3 ms·

My analogous example is when I quit (behaviorally) drinking. Time was I'd come home, crack open a beer, make/order dinner, open a beer, eat dinner, open a beer

My analogous example is when I quit (behaviorally) drinking. Time was I'd come home, crack open a beer, make/order dinner, open a beer, eat dinner, open a beer, watch tv, open a beer. I knew it wasn't good for me but I enjoyed it at the time and didn't really care about the ramifications. At least, I didn't care enough to stop. After a particularly uncomfortable combination of beer and Mexican food, however, my system was so shocked that I swore off drinking entirely, at least until I got better. After a few weeks I had my first sip of alcohol again and realized I didn't actually enjoy it: I was mostly drinking out of inertia. I rarely drink now. If my mother is in town I can guzzle a bottle of wine over dinner and then stay dry for weeks without wanting even a sip of sake. The problem was never the alcohol to me. The problem was the habit. I imagine the same for smartphone addiction (or, perhaps, "compulsive use"): the problem is not the smartphone - it's the habit.

YCode 10y ago
It was a long time ago and I wish I was less foggy on the details but I read this comment on Reddit by a purported neuroscientist or some such who was talking about how we don't actually enjoy social media. They described basically what you've said. We take the actions and get the tiny reward and our brain gets a little jolt of there you did it but when it comes right down to it we don't actually enjoy the activity. More importantly, we're no more satisfied when we finish the activity than we were when we started, we just do it because we've become conditioned to. I suppose a more concrete source would be the Extra Credits video on Skinner Boxes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWtvrPTbQ_c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWtvrPTbQ_c
- rm_-rf_slash 10y ago
  A Skinner box is a great example. I see it more like a slot machine: you put in your time, pull the crank, and say to yourself: "This is SHIT! Why am I wasting my time on this?" Then you put in another quarter... That being said, I do enjoy HN yet I rarely if ever comment on reddit or Facebook. It's really the community that keeps me here.

YCode 10y ago

It was a long time ago and I wish I was less foggy on the details but I read this comment on Reddit by a purported neuroscientist or some such who was talking about how we don't actually enjoy social media. They described basically what you've said. We take the actions and get the tiny reward and our brain gets a little jolt of there you did it but when it comes right down to it we don't actually enjoy the activity. More importantly, we're no more satisfied when we finish the activity than we were when we started, we just do it because we've become conditioned to. I suppose a more concrete source would be the Extra Credits video on Skinner Boxes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWtvrPTbQ_c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWtvrPTbQ_c

rm_-rf_slash 10y ago
A Skinner box is a great example. I see it more like a slot machine: you put in your time, pull the crank, and say to yourself: "This is SHIT! Why am I wasting my time on this?" Then you put in another quarter... That being said, I do enjoy HN yet I rarely if ever comment on reddit or Facebook. It's really the community that keeps me here.