4 ms·

I’ve never really bought into the argument that if we set aside our phones, all that liberated free time will go towards “something useful.” People aren’t goin

I’ve never really bought into the argument that if we set aside our phones, all that liberated free time will go towards “something useful.” People aren’t going to spend those 2.5 hours a day learning a new language, or coding a side project or whatever, they’re going to find something else that’s mindless and entertaining like sitting in front of the TV for 2.5 hours a day.

alexmorenodev 7y ago
There are 2 things to take into consideration. One, phone apps (the problematic ones) are extremely more addictive than TV. Two, once you make a little effort to resist the urge of entertain yourself with mindless stuff (which is considerably harder when we're talking about phone apps), your dopamine resets and it becomes easier and easier to do whatever you really want to do instead of distract yourself.
0x5002 7y ago
I'm inclined to disagree to a degree. I don't use my phone for anything but Messengers and Twitter (apart from the "utilities", such as Uber or an alarm) - and have deleted by Twitter account a while ago. After doing that, I find myself looking at my phone out of habit/boredeom, but realize I removed the last time wasting app (I got rid of reddit about a year ago) and turn the thing off again. This results in me doing things I consider to be a better investment of my time. Yes, that might be watching a show on TV - but I found that to be more engaging than mindlessly scrolling through people's opinions I ultimately don't care about (as Twitter, as opposed to say HN, rarely spawns intriguing thoughts). Also not having a simple distraction available does result in me being more likely to spend time on more "important" things, might it be yard work or a side project. But it certainly depends on one's personality and preference.
- PascLeRasc 7y ago
  I think the quality of Twitter can be excellent if you're following "the right" people. I'd be happy to recommend some users who post incredibly intriguing content if you're interested.
  - 0x5002 7y ago
    I would be interested in that.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]

alexmorenodev 7y ago

There are 2 things to take into consideration. One, phone apps (the problematic ones) are extremely more addictive than TV. Two, once you make a little effort to resist the urge of entertain yourself with mindless stuff (which is considerably harder when we're talking about phone apps), your dopamine resets and it becomes easier and easier to do whatever you really want to do instead of distract yourself.

0x5002 7y ago

I'm inclined to disagree to a degree. I don't use my phone for anything but Messengers and Twitter (apart from the "utilities", such as Uber or an alarm) - and have deleted by Twitter account a while ago. After doing that, I find myself looking at my phone out of habit/boredeom, but realize I removed the last time wasting app (I got rid of reddit about a year ago) and turn the thing off again. This results in me doing things I consider to be a better investment of my time. Yes, that might be watching a show on TV - but I found that to be more engaging than mindlessly scrolling through people's opinions I ultimately don't care about (as Twitter, as opposed to say HN, rarely spawns intriguing thoughts). Also not having a simple distraction available does result in me being more likely to spend time on more "important" things, might it be yard work or a side project. But it certainly depends on one's personality and preference.

PascLeRasc 7y ago
I think the quality of Twitter can be excellent if you're following "the right" people. I'd be happy to recommend some users who post incredibly intriguing content if you're interested.
- 0x5002 7y ago
  I would be interested in that.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]