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We Have Reached Peak Screen. Now Revolution Is in the Air

nytimes.com

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Re: We Have Reached Peak Screen. Now Revolution Is in the Air

#81

Post by sp527 »

bonestamp2 wrote: post #62
rambleramble wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The summer after high school, I worked for the parks department of my city. I just did general maintenance things, sold tokens for batting cages, emptied trash, "ensured the safety of the people in the park". I remember being so thrilled when I got an offer for a "real job" doing software development. I miss working at the park. And I'm pretty sure it's not just nostalgia. I liked being outside. I liked working with…

Happiness is not something you find, it's something you make when you recognize what is missing in your life and you make that thing part of your life. It sounds like you're halfway there if you've identified what did make you happy. If you enjoy your job, you're still well ahead of most people there too, even if it doesn't make you happy. Use your spare time to do the things you miss about working in the park, get o…

Happiness is exactly the opposite. It's realizing that nothing external or material can leave you perfectly content for any length of time because that violates what it is to be human. Happiness is a choice you make and a mindset you adopt.

Re: We Have Reached Peak Screen. Now Revolution Is in the Air

#82

Post by jfoutz »

dictum wrote: post #10
rb808 wrote: post #5

> and about 11 hours a day looking at screens of any kind. That is so depressing, but thinking about it myself, 11 is probably a minimum. I have to change careers to selling ice creams at the beach or something.

> I have to change careers to selling ice creams at the beach or something You will learn to loathe ice cream, the beach, and even the nicest people you could see there. (Quoth Kierkegaard: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7141047-marry-and-you-will-... )

I don't understand how one can regret hanging themselves. Maybe hang means something less grisly than what i'm thinking of.

Re: We Have Reached Peak Screen. Now Revolution Is in the Air

#83

Post by padobson »

pcprincipal wrote: post #57

I've been using Moment ( https://inthemoment.io/ ) for about a year and am really proud of how I've been able to reduce total screen time from 4 hours to 45 minutes per day. Most of the gains were due to deleting Safari and Twitter from my device (Moment breaks down app usage based on battery usage). To anyone reading this, be aware of how grabbing your phone in the morning to read headlines or Medium digest can turn…

Think about how checking e-mails can take you completely out of context and badly dilute the quality of your work.

I agree with this completely, but the converse is also true. Sometimes you need to switch context during the day, and scanning headlines and reading emails helps me do that (I'm doing it right now!).

The best context switching strategies I've found are eating and meditation, but those aren't always feasible or socially acceptable, so browsing headlines is a good stand-in.

Re: We Have Reached Peak Screen. Now Revolution Is in the Air

#84

Post by wu-ikkyu »

anvandare wrote: post #31
LUmBULtERA wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was a depressing quote.

On the contrary. If all actions lead to regret, then it is regret which is meaningless, not the actions themselves. The same holds true for life. All our lives end in non-existence, but it is non-existence which is meaningless, not the life that's lived. Music is beautiful while it is being played, not only once it is over.

"Our life is what our thoughts make it"

-Marcus Aurelius

Re: We Have Reached Peak Screen. Now Revolution Is in the Air

#85

Post by craftyguy »

jfoutz wrote: post #82
dictum wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have to change careers to selling ice creams at the beach or something You will learn to loathe ice cream, the beach, and even the nicest people you could see there. (Quoth Kierkegaard: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7141047-marry-and-you-will-... )

I don't understand how one can regret hanging themselves. Maybe hang means something less grisly than what i'm thinking of.

Maybe they regret it for just a split second?

Re: We Have Reached Peak Screen. Now Revolution Is in the Air

#86

Post by pizza »

sshtunnels wrote: post #30
LUmBULtERA wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was a depressing quote.

It may sound strange, but I found it very funny. I've had the same thoughts myself. As someone who sometimes worries a bit too much about making the best life choices, it's darkly funny to think that for all my planning, I'll probably find a way to regret and hate my attempts at thoughtful and wise decisionmaking in the future no matter what path I choose.

I can't help but think it would be more depressing to find the quote depressing than the quote is depressing itself

Re: We Have Reached Peak Screen. Now Revolution Is in the Air

#87

Post by interfixus »

sshtunnels wrote: post #30
LUmBULtERA wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was a depressing quote.

It may sound strange, but I found it very funny. I've had the same thoughts myself. As someone who sometimes worries a bit too much about making the best life choices, it's darkly funny to think that for all my planning, I'll probably find a way to regret and hate my attempts at thoughtful and wise decisionmaking in the future no matter what path I choose.

Kierkegaard is often great subdued, ironic fun. I share his native language, and always have the sense that he somehow loses a layer of his most subtle humor in translation.

Re: We Have Reached Peak Screen. Now Revolution Is in the Air

#88

Post by [deleted] »

jeffreyrogers wrote: post #47
meathook wrote: post #36

Great message, but this is mostly an opinion piece with few technical details. I am also not a fan of how the answer is to wait for Apple (Big Tech) to save us. Bret Victor wrote a piece [0] lamenting the convergence on screens as the interaction design paradigm almost 7 years ago. Bret explains why screens are limiting interaction design through examples centered around the human body. Ironically, this NYT piece giv…

I disagree with Bret for fundamental reasons. I think Bret is trying to make computing more human, when I view computing as fundamentally unhuman . It seems that there is an inverse correlation between screen use and mental health. Bret's solution is to improve our technology. My solution would be to limit our use of technology. Computers are fabulous for certain things: transmitting information, processing data, aut…

[deleted]

Re: We Have Reached Peak Screen. Now Revolution Is in the Air

#89

Post by city41 »

vkjv wrote: post #8
rb808 wrote: post #5

> and about 11 hours a day looking at screens of any kind. That is so depressing, but thinking about it myself, 11 is probably a minimum. I have to change careers to selling ice creams at the beach or something.

Despite earning marginally more than minimum wage, being a lifeguard is still the happiest I've ever been at a job.

My favorite job ever was making glasses at LensCrafters. So satisfying, so zen-like. I wonder if I'd still feel like that if I did it for my entire career.

Re: We Have Reached Peak Screen. Now Revolution Is in the Air

#90

Post by ricardobeat »

Adamantcheese wrote: post #75
plurgid wrote: post #45

I say I'm a musician on the side, but truthfully I've been messing with sound instinctively since I came out of the womb, and I only picked up programming and design and stuff later on. As such, I gravitated toward electronic music doodads almost immediately. This issue of "falling down the LCD well" has been at the forefront of electronic music for a while. Synthesizers were cool in the 70's because they had knobs,…

I'm somewhat sad that modular synthesizers are so expensive, even semimodular standalone units. They're really fun pieces of equipment to play with.

What’s expensive to you? With 2-3k you can gather an amazing array of equipment these days, unthinkable 10 years ago.
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