A Dark Consensus About Screens and Kids Begins to Emerge in Silicon Valley

Post by xfitm3 » Sat, Oct 27, 2018, 3:50 PM UTC

kilburn wrote: post #432

entee wrote: post #399

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious to know some examples of what is and isn't permitted. The flashing lights, interesting but not too interesting ding-dong-boom sounds, the loud massive amping up when you win something, all that is allowed and I believe (though don't quite have a source at hand) that these are provably enticing hooks. I'm sure there are things that aren't, but I'm curious as to what. I'm also curious about want Candy Crush…

The most basic thing Candy Crush does that slot machines can't is adapt its behavior to the user. Candy Crush can (and does) let you play freely, only to popup the "insert coin to get help" when you are stuck. It also adjusts the game play to your level (by advancing to harder levels) so that you are always challenged and possibly get stuck. If you advance by paying, you probably will need to pay more to get further…

Post by dwighttk » Sat, Oct 27, 2018, 4:55 PM UTC

rleigh wrote: post #483

maemilius wrote: post #221

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I'm in the same boat as you. One thing I've learned over the last few years is that the problem with "phone addition" has more to do with the lack of boredom than any physical effects. The really short version is that there's some science that suggests that periods of boredom increase creativity. By constantly keeping active with your phone, we're losing this "boredom time". Personally, I've made a habit of occasiona…

I often wonder how much creativity, thought and self-reflection is missed out on because the response to boredom or quiet moments is to reach for the phone, rather than engaging the brain and being alone with one's thoughts for a time. Not only personal time, but work time as well. How many of us see work colleagues on their phones or random websites during work time? If that moment of boredom had been spent thinking…

Post by matheusmoreira » Sat, Oct 27, 2018, 5:17 PM UTC

gaius wrote: post #469

matheusmoreira wrote: post #462

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> it compels play even when it isn't fun That's the power of positive and negative reinforcement. They want to shape the behavior of players. They want players logging into the game multiple times a day, every single day. So they rate limit the player's game with "stamina" or whatever euphemism for a timer they come up with. Player was having fun playing the RPG with friends, only to run out of "stamina"! The choice…

Then the player starts waking up at 3 in the morning because that's when the timer resets. This is a common technique for manufacturing commitment: if a person must suffer for a thing, they come to justify to themselves that the thing is worth the suffering, and become more dedicated the more they do. Cults often use this technique.

Post by mindslight » Sat, Oct 27, 2018, 8:02 PM UTC

qubax wrote: post #435

mindslight wrote: post #205

Calling it "screen time" is missing the elephant in the room. The largest part of the problem is that the software we're directly interacting with has been designed by companies with interests directly contrary to ours! Social interaction will inherently set off more chemical rewards, but it is the tuning of the feedback loop (optimizing for micro-interactions) that keeps us glued. Emacs/mutt/libreoffice/python/kodi…

> Whereas on the same exact screen, firefox/chromium are gateways to madness. Oh my god, what hyperbole. This is like the cringey hyperbole equating rock 'n roll with devil music back in the 50s. Things will be fine. Every older generation thinks the newer generation is "mad". It's not the end of the world. Is hacker news mostly grandparents now? Just worried about every new technology? So many comments here feel lik…

Post by dorchadas » Sun, Oct 28, 2018, 1:05 AM UTC

spyckie2 wrote: post #502

dorchadas wrote: post #439

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> They grew up much healthier than their peers and I think it was the strict rules on technology that did most of the work. I'm noticing this among my cousins, at least among social health. I've got one cousin who just entered 7th grade this year, and might be the only person in her class without a phone. One of her best friends just got one at the beginning of the year. Those two are among the only two who actually…

Agree with the concerns but disagree that there's a causal relationship in the examples that you've stated. For instance 7 year olds develop at different paces, there's definitely a lot of 7 year olds without phones who don't know how to have a conversation, and it may be due to lack of practice, not due to excessive screen time - those two may overlap but are not the same thing. Likewise, an 11 year old who likes mi…