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Long time deleted FB account holder here. I don't miss it at all. Not one bit. It amazes me how much time my wife spends mindlessly looking though stuff on it

Long time deleted FB account holder here. I don't miss it at all. Not one bit. It amazes me how much time my wife spends mindlessly looking though stuff on it and the negative feelings that sometimes flow out from it. I recently read a truly fantastic speech by Charlie Munger, which imparted so much clear & concise information in an easily digestible way that I could instantly relate to, it made me realise just how little I know. Specifically, he mentioned that you really need to notice when technology is going to help you and when it's going to kill you. It's made me re-evaluate my current relationship with technology and how negative it can be at (most?) times. I hope over time, people start to question their relationship with technology a lot more. I already see hints of this with mainstream media in things like Black Mirror. I am amazed at the quantity and quality of some of the content on something like Kahn Academy that I have no idea why I haven't made more of an effort to try and grasp topics that otherwise are completely alien to me. Many of these will probably help hugely in my day to day life as well. Recently I listened to an interview with a UK fund manager called Terry Smith, who said they don't invest in tech shares like FB, Netflix, etc. as they are such new areas which are still open to such massive change. Long term (decades) they probably aren't safe bets i.e. Netflix is great now, but once upon a time so was Blockbuster. I do wonder if "peak" Facebook is over. There's already a large generational shift happening in younger demographics to things like Snapchat, etc. I do hope that whatever may or may not replace it has a better balance towards positivity.

spitfire 10y ago
Got a link to the munger speech?
- dredmorbius 10y ago
  Not OP, but: Recently, this: https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2017/02/charlie-munger-wisdom/ https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2017/02/charlie-munger-wisd... (posted to HN) There's a very long (~250 pages) collection of wisdom here: http://www.valueplays.net/wp-content/uploads/The-Best-of-Charlie-Munger-1994-2011.pdf http://www.valueplays.net/wp-content/uploads/The-Best-of-Cha... I've run across a shorter (~15 - 45 pages or so) compilation or speech a ways back, but it's not turning up. He covers a certain set of ground fairly frequently though.
- christoph 10y ago
  It was this one: http://ritholtz.com/2012/02/a-lesson-on-elementary-worldly-wisdom-as-it-relates-to-investment-management-business/ http://ritholtz.com/2012/02/a-lesson-on-elementary-worldly-w... I can really see myself starting to try and get deeper into his mindset, especially building up a lattice of mental models.
DanielBMarkham 10y ago
I wrote an essay 8 or 9 years ago about how technology in general is eating us alive. I specifically mentioned Facebook. The comments on HN at that time were quite interesting. "Oh, you don't understand. Facebook is just a fad", "I know what I'm doing, dammit!" and so forth. Eight years later, guys. Facebook still a fad? Related HN discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=471353 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=471353 ADD: Wow. It's one thing reading the usual noise in the comments today on this article. It's quite another thing to look at HN eight years ago and see the same kind of response. Doesn't reflect so well on us. I would much rather have been wrong.
- dredmorbius 10y ago
  Enlightenment is a curse. Make no mistake about it -- enlightenment is a destructive process. It has nothing to do with becoming better or becoming happier. Enlightenment is the crumbling away of untruth. It's seeing through the facade of pretense. It's the complete eradication of everything we imagined to be true. -- Adyashanti (An ancient^WCupertino mystic.) In alternative phrasing: the truth hurts.
  - pharrington 10y ago
    Your paraphrasing still misses the point: enlightenment is not a curse, and enlightenment does not hurt. But nobody actually wants to be enlightened.
    - qplex 10y ago
      I'd argue it that does hurt (a lot) to let go of what you belive in, and that is why people do not desire englightenment.
      - pharrington 10y ago
        As far as I can tell, the thing about enlightenment is that once it's happpened, it causes this very strange change in you...
equalarrow 10y ago
Yup, deleted my account a while ago, haven't used it in years. Don't miss it one bit. At home, we are starting to have a 'problem' because my wife is constantly on FB. In the car, on trips, in restaurants, at the dinner table. It's fucking ridiculous. I have said a few times "what can be more important on fb than what's going on in the present moment with your family?". Behavior hasn't changed much. What is starting to freak me out is the generations coming up. I have two young kids - pre-fb age - and they already have some questionable habits on my wife's iPhone - as soon as it comes out, they wanna look at pictures, go on youtube and fight over it. The second they see it... I've been programming since I was 13 - a long time ago. Back then, you sat down at a table/desk to use your computer and then when you left, you did other things. You went out to play with friends. Ride bikes around. Go swimming. Go look at bugs. Eat something. Nowadays, things are different. Different though because we let them be that way. Most parents I know are helicopter and at meet ups I'm always hearing about some bad thing that happened to someone they don't even know or is half way around the world. I'm not saying we embrace ignorance, but unless you can do something about that - and you're willing - then I don't see the point of fb and the news cycle. As a parent (and developer), I have to be proactive and get the family back into the world. I'm not against tech in general (I'm teaching my son Basic right now), but the pendulum has clearly swung a little too far in one direction and fb/snapchat/etc, with their addictive behaviors, in my mind, are not good things for society. People, to me, just seem happier when they're not inundated with gossip and negative news. I'ld love to see fb lose its dominance on the people who have their faces buried in their phones constantly. But, I don't think that will happen anytime soon. As long as people are checked out of the real world around them, it will be that much easier for them to get sucked in to fb and the like.
- rqebmm 10y ago
  > I have two young kids - pre-fb age - and they already have some questionable habits on my wife's iPhone - as soon as it comes out, they wanna look at pictures, go on youtube and fight over it. The second they see it... This is also 100% true of my dogs. As soon as there's a new dog toy in the house and one shows interest the other will begin to fight over it. There are some deeply-ingrained mammalian social behaviors that have nothing to do with technology, and won't change anytime soon. I'd be wary of blaming a phone ahead of instinct (though blaming businesses for exploiting those instincts is a bit different). That said, I commend your efforts to try to maintain a happy medium for your family, that's really the best way to address these sorts of issues.
jondubois 10y ago
I go on Facebook a few times per month. I think that's a healthy amount.
ryan-allen 10y ago
> It amazes me how much time my wife spends mindlessly looking though stuff on it and the negative feelings that sometimes flow out from it. I felt like that, so I started unfollowing things/people that made me feel negative emotions and now my feed is full of Synthesizers and Dog Memes. My own little echo chamber!
jes5199 10y ago
but you're on HN. Is it really that much better?

spitfire 10y ago

Got a link to the munger speech?

dredmorbius 10y ago
Not OP, but: Recently, this: https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2017/02/charlie-munger-wisdom/ https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2017/02/charlie-munger-wisd... (posted to HN) There's a very long (~250 pages) collection of wisdom here: http://www.valueplays.net/wp-content/uploads/The-Best-of-Charlie-Munger-1994-2011.pdf http://www.valueplays.net/wp-content/uploads/The-Best-of-Cha... I've run across a shorter (~15 - 45 pages or so) compilation or speech a ways back, but it's not turning up. He covers a certain set of ground fairly frequently though.
christoph 10y ago
It was this one: http://ritholtz.com/2012/02/a-lesson-on-elementary-worldly-wisdom-as-it-relates-to-investment-management-business/ http://ritholtz.com/2012/02/a-lesson-on-elementary-worldly-w... I can really see myself starting to try and get deeper into his mindset, especially building up a lattice of mental models.

DanielBMarkham 10y ago

I wrote an essay 8 or 9 years ago about how technology in general is eating us alive. I specifically mentioned Facebook. The comments on HN at that time were quite interesting. "Oh, you don't understand. Facebook is just a fad", "I know what I'm doing, dammit!" and so forth. Eight years later, guys. Facebook still a fad? Related HN discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=471353 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=471353 ADD: Wow. It's one thing reading the usual noise in the comments today on this article. It's quite another thing to look at HN eight years ago and see the same kind of response. Doesn't reflect so well on us. I would much rather have been wrong.

dredmorbius 10y ago
Enlightenment is a curse. Make no mistake about it -- enlightenment is a destructive process. It has nothing to do with becoming better or becoming happier. Enlightenment is the crumbling away of untruth. It's seeing through the facade of pretense. It's the complete eradication of everything we imagined to be true. -- Adyashanti (An ancient^WCupertino mystic.) In alternative phrasing: the truth hurts.
- pharrington 10y ago
  Your paraphrasing still misses the point: enlightenment is not a curse, and enlightenment does not hurt. But nobody actually wants to be enlightened.
  - qplex 10y ago
    I'd argue it that does hurt (a lot) to let go of what you belive in, and that is why people do not desire englightenment.
    - pharrington 10y ago
      As far as I can tell, the thing about enlightenment is that once it's happpened, it causes this very strange change in you...

equalarrow 10y ago

Yup, deleted my account a while ago, haven't used it in years. Don't miss it one bit. At home, we are starting to have a 'problem' because my wife is constantly on FB. In the car, on trips, in restaurants, at the dinner table. It's fucking ridiculous. I have said a few times "what can be more important on fb than what's going on in the present moment with your family?". Behavior hasn't changed much. What is starting to freak me out is the generations coming up. I have two young kids - pre-fb age - and they already have some questionable habits on my wife's iPhone - as soon as it comes out, they wanna look at pictures, go on youtube and fight over it. The second they see it... I've been programming since I was 13 - a long time ago. Back then, you sat down at a table/desk to use your computer and then when you left, you did other things. You went out to play with friends. Ride bikes around. Go swimming. Go look at bugs. Eat something. Nowadays, things are different. Different though because we let them be that way. Most parents I know are helicopter and at meet ups I'm always hearing about some bad thing that happened to someone they don't even know or is half way around the world. I'm not saying we embrace ignorance, but unless you can do something about that - and you're willing - then I don't see the point of fb and the news cycle. As a parent (and developer), I have to be proactive and get the family back into the world. I'm not against tech in general (I'm teaching my son Basic right now), but the pendulum has clearly swung a little too far in one direction and fb/snapchat/etc, with their addictive behaviors, in my mind, are not good things for society. People, to me, just seem happier when they're not inundated with gossip and negative news. I'ld love to see fb lose its dominance on the people who have their faces buried in their phones constantly. But, I don't think that will happen anytime soon. As long as people are checked out of the real world around them, it will be that much easier for them to get sucked in to fb and the like.

rqebmm 10y ago
> I have two young kids - pre-fb age - and they already have some questionable habits on my wife's iPhone - as soon as it comes out, they wanna look at pictures, go on youtube and fight over it. The second they see it... This is also 100% true of my dogs. As soon as there's a new dog toy in the house and one shows interest the other will begin to fight over it. There are some deeply-ingrained mammalian social behaviors that have nothing to do with technology, and won't change anytime soon. I'd be wary of blaming a phone ahead of instinct (though blaming businesses for exploiting those instincts is a bit different). That said, I commend your efforts to try to maintain a happy medium for your family, that's really the best way to address these sorts of issues.

jondubois 10y ago

I go on Facebook a few times per month. I think that's a healthy amount.

ryan-allen 10y ago

> It amazes me how much time my wife spends mindlessly looking though stuff on it and the negative feelings that sometimes flow out from it. I felt like that, so I started unfollowing things/people that made me feel negative emotions and now my feed is full of Synthesizers and Dog Memes. My own little echo chamber!

jes5199 10y ago

but you're on HN. Is it really that much better?