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Ask HN: How do you deal with information and internet addiction?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with information and internet addiction?

#61

Post by 65 »

ryandrake wrote: post #48
65 wrote: post #33

It's not that we're all addicted to the internet, it's that nearly everything else in life has been abstracted away to the point where the only thing the do is use the internet. It's not a matter of you choosing to use the internet for hours a day, it's a matter of society's efficiencies removing any need to do things such as: - Build a house - Grow crops - Talk to your neighbors - Etc. and therefore your are forced…

I haven't found this to be true. When I became unhappy with the volume of my Internet use, I made a conscious effort to take on physical meatspace hobbies, and found no societal pushback. Really the only limiting factors are time and (often) money. But, if you pick an inexpensive hobby and deliberately set aside time for it, there's nothing stopping you from doing it. Nobody is forced to use the Internet.

No one is forcing you to practice hobbies either. The point is the things that were necessary in previous generations, like building a house, growing crops, going to the bank, etc. are now abstracted away for you.

This leaves a lot of time for you to figure out what to do with your time. The internet has a large presence in life because everyone is online. You then, in a way, are forced online because everyone else is there.

The communities I have found for my various hobbies (woodworking, music) are all online. To find other people to talk to about the hobby, I need to go online, because that's where everyone is.

This isn't going to hard and fast apply to every possible scenario in life, but I have found internet networks to be a heavy force in my online usage. And because of network effects, it creates a feedback loop where you spend more time online because everyone else is online.

I'm sure there's a way to break free from the loop, but it's not as easy as you mention. Ok, I built a chair in my garage. What am I gonna do? Sit in it and call it a day? Build another chair? A major part of having hobbies is sharing your creation, which ends up being online because that's where everyone is. Otherwise building chairs all day long for no one isn't very fulfilling.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with information and internet addiction?

#64

Post by crosen99 »

labrador wrote: post #11

I handle it by collecting quotes that tell me to knock it off. I've since started to focus on just the things I really care about: The purpose of knowledge is action, not knowledge. ― Aristotle Knowledge isn't free. You have to pay attention ― Richard Feynman "Information is not truth" ― Yuval Noah Harari If I were the plaything of every thought, I would be a fool, not a wise man. ― Rumi Dhamma is in your mind, not i…

Nice list. What helps me:

“A preoccupation with the means is a lack of commitment to the end.”

In this context, the means is knowledge. And for me, the end is building things. So, I try always to be building something (in my work or avocationally), and the high I get from that helps to resist the craving to know more about how to build things.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with information and internet addiction?

#65

Post by pokler »

milesjag wrote: post #41

Some of the tools which have helped me rediscover my focus and discipline: * Use the CLI for everything - reduce the amount of time you have a browser open * An egg timer - use this every time a tedious task needs completing * A dumb phone - small and minimal functionality, easy to forget about * A watch - stop using your phone for checking the time * Cook your own food - excellent use of time * Exercise - no headpho…

> A dumb phone - small and minimal functionality, easy to forget about

This requires more diligence, but can't you create the experience you want on a smart phone (no social media, disable all notifications, etc.) without giving up utilities that provide actual value, such as GPS / navigation?

> Exercise - no headphones, a gym provides background music and enough human contact to keep boredom at bay

Interesting. I feel like I am more distracted and unfocused when I listen to the gym's music (sometimes their music just doesn't match the intensity of the workout) or when I socialize between workouts.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with information and internet addiction?

#66

Post by rchaud »

For me, it was something I aged out of.

In my 20s, I was an information sponge. In my 30s, I realize information is commoditized, and the signal-to-noise ratio is very low. Even after I scaled back my consumption to only 'serious' publications and podcasts, I realized they have a ton of fluff too.

So now I primarily restrict my internet use to addressing questions that I personally have. No more opening a podcast app just to see who's on what this week.

The downside of this is that I'm not as interested in broadening the scope of my knowledge as I used to be. That's the point of taking a focused approach over time, but it's also bittersweet because I am intentionally narrowing my fields of interest to the essentials; I discovered a lot of cool stuff in my 20s that I may not in my 40s.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with information and internet addiction?

#67

Post by kridsdale1 »

wkat4242 wrote: post #57
bomdawg wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Use the CLI for everything Interesting, can you explain what this looks like in practice?

Usually a black screen with a bunch of mostly white letters :) Seriously though, I do this a lot too. All my instant messaging comes though a text interface, most of my note taking and other work. I use the browser a lot still because it's sadly unavoidable. If I really need to focus I even use my old VT520 CRT terminal. The soft amber glow really helps to focus <3

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Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with information and internet addiction?

#68

Post by dmje »

I'm going to sound irritating and glib, but to stop doing something you've got to have the will to stop doing it, and then...stop doing it.

Sure there are tools out there to help and techniques and blockers - but ultimately there will always be pressures to consume and a multitude of opportunities to do so. So ultimately it comes down to you: if you want to sort this out, you've just got to stop.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with information and internet addiction?

#69

Post by jcq3 »

I think there's a difference between consuming low value information like Tiktok content and spending hours on Wikipedia. I have the same addiction because my nature is to be curious and introspective, I won't get around that. Without internet I would be a bookworm and addict to librairies. My hack if it can help you is not to consume less information but consume more by filter a lot to keep only high value content, using AI to summarize text and audio, listening at x2 speed and always taking notes. If I don't, I feel my focus was a waste and that I won't ever capitalize on this high value information by making it a knowledge. We are just world explorers and this game has no end, I chose to explore faster.
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