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This is probably unpopular but I can't help but feel the X addiction framing is reminiscent of drapetomania. No freaking shit that kids would prefer games to sc

This is probably unpopular but I can't help but feel the X addiction framing is reminiscent of drapetomania. No freaking shit that kids would prefer games to schoolwork and chores. I am sure many of us have fathers or grandfathers who would rather fish than work. Narcistic bad psychology based upon what they want and expect from others as the standard of health instead of trying to understand motivations and incentives. That has been a reoccurring theme with later discredited bad psychology like treating homosexuality as a mental illness to be cured, or infamous uses of institutionalization of "troublesome" people. It betrays an ironically terrible theory of mind. Now there certainly are uses as unhealthy coping mechanisms and executive dysfunction but addiction loses meaning when abused to apply to literally every source of pleasure. The pathological cases would be better referred to as compulsive behavior instead of addiction - a subtle but very important distinction.

bdamm 7y ago
Addiction has earned a medical definition in recent decades, and it focuses on the psychological feeling of craving and the persistent compulsive behavior. Thus, under the modern definition of addiction, yes you can experience craving for all kinds of non-substance things, beyond tolerance. (And, obviously, Substance Tolerance as a separate thing has also received a rigorous medical definition, but that came earlier than addiction.) Of course I'd prefer to play games rather than do chores. And as a father I'm concerned that my son is spending too much time on the iPad playing minecraft. Is he an addict? Should there be intervention? He does seem to experience craving. Could it be a persistent compulsive behavior? For now he's able to put down the iPad and do the homework we all know needs to be done, so no, I don't view that as addiction and I don't think it fits the definition. But if it becomes an overriding compulsion to the exclusion of most other behaviors, then absolutely we should call that addiction and treat it like addiction. "Big Tech" knows this quite well I think and we all should know that our A/B testing that's focused on user engagement is, in fact, curating addictive behavior.

bdamm 7y ago

Addiction has earned a medical definition in recent decades, and it focuses on the psychological feeling of craving and the persistent compulsive behavior. Thus, under the modern definition of addiction, yes you can experience craving for all kinds of non-substance things, beyond tolerance. (And, obviously, Substance Tolerance as a separate thing has also received a rigorous medical definition, but that came earlier than addiction.) Of course I'd prefer to play games rather than do chores. And as a father I'm concerned that my son is spending too much time on the iPad playing minecraft. Is he an addict? Should there be intervention? He does seem to experience craving. Could it be a persistent compulsive behavior? For now he's able to put down the iPad and do the homework we all know needs to be done, so no, I don't view that as addiction and I don't think it fits the definition. But if it becomes an overriding compulsion to the exclusion of most other behaviors, then absolutely we should call that addiction and treat it like addiction. "Big Tech" knows this quite well I think and we all should know that our A/B testing that's focused on user engagement is, in fact, curating addictive behavior.