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I have secretly held this opinion for years. 4 out of 5 times that I look over someone's shoulder at their phone on the train, they're rapidly scrolling through

I have secretly held this opinion for years. 4 out of 5 times that I look over someone's shoulder at their phone on the train, they're rapidly scrolling through a feed of photos, memes, and emote-filled status updates, endlessly. It scares me, to be honest. I wonder where this tendency in people will lead in the very long run, particularly when you consider the ideas suggested by companies like Neuralink. It brings Black Mirror to mind. Will people permanently have an inexhaustible feed of vapid garbage playing in their mind while they ignore most of everything going on in reality, in their actual real life? However, this is unrelated to the original point. Just a side thought.

lotyrin 9y ago
> Will people permanently have an inexhaustible feed of vapid garbage playing in their mind while they ignore most of everything going on in reality, in their actual real life? Is that not already how it is? Each time I've been the new kid at school or new guy at the office, it seems there's nothing for people to talk about if you don't know all the TV shows or all the memes or all the movies or music or the celeb gossip or latest sports happenings or news or video game releases or this weeks anime developments or whatever it is each person chooses to fill their thought process with other than the world immediately around them. It seems it's probably comforting to be consumed by external things over which you have no power, instead of being sober about closer things - some of which you could influence given significant effort, some of which you are powerless to influence with any amount of effort.
ashark 9y ago
> It scares me, to be honest. I wonder where this tendency in people will lead in the very long run, particularly when you consider the ideas suggested by companies like Neuralink. It brings Black Mirror to mind. 15 Million Merits isn't about the future.
kalleboo 9y ago
What do you expect people to be doing on the train? Contributing to emacs?
- fasquoika 9y ago
  No, he expects them to comment on HN - a proper, respectable website - unlike that Facebook thing the plebs seem so interested in. /s
  - aerovistae 9y ago
    No, I don't. I will concede that I believe there's vastly more to learn from HN than from a social media feed, and I will "concede" that I believe your time is better spent on something educational than something solitary and mildly amusing that just idly passes the time and is then forgotten. But I do not seek to force that perspective on anyone. I just wish people didn't ignore the world all the time in favor of carrying their computer (phone) around with them and staring into it all day long.
    - madeofpalk 9y ago
      They're on the same train ride into work for the 600th time. There's only so much of that same part of the world you can pay attention to.
- sgift 9y ago
  Where else do people use mobile devices? At home?
- aerovistae 9y ago
  Well, personally I read books. I think I learn more and remember more from the books than I or they do from social media feeds, which I think are a lot like putting your mind on hibernate to get from point A to point B in a temporal sense. I don't ask that everyone read books, god forbid, but it would be nice if people weren't using their phones to put themselves into hibernate nearly all of the time. The phrasing of your question implies that the train is an isolated circumstance, but in my experience I see people out on dates with both people on their phones ignoring each other, and even whole groups of friends out together, all on their phones. I just wish people would engage more.
oblio 9y ago
The most popular newspaper and magazines in every country are things like Bild, The Sun, The Daily Maily. Basically celebrity gossip and scandals. The most popular TV shows are of things with similar content or at least content quality. What made you think that the internet or mobile would be any different? :)
Joeri 9y ago
I've been taking public transportation from before the era people had their smartphones with them. What I used to see where people reading tabloid newspapers, celebrity magazines, or cheap novels; here and there the rare person who was reading something interesting and insightful, and most people staring out of the window with their eyes glazed over. What I see now is lots of instagram, snapchat, facebook and mobile games, with a rare person here or there who is reading actual long-form articles, and with a minority of people staring out the window with their eyes glazed over. I don't think the difference is all that big to be honest, except that fewer people stare out the window. What amuses me is when I see someone reading an actual physical book. It is so rare, and it is almost every time someone trying to be hip.
- nsomaru 9y ago
  > What amuses me is when I see someone reading an actual physical book. It is so rare, and it is almost every time someone trying to be hip. Reading a book is an almost entirely introverted activity. How is the motivation to be hip going to be enough to sustain one's attention across the length of an entire book?

lotyrin 9y ago

> Will people permanently have an inexhaustible feed of vapid garbage playing in their mind while they ignore most of everything going on in reality, in their actual real life? Is that not already how it is? Each time I've been the new kid at school or new guy at the office, it seems there's nothing for people to talk about if you don't know all the TV shows or all the memes or all the movies or music or the celeb gossip or latest sports happenings or news or video game releases or this weeks anime developments or whatever it is each person chooses to fill their thought process with other than the world immediately around them. It seems it's probably comforting to be consumed by external things over which you have no power, instead of being sober about closer things - some of which you could influence given significant effort, some of which you are powerless to influence with any amount of effort.

ashark 9y ago

> It scares me, to be honest. I wonder where this tendency in people will lead in the very long run, particularly when you consider the ideas suggested by companies like Neuralink. It brings Black Mirror to mind. 15 Million Merits isn't about the future.

kalleboo 9y ago

What do you expect people to be doing on the train? Contributing to emacs?

fasquoika 9y ago
No, he expects them to comment on HN - a proper, respectable website - unlike that Facebook thing the plebs seem so interested in. /s
- aerovistae 9y ago
  No, I don't. I will concede that I believe there's vastly more to learn from HN than from a social media feed, and I will "concede" that I believe your time is better spent on something educational than something solitary and mildly amusing that just idly passes the time and is then forgotten. But I do not seek to force that perspective on anyone. I just wish people didn't ignore the world all the time in favor of carrying their computer (phone) around with them and staring into it all day long.
  - madeofpalk 9y ago
    They're on the same train ride into work for the 600th time. There's only so much of that same part of the world you can pay attention to.
sgift 9y ago
Where else do people use mobile devices? At home?
aerovistae 9y ago
Well, personally I read books. I think I learn more and remember more from the books than I or they do from social media feeds, which I think are a lot like putting your mind on hibernate to get from point A to point B in a temporal sense. I don't ask that everyone read books, god forbid, but it would be nice if people weren't using their phones to put themselves into hibernate nearly all of the time. The phrasing of your question implies that the train is an isolated circumstance, but in my experience I see people out on dates with both people on their phones ignoring each other, and even whole groups of friends out together, all on their phones. I just wish people would engage more.

oblio 9y ago

The most popular newspaper and magazines in every country are things like Bild, The Sun, The Daily Maily. Basically celebrity gossip and scandals. The most popular TV shows are of things with similar content or at least content quality. What made you think that the internet or mobile would be any different? :)

Joeri 9y ago

I've been taking public transportation from before the era people had their smartphones with them. What I used to see where people reading tabloid newspapers, celebrity magazines, or cheap novels; here and there the rare person who was reading something interesting and insightful, and most people staring out of the window with their eyes glazed over. What I see now is lots of instagram, snapchat, facebook and mobile games, with a rare person here or there who is reading actual long-form articles, and with a minority of people staring out the window with their eyes glazed over. I don't think the difference is all that big to be honest, except that fewer people stare out the window. What amuses me is when I see someone reading an actual physical book. It is so rare, and it is almost every time someone trying to be hip.

nsomaru 9y ago
> What amuses me is when I see someone reading an actual physical book. It is so rare, and it is almost every time someone trying to be hip. Reading a book is an almost entirely introverted activity. How is the motivation to be hip going to be enough to sustain one's attention across the length of an entire book?