock) I know, I got one cut price.

Re: Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Free Will

#473

Post by Angostura »

rorykoehler wrote: post #319
jmcgough wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like them or not, the NYT and WashPo do some of the best, factual investigative journalism in the world. Have they been wrong? Sure. But they have extremely high standards for publishing a story, so you can generally assume that they're accurate. They also are the ones who break a lot of the biggest, most impactful stories. I think a better criticism of them would be wash po turning a blind eye to Bezos and others th…

They practice the worst type of disinformation. Correct most of the time but when it really counts they publish incorrect propaganda (eg wmds in Iraq).

In other words, they occasionally screw-up.

Re: Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Free Will

#474

Post by dionidium »

free_everybody wrote: post #256

Stop carrying your smartphone. Leave it at home. If you must because your family/work depends on you, then delete every app. Use your laptop as your main driver. If you need to, get a laptop with better battery life. Start developing a personal philosophy of internet usage. Here is mine: Category 3 [Abstain from completely] Reddit (Yes, all of reddit), Facebook ... Category 2 [Check once every couple days ~15 min tot…

> Serious news sites (NYT, WashPo, WSJ) ... Category 3 [Check daily ~30 min total]

My suggestion: don't visit these sites at all. Instead, get your local daily delivered. You don't need the news up to the last minute. A daily summary is fine. Plus, it gets you away from your computer while you read it.

Re: Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Free Will

#475

Post by kortex »

warent wrote: post #318
asteli wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I nuked my Facebook entirely. I don't miss it. Took about 2 weeks to stop reflexively typing in "fa" in the address bar when bored. Everyone worries about event discovery and getting invited to things. Turns out, the people that you actually care about (and who care about you) will tell you regardless. Additionally, I suspect that I'm influencing my social circle toward using email for event coordination. Facebook's…

Yes, I've noticed this disturbing trend myself. I'm ashamed to admit there's been more than one time that I've closed Facebook, opened a new tab, and immediately navigated to Facebook. Of course, I take full personal responsibility for my behaviors, but this is definitely the result of intentional unconscious conditioning; it's made this way by design. Now I use the "News Feed Eradicator" Chrome extension and no long…

I have facebook locked-out on my phone. LastPass keeps it on only chrome desktop browsers with Newsfeed killer. I use uBlock (microBlock) to hide dumb residual elements, like Stories. Result is I can stay in touch with events and messages, without the toxic news feed.

Also, Reddit has a 20 minute timer on desktop. I use Adguard to block it on my phone, but I bounce between use and disuse like a junkie :p.

Initially it's hard as your brain screams for its old habits, but like all things, it adapts.

Re: Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Free Will

#476

Post by dionidium »

rootusrootus wrote: post #395
free_everybody wrote: post #338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If that works for you, then cheers. I get so sucked into Reddit's front page that I just need to avoid it all entirely. With Twitter, I'm less inclined to explore.

Best thing I ever did with reddit was to subscribe to the subreddits that are useful to me and then never ever go to the front page again.

If you don't do this then it's like you bought a TV that was programmed to only show you the most popular channels. And then you never manually changed the channel yourself.

So, sure, that would obviously suck. You have to change the channel.

Re: Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Free Will

#477

Post by H1Supreme »

CrystalLangUser wrote: post #419
free_everybody wrote: post #256

Stop carrying your smartphone. Leave it at home. If you must because your family/work depends on you, then delete every app. Use your laptop as your main driver. If you need to, get a laptop with better battery life. Start developing a personal philosophy of internet usage. Here is mine: Category 3 [Abstain from completely] Reddit (Yes, all of reddit), Facebook ... Category 2 [Check once every couple days ~15 min tot…

I agree, but not with all of reddit. You can follow only helpful subs just like you can only follow helpful people or read HN.. there's a difference between normal reddit and say /r/clojure, etc.

Totally agree. There are plenty of good subs on reddit.

Re: Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Free Will

#478

Post by tjridesbikes »

csharpminor wrote: post #309
free_everybody wrote: post #256

Stop carrying your smartphone. Leave it at home. If you must because your family/work depends on you, then delete every app. Use your laptop as your main driver. If you need to, get a laptop with better battery life. Start developing a personal philosophy of internet usage. Here is mine: Category 3 [Abstain from completely] Reddit (Yes, all of reddit), Facebook ... Category 2 [Check once every couple days ~15 min tot…

I have a similar strategy and highly recommend Self Control App: https://github.com/SelfControlApp/selfcontrol/ Once I started blocking sites from myself I realized I was reflexively jumping over to distraction sites, particularly when I felt stuck or discouraged. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that willpower is the only way to get more focused. Use software to level the playing field. Another thing that's help…

I used to use SelfControl, but once I figured out how it blocks sites, it stopped being as useful. Don't fall victim to your inner Software Engineer and try to figure out how it works!

Re: Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Free Will

#480

Post by bdamm »

mulmen wrote: post #152
ShabbosGoy wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, HN is scary because browsing it will give you a subconscious feeling that you worked on something important.

This is true but at least HN has the noprocrast setting to fill the willpower void. Facebook could use the same thing but that means less eyeballs on ads.

I had never noticed that noprocrast setting before. Thanks!
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