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Also just going to say, if you had taken away my smartphone/internet in highschool I would have just dropped out, moved out, and probably would have been better

Also just going to say, if you had taken away my smartphone/internet in highschool I would have just dropped out, moved out, and probably would have been better for it. Most of the profitable skills I know are self-taught, from the internet. It's very bizarre to me that we're having this discussion on hnews.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
Chaebixi 9y ago
> Also just going to say, if you had taken away my smartphone/internet in highschool "Smartphone" and "internet" are two separate categories, and the former is strongly associated variously low-value, deliberately-addicting behaviors. The internet still has valuable corners, but the action is now where the monitization's at. High school (and younger!) kids (generally) using their smartphones for stuff like getting streaks on Snapchat, not turning themselves into autodidacts.
- vorotato 9y ago
  Do you have evidence for that claim? You know your parents said the same about you with your computer games. In reality, yes you played games, you also learned more. The truth is you used more of your time than they did and some of it was productive, and some of it wasn't. VSauce has a good episode about how every generation thinks this about the next, and there has never been any evidence for it being true about any of them.
  - Chaebixi 9y ago
    > Do you have evidence for that claim? You know your parents said the same about you with your computer games. You're asking me to provide you evidence of a widely written about social phenomena while simultaneously claiming to know about my youth and what my parents thought about my activities? >>> Most of the profitable skills I know are self-taught, from the internet. If you want to know more about how the current smartphone and internet ecosystem is deliberately designed to be addictive, I suggest you go teach yourself from the internet. A lot's been written the last few months. While you're at it, read up on loot boxes, since you seem to be interested in computer games.
    - vorotato 9y ago
      It's rhetoric, I presume nothing about your youth or your parents. Literally every generation has had that said about them so it's a pretty safe guess. You don't need a smartphone to engage in gambling or other addictive behaviors. If children are seeking out skinner boxes it might be worth exploring why they aren't getting fulfillment out of their life.
      - jackvalentine 9y ago
        > If children are seeking out skinner boxes it might be worth exploring why they aren't getting fulfillment out of their life. Possibility: they got hooked on skinner boxes before finding out about the other wonders life offers.
  - ntsplnkv2 9y ago
    I'm not quite sure how to frame your argument-I think appealing to tradition? > You know your parents said the same about you with your computer games. In reality, yes you played games, you also learned more. This is quite the claim. I know many smart people who played video games. And I know plenty dumb people who play video games. This isn't just generation to generation. Many on here are looking at their own generation. Kids are not the only ones playing candy crush.
aecorredor 9y ago
You gotta know that not all people are like you, hell, I would say most people aren't. Like yourself, I'm also mostly self-taught. All the useful and profitable skills I have I mostly have learned on my own thanks to the internet. I did go to school and have a CS degree, but I did that because I pushed myself to get better, and managed to pull my self away from all the distractions. But, like I said, most people don't take advantage of the real benefits that the internet have, and fall into the trap of the rest of the more trivial and "useless" stuff. So, I do think that completely banning smartphones is too radical, but at the same time think that we must do something to solve the problems that this article describes.
- vorotato 9y ago
  I think there's definitely room for talking to your child about self-awareness, and self-directed behavior. If you just stop your child from using some distraction then they'll just be an adult who is consumed by distraction. You're creating a crutch from actually learning the skill of managing their time.
yvdriess 9y ago
There is a qualitative difference between cellphone use during school hours and sitting behind a laptop on your own time. Most HN visits are probably more of the latter.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

Chaebixi 9y ago

> Also just going to say, if you had taken away my smartphone/internet in highschool "Smartphone" and "internet" are two separate categories, and the former is strongly associated variously low-value, deliberately-addicting behaviors. The internet still has valuable corners, but the action is now where the monitization's at. High school (and younger!) kids (generally) using their smartphones for stuff like getting streaks on Snapchat, not turning themselves into autodidacts.

vorotato 9y ago
Do you have evidence for that claim? You know your parents said the same about you with your computer games. In reality, yes you played games, you also learned more. The truth is you used more of your time than they did and some of it was productive, and some of it wasn't. VSauce has a good episode about how every generation thinks this about the next, and there has never been any evidence for it being true about any of them.
- Chaebixi 9y ago
  > Do you have evidence for that claim? You know your parents said the same about you with your computer games. You're asking me to provide you evidence of a widely written about social phenomena while simultaneously claiming to know about my youth and what my parents thought about my activities? >>> Most of the profitable skills I know are self-taught, from the internet. If you want to know more about how the current smartphone and internet ecosystem is deliberately designed to be addictive, I suggest you go teach yourself from the internet. A lot's been written the last few months. While you're at it, read up on loot boxes, since you seem to be interested in computer games.
  - vorotato 9y ago
    It's rhetoric, I presume nothing about your youth or your parents. Literally every generation has had that said about them so it's a pretty safe guess. You don't need a smartphone to engage in gambling or other addictive behaviors. If children are seeking out skinner boxes it might be worth exploring why they aren't getting fulfillment out of their life.
    - jackvalentine 9y ago
      > If children are seeking out skinner boxes it might be worth exploring why they aren't getting fulfillment out of their life. Possibility: they got hooked on skinner boxes before finding out about the other wonders life offers.
- ntsplnkv2 9y ago
  I'm not quite sure how to frame your argument-I think appealing to tradition? > You know your parents said the same about you with your computer games. In reality, yes you played games, you also learned more. This is quite the claim. I know many smart people who played video games. And I know plenty dumb people who play video games. This isn't just generation to generation. Many on here are looking at their own generation. Kids are not the only ones playing candy crush.

aecorredor 9y ago

You gotta know that not all people are like you, hell, I would say most people aren't. Like yourself, I'm also mostly self-taught. All the useful and profitable skills I have I mostly have learned on my own thanks to the internet. I did go to school and have a CS degree, but I did that because I pushed myself to get better, and managed to pull my self away from all the distractions. But, like I said, most people don't take advantage of the real benefits that the internet have, and fall into the trap of the rest of the more trivial and "useless" stuff. So, I do think that completely banning smartphones is too radical, but at the same time think that we must do something to solve the problems that this article describes.

vorotato 9y ago
I think there's definitely room for talking to your child about self-awareness, and self-directed behavior. If you just stop your child from using some distraction then they'll just be an adult who is consumed by distraction. You're creating a crutch from actually learning the skill of managing their time.

yvdriess 9y ago

There is a qualitative difference between cellphone use during school hours and sitting behind a laptop on your own time. Most HN visits are probably more of the latter.