4 ms·

This comment exercising various mental gymnastics to find nefarious causes for a teenager's changing personality... Every generation of parents thinks their ki

This comment exercising various mental gymnastics to find nefarious causes for a teenager's changing personality... Every generation of parents thinks their kid is the smartest and then they become teenagers and suddenly they're moody and want to do things that their parents don't approve of. That's the basic fact underlying this. Any argument you make about kids changing when they become teenagers needs to have this realization at its core. Once you realize that, then you can start to make judgements about whether or not their behavior is cause for alarm or not. Yes apps are addictive, because they're designed that way. But I can tell you what else is designed to be addictive: literally everything. Do you think Doritos taste the way they do by accident? They don't fall off the Dorito tree tasting like that. Or what about the chip companies that has the slogan "betcha can't eat just one" or "once you pop, the fun don't stop"? Likewise, why do TV shows and movies never line up with reality, even if they're based on a true story? Because they were designed to be more interesting than reality. Why do episodes always end on a cliff-hanger, or people leaving a theater say "man they really set that up for a sequel"? Because it was designed to be addictive. Why do most songs last about three minutes and have two verses and two repetitions of the chorus? Because the producer knows that's the most addictive way to write a song. I mean literally everything: Why is bread and milk at the back of a grocery store? Because they know you're going to buy that anyway, and if it's at the back, you'll need to walk past a whole bunch of other things that are all designed to be addictive, with colorful marketing signs designed to maximize engagement. Why do automakers make cars with smooth gear changes and plush leather seats and feature-filled entertainment consoles and a jillion speakers? Because that keeps people happier in their car and more likely to buy another one of those cars in the future. Why do people love dogs? Because humans purposefully designed wolves into the perfect human companion, and everything about a dog was designed to increase user retention and engagement. Why does cola have caffeine added to it? Because caffeine is addictive. There is literally no other reason. "It's designed to be addictive" isn't an excuse, because everything is designed to be addictive. So start with "my child is turning into a teenager and teenagers like different things than children" and then subtract "everything is designed to be addictive" from your reasons. How do you talk to your children when they want more Pringles or a(nother) dog or to stay up late watching TV, or when they're upset that their first car doesn't have Bluetooth audio? I'll bet this author wouldn't write an article shaming their kids for that.

user2834 6y ago
Are fruits and vegetables designed to be addictive? Are hobbies like playing the piano or running designed to be addictive? I think you're too expansive in your use of "everything".
- freehunter 6y ago
  Funny enough yes, fruits and vegetables were designed to be addictive. The fruits we have today are the result of genetic modifications that make them sweeter, so sweet in fact that zoos have had to stop feeding modern fruits to their animals because it was causing the animals to gain too much weight [1]. Vegetables can be the same way. Look at corn before humans ate it versus what it looks like today [2]. Humans specifically designed fruits and vegetables to have more sugar so they were tastier to eat. And this was thousands of years ago, so it's not even a new creation. I don't think running counts as something humans designed but the hobby of running absolutely is designed to be addictive and maximize user engagement. Is there any reason for running shoes to be bright red or lime green or neon orange? Most normal shoes aren't, so why are running shoes? Because brightly colored running shoes sell better than more neutral colors [3]. Likewise, Strava is a very popular running app. Why is it more popular than many competitors? Because it compares your results to someone else's results and challenges you to do that run again, but faster so you can beat this other person's time. That's pretty addictive and of course it was specifically designed that way. There are even people who consider themselves Strava addicts [4]. You're right that everything is too expansive, but everything humans have designed, we've designed to be as addictive as possible (or at least to increase user engagement and retention). Yes, even the piano... the instrument was originally a pipe organ operated by buttons and levers. That's difficult to play and difficult to use in your home so we designed a smaller version called the clavichord but it was too difficult to hear in stage performances (and performing in front of a live audience is... addictive and people want to keep doing it) so along came the harpsichord which was later refined into the piano because the piano is easier to play than a lever-operated pipe organ and if no one cared about user engagement and retention, why bother making a piano that's easier to play? [1] https://weather.com/news/news/2018-10-03-fruit-so-sweet-zoo-stopped-feeding-them-to-animals https://weather.com/news/news/2018-10-03-fruit-so-sweet-zoo-... [2] https://www.sciencealert.com/fruits-vegetables-before-domestication-photos-genetically-modified-food-natural https://www.sciencealert.com/fruits-vegetables-before-domest... [3] https://www.racked.com/2018/1/9/16849572/running-shoes-so-ugly-why https://www.racked.com/2018/1/9/16849572/running-shoes-so-ug... [4] https://triathlonmagazine.ca/gear/am-i-becoming-too-addicted-to-strava/ https://triathlonmagazine.ca/gear/am-i-becoming-too-addicted...

user2834 6y ago

Are fruits and vegetables designed to be addictive? Are hobbies like playing the piano or running designed to be addictive? I think you're too expansive in your use of "everything".

freehunter 6y ago
Funny enough yes, fruits and vegetables were designed to be addictive. The fruits we have today are the result of genetic modifications that make them sweeter, so sweet in fact that zoos have had to stop feeding modern fruits to their animals because it was causing the animals to gain too much weight [1]. Vegetables can be the same way. Look at corn before humans ate it versus what it looks like today [2]. Humans specifically designed fruits and vegetables to have more sugar so they were tastier to eat. And this was thousands of years ago, so it's not even a new creation. I don't think running counts as something humans designed but the hobby of running absolutely is designed to be addictive and maximize user engagement. Is there any reason for running shoes to be bright red or lime green or neon orange? Most normal shoes aren't, so why are running shoes? Because brightly colored running shoes sell better than more neutral colors [3]. Likewise, Strava is a very popular running app. Why is it more popular than many competitors? Because it compares your results to someone else's results and challenges you to do that run again, but faster so you can beat this other person's time. That's pretty addictive and of course it was specifically designed that way. There are even people who consider themselves Strava addicts [4]. You're right that everything is too expansive, but everything humans have designed, we've designed to be as addictive as possible (or at least to increase user engagement and retention). Yes, even the piano... the instrument was originally a pipe organ operated by buttons and levers. That's difficult to play and difficult to use in your home so we designed a smaller version called the clavichord but it was too difficult to hear in stage performances (and performing in front of a live audience is... addictive and people want to keep doing it) so along came the harpsichord which was later refined into the piano because the piano is easier to play than a lever-operated pipe organ and if no one cared about user engagement and retention, why bother making a piano that's easier to play? [1] https://weather.com/news/news/2018-10-03-fruit-so-sweet-zoo-stopped-feeding-them-to-animals https://weather.com/news/news/2018-10-03-fruit-so-sweet-zoo-... [2] https://www.sciencealert.com/fruits-vegetables-before-domestication-photos-genetically-modified-food-natural https://www.sciencealert.com/fruits-vegetables-before-domest... [3] https://www.racked.com/2018/1/9/16849572/running-shoes-so-ugly-why https://www.racked.com/2018/1/9/16849572/running-shoes-so-ug... [4] https://triathlonmagazine.ca/gear/am-i-becoming-too-addicted-to-strava/ https://triathlonmagazine.ca/gear/am-i-becoming-too-addicted...