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False equivalence. Images and written text have different effects on the brain and emotions. You follow famous people on social media, who have 1,000x your weal

False equivalence. Images and written text have different effects on the brain and emotions. You follow famous people on social media, who have 1,000x your wealth, travel all the time, get adequate sleep, meals, and exercise -- and it can chip away at your self-worth in a way books just can't.

imgabe 6y ago
If someone else's good fortune makes you feel bad, this is a problem with you that you need to remedy in yourself, not a problem with the fact that other people have good fortune. Sorry, editing to clarify because this sounds unnecessarily combative. What I mean is your self-worth should not be externally determined by where you stand in some (mostly imaginary) ranking system compared to random strangers or celebrities, thus it should not be chipped away at by seeing anyone doing better than you in some aspect. This is a crucial skill to learn. You don't have to let your mood and self-worth to be subject to random vagaries of whatever you happen to be looking at at the moment.
- cambalache 6y ago
  Sure, if you are a self-sufficient adult with health and your life more or less in order. But these apps dont prey on that kind of people.They prey on naive teenagers who still are maturing, they prey on technologically clueless senior (and not so senior) citizens who believe everything that is on the Internet, they prey on people disenfranchised, the losers in the dating game in the job market. The mental health damage to those kind of populations is huge.
  - imgabe 6y ago
    No, you don't have to wait for everything else in your life to be perfectly arranged in order to take charge of your own feeling of self worth. In fact doing so makes it far less likely that it will ever happen. This trend of telling people that they are helpless victims of their circumstances comes from a place of compassion, but it is ultimately causing more harm than good. Yes, some things that happen to you, beyond your control, may put you at a disadvantage compared to others. This is not usually insurmountable, and it does not mean that you aren't capable of overcoming it.
    - cambalache 6y ago
      Yes pal, let's stop giving preferential treatment to senior citizens, pregnant women, people with disabilities, let all those bastards learn to fend for themselves. The damagce caused by ADA must be estimated in the billions. Lets remove also sex education, those pesky pre-teenagers should learn about how the world works just by their own. Were you fired, lost your insurance and now have cancer? Tough luck. Are you a bipolar person? Just be happy. Were you raped? Bad things happen, just forget it.
      - imgabe 6y ago
        You're awfully quick to jump to living in an every-person-for-themself Mad-Max style dystopia. That is a ridiculous straw man. You can offer sex ed classes, it is up to the kids to pay attention and apply what they teach. Nobody else can learn something for you. You can offer cancer treatments, but people have to show up and stick with them. You can offer therapy and medication, but people still have to go to the therapy and take the meds. If every time something goes wrong for you, everyone tells you that hey, "there's nothing you could have done", "of course it doesn't work out for you because of X circumstance in your life". Maybe it feels like you're being kind, but you're just robbing them of agency and telling them that they are doomed no matter what. Is your goal to actually make people's lives better, or to make yourself feel better by adhering to some "good person" script?
kilo_bravo_3 6y ago
>Images and written text have different effect on the brain and emotions. You are right. I agree with you 100%. We are the same, you and me. BAN ALL Pornography!!!! Images and text have different effects on the brain and emotions. A young man looking at nudie mags who can't get his wicket bent will turn into a soul-less self-abusing sex-pervert. Porn will chip away at your self-worth in a way books just can't. See? Aren't you glad we all agree here, just one big happy family of consensus? Everyone should stop looking at porn. It is dirty, nasty, stuff and the boobies will turn you into a listless, lazy, loser! I threw away my Juggs, Fat Ass Weeklys, and Bronzed Bimbos in Bikinis magazines, and felt great since! Please read this article about how subscribing to Penthouse Magazine is bad for you.

imgabe 6y ago

If someone else's good fortune makes you feel bad, this is a problem with you that you need to remedy in yourself, not a problem with the fact that other people have good fortune. Sorry, editing to clarify because this sounds unnecessarily combative. What I mean is your self-worth should not be externally determined by where you stand in some (mostly imaginary) ranking system compared to random strangers or celebrities, thus it should not be chipped away at by seeing anyone doing better than you in some aspect. This is a crucial skill to learn. You don't have to let your mood and self-worth to be subject to random vagaries of whatever you happen to be looking at at the moment.

cambalache 6y ago
Sure, if you are a self-sufficient adult with health and your life more or less in order. But these apps dont prey on that kind of people.They prey on naive teenagers who still are maturing, they prey on technologically clueless senior (and not so senior) citizens who believe everything that is on the Internet, they prey on people disenfranchised, the losers in the dating game in the job market. The mental health damage to those kind of populations is huge.
- imgabe 6y ago
  No, you don't have to wait for everything else in your life to be perfectly arranged in order to take charge of your own feeling of self worth. In fact doing so makes it far less likely that it will ever happen. This trend of telling people that they are helpless victims of their circumstances comes from a place of compassion, but it is ultimately causing more harm than good. Yes, some things that happen to you, beyond your control, may put you at a disadvantage compared to others. This is not usually insurmountable, and it does not mean that you aren't capable of overcoming it.
  - cambalache 6y ago
    Yes pal, let's stop giving preferential treatment to senior citizens, pregnant women, people with disabilities, let all those bastards learn to fend for themselves. The damagce caused by ADA must be estimated in the billions. Lets remove also sex education, those pesky pre-teenagers should learn about how the world works just by their own. Were you fired, lost your insurance and now have cancer? Tough luck. Are you a bipolar person? Just be happy. Were you raped? Bad things happen, just forget it.
    - imgabe 6y ago
      You're awfully quick to jump to living in an every-person-for-themself Mad-Max style dystopia. That is a ridiculous straw man. You can offer sex ed classes, it is up to the kids to pay attention and apply what they teach. Nobody else can learn something for you. You can offer cancer treatments, but people have to show up and stick with them. You can offer therapy and medication, but people still have to go to the therapy and take the meds. If every time something goes wrong for you, everyone tells you that hey, "there's nothing you could have done", "of course it doesn't work out for you because of X circumstance in your life". Maybe it feels like you're being kind, but you're just robbing them of agency and telling them that they are doomed no matter what. Is your goal to actually make people's lives better, or to make yourself feel better by adhering to some "good person" script?

kilo_bravo_3 6y ago

>Images and written text have different effect on the brain and emotions. You are right. I agree with you 100%. We are the same, you and me. BAN ALL Pornography!!!! Images and text have different effects on the brain and emotions. A young man looking at nudie mags who can't get his wicket bent will turn into a soul-less self-abusing sex-pervert. Porn will chip away at your self-worth in a way books just can't. See? Aren't you glad we all agree here, just one big happy family of consensus? Everyone should stop looking at porn. It is dirty, nasty, stuff and the boobies will turn you into a listless, lazy, loser! I threw away my Juggs, Fat Ass Weeklys, and Bronzed Bimbos in Bikinis magazines, and felt great since! Please read this article about how subscribing to Penthouse Magazine is bad for you.