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I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

nytimes.com

71–80 of 171 posts

Re: I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

#71
post #13

As the author noted in his article, I would emphasise the importance of having a hobby you enjoy. My rock climbing gym is full of programmers, just saying, it's a nice sport that's accessible to all strengths, and you can probably find a meetup at the gym near you. Also, biking to work can be a great way to avoid both phones and advertising, and also reconnect with your surroundings. I hate taking the subway only to…

I find it's really hard to play with a phone while surfing. :-)

Also to surf moderately well requires keen observation of nature. It's very meditative.

Re: I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

#72

When the author mentioned the joy brought on by having that "digital retreat" it reminded me of my cross country motorcycle trip this past March. I rode from Boston to Chicago to Seattle to San Francisco to Utah and Colorado and then back to Boston in 3 weeks. If you do the math, I think it averaged out to like 450 miles a day on a motorcycle. Which if you've ridden you'd know is a shit ton of riding back-to-back. So…

I'm sorry you broke your phone.

We just got back from a Caribbean island, and once or twice my wife used Google maps as a backup to our paper map.

It was almost always wrong. Google was always selecting really stupid routes that anyone actually living there would tell you are really impractical.

It became a kind of running joke, and we would amuse ourselves by talking back to the Google voice which was always telling us to take the wrong exit in roundabouts, or telling us to do a u-turn for no reason.

Once, a few years ago, before we gave up on GPS, Google planned a route including a highway that had been closed for 2 years. We had to turn back. Thanks!

I now never use GPS, even when travelling. I buy paper maps and plan and memorize ahead of time and watch for road signs. I find you meet more people and have better interactions with locals if you ask for directions.

Re: I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

#74
post #16

For developers or people who are on a computer a large portion of the day, I don't think the problem has anything to do with smartphones. A lot of those addictions (checking email, checking if someone engaged with one of your replies or content, etc.) can happen on a laptop or desktop workstation. The only difference is you're looking at them in a browser instead of on your phone. I never had a smartphone but I am a…

Yup, would have to agree with this. I don't see how the smartphone is really the issue, when the internet as a whole is the "problem" (or really, you yourself are the problem).

I use browser extensions to keep myself from loading distracting websites out of habit, and that generally helps as long as you have the discipline to not just turn the extension off or something. I also don't have chat apps like discord or slack open most of the day, because those are majorly distracting to me as well.

Re: I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

#75
post #5

I followed almost the exact same track as this guy, slowly realizing that my phone was a problem, then the problem, and coming to the conclusion that real drastic intervention methods were necessary, something that went beyond vague "trying to do better" efforts. I started a daily life 90% detox for a week or two then also did a completely phone free weekend, in my case at a Zen Buddhist monastery (and also in the Ca…

I don't preach as much as mostly take light jabs. "Oh, so what's new on Myspace? I am so hip to all this interwebs stuff", that sort of thing. They just give me a confused grin... I mean, what are they gonna do, unfriend me on a platform I'm not on? :P And I also had a few conversations about this topic, with smartphone users, and they were rather pleasant. It's difficult on the web, then it easily can sound arrogant…

Fine, so they can also downvote me so that I can magically realize what was so terribly wrong about comment, I forgot about that.

Re: I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

#76
post #17
post #2

“I found myself incapable of reading books, watching full-length movies or having long uninterrupted conversations. Social media made me angry and anxious, and even the digital spaces I once found soothing (group texts, podcasts, YouTube k-holes) weren’t helping.” So don’t take the call and keep having the conversation. Delete all apps that aren’t a net benefit. Is this really that difficult?

Yes. People who think they have better self control over something tend to just have a different level of enjoyment. https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2016/11/3/13486940/se...

First of all, I completely disagree with this article.

Anecdotally, I always had insane amount of will-power compared to my peers/people that I can gauge.

From the article:

"But if, for example, the change is to eat fewer sweets, and then you find yourself in front of a pile of cookies, researchers say the pile of cookies has already won."

I use to do this daily on purpose, just to better my will-power. I bought tons of stuff that I specifically didn't want to eat (I had 6 pack, attempting to get 8 pack) and I put them on my table so I can see them the whole day. I never reached for them, cause even if sometimes I thought of it (especially when there was no other food available (rarely), I STILL didn't touch them). Cause it's my choice, and it's up to me and I'll do what I decide to do. End of story.

It's up to you. It's a choice. Forget everything you have been thought, it's completely up to you. When you take Coca Cola and put it in your mouth, you are doing it. Not some abstract will-power or genes or anything. It is you!

Similarly, we can make up our minds on anything and stick with it. I refuse to believe that we aren't control of our own, damn it!

There's some dumb things in the article like:

“People who are good at self-control … seem to be structuring their lives in a way to avoid having to make a self-control decision in the first place,” Galla tells me. And structuring your life is a skill. People who do the same activity — like running or meditating — at the same time each day have an easier time accomplishing their goals, he says. Not because of their willpower, but because the routine makes it easier."

So according to them, there is no such thing as "willpower" cause it's always something else. They say nobody has willpower anyway; there are people that have no temptations and that's why they persevere. Ridiculous.

Re: I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

#77
post #3

I'm 37, and I have never really had a smartphone, because I don't want one. I know I tend to be addicted to the internet (I can't resit my laptop when it's nearby with wifi), so I think it's more healthy for me to just not have a smartphone than to resist temptation (like an alcoholic simply not going into bars). I'm a Software Engineer and I've never downloaded or used an "app" on a smartphone. I did buy a new Andro…

That's interesting, I'm similar. I've just gotten my first smartphone. Weirdly I'm not that drawn to it. It feels a bit too passive for me compared to my laptop. And it's just too large and clunky. Used it twice for walks/maps so far. Which is the biggest draw for me. Many people around me are stuck in their phones. I do find reading on the laptop difficult, and thought the better screen on the smartphone might be easier. But my brain still doesn't like it compared to e-paper. Not drawn to any apps yet, and the thought of trying to key a message into it fills me with horror. Charging is a pain. Years back I'd have loved these modern incarnations, the tech is pretty great, even modern Android is usable and quite slick. Perhaps watching my partner pick up the phone every few minutes every night has been enough to put me off. I'll likely switch back to my old Nokia I think.

Re: I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

#78
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my current job I'm almost daily going by subway and see most people fumbling on their phone all the time. Many can't even stop when hopping on/off the train. Now when I carefully look at just what it is that captures their attention, it's mostly cheap games or endless-scroll taboola-style crap. A guy sitting next to me the other day simultaneously phoned and frantically clicked on random crap on his phone with no…

There isn't much else to do on public transportation. You either fumble around on your phone or stare blankly at the wall. When I took public transit regularly I would read sometimes but there was too much noise and movement around me to really focus. Clearly you find yourself bored as well since you're looking over people's shoulders.

I used to look at it as a great time to get lost in a book.

Re: I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

#79
post #64
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The answer is discipline. That’s not the answer people generally like , but it is real and honest. I wake up at the same time every day, have the same routine every day, and have the same commute most days. To an extent, software has made it possible to chuck my own bad habits in the bin and start anew, but it doesn’t have a say in how I spend my time. I read Hacker News and comment here because I like to, but if I n…

> I wake up at the same time every day, have the same routine every day, and have the same commute most days. "Consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds."

The correct quote is "a foolish consistency." And the context of the quote has nothing to do with self-discipline. It is a call to boldly speak the truth today, and then boldly do the same tomorrow. If you contradict yourself, then so be it. The truth might not be found in only making logically consistent statements. "To be great is to be misunderstood."

Re: I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

#80
post #3

I'm 37, and I have never really had a smartphone, because I don't want one. I know I tend to be addicted to the internet (I can't resit my laptop when it's nearby with wifi), so I think it's more healthy for me to just not have a smartphone than to resist temptation (like an alcoholic simply not going into bars). I'm a Software Engineer and I've never downloaded or used an "app" on a smartphone. I did buy a new Andro…

That's interesting, I'm similar. I've just gotten my first smartphone. Weirdly I'm not that drawn to it. It feels a bit too passive for me compared to my laptop. And it's just too large and clunky. Used it twice for walks/maps so far. Which is the biggest draw for me. Many people around me are stuck in their phones. I do find reading on the laptop difficult, and thought the better screen on the smartphone might be ea…

That's not to say that I don't waste oodles of time on my personal computer. I certainly have some addiction there. I've lost months to what amounts to not a lot through computer use.
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