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Social media use is a symptom of a bigger problem. That through automation and specialization we have run out of productive attention-occupying things to do. R

Social media use is a symptom of a bigger problem. That through automation and specialization we have run out of productive attention-occupying things to do. Running a small business requires lots of decision-making and attention. Being a corporate drone is mind-numbing and does not. And it turns out, people have an inherent need to keep their attention busy with something. So when productive things run out, they fill their attention span with garbage. That also means that quitting social media is only one half of the solution. The other half is to find a productive activity to take its place. And if you look deeper, you might notice that the current corporate hegemony is only sustainable when most of people's attention is drawn away from things that would create value for them.

burntoutfire 6y ago
It also depends on activity. Most people cannot focus on programming more than 20-30 hours per week. At the same time, all of the chores have became so efficient that they don't take up that much time. Granted, you also need to devote time to some physical activity, but that still leaves you plenty of time left. So, what do you do with it? If you have small children, they can occupy pretty much any amount of time, but otherwise, what is there to do but refresh Hacker News or rewatch old shows? I feel that people in the earlier days worked much longer but not as intensely as coders (who basically are always facing new problems and can never go on autopilot), so they were able to fill out their days with productive activities better than us.
- arpyzo 6y ago
  > what is there to do but refresh Hacker News or rewatch old shows This statement boggles my mind. There are so many interesting things in this modern era to do, watch, learn, listen to, participate in that it would take 10 lifetimes just to scratch the surface. I've had to make brutal cuts to my hobbies in recent years just so I could focus on deep diving into a few and I'm still desperately short on time.
  - muffinman26 6y ago
    It's not that there's nothing interesting to do, it's that there's a lack of interesting things to do that I am capable of doing in that frame of mind. To use a physical example, there are loads of different strenuous activities to do, but I have a limited amount of physical energy in the day. Rock-climbing, hiking, skiing, and weight-lifting are all fun, but if I tried to do all of them in one day, especially consistently, I would cause myself serious injury. It's similar with mental energy. I have a limited amount of mental focus in a day. Beyond that, further attempts to read scholarly articles, play around with code, or do whatever other academic hobby don't actually teach me anything, they simply delay my mind's ability to recover so I can be useful at work the next day. Now, if I didn't have a job, I could work on mental activities until I had used all of my mental energy and then go do something physical. With a job, though, I'm expected to be at a desk and responding to people for ~40 hours a week. If I only have the mental energy for, say, 35 hours, there's a certain amount of time where I have to be sitting still but don't have the mental energy to do anything. Yes, I still have 10 lifetimes worth of things I want to do, but I can't work on them any faster with that extra time, I can literally only do something mindless.
    - burntoutfire 6y ago
      Yes, exactly this. However, I remember that when I started working in 2003, I could focus for most of the work day, endure shitty commute and still play Civiliation in the evening or study for my Masters. Now it's out of question. Two things have changed: I'm older and I had to endure 17 years of laboring (whereas in 2003 I was young and yet unspent) and also Internet got vastly better and more addicting. I wonder which of those had more of an effect on me.
      - john_moscow 6y ago
        Work on your sleep routine. 8 hours of sleep a day should be your top priority. Even if it means a pay cut. If you can't fall asleep, do more exercise during the day and read something relaxing before bed (Sci-Fi works well for me). You will notice positive changes n a couple of months.

burntoutfire 6y ago

It also depends on activity. Most people cannot focus on programming more than 20-30 hours per week. At the same time, all of the chores have became so efficient that they don't take up that much time. Granted, you also need to devote time to some physical activity, but that still leaves you plenty of time left. So, what do you do with it? If you have small children, they can occupy pretty much any amount of time, but otherwise, what is there to do but refresh Hacker News or rewatch old shows? I feel that people in the earlier days worked much longer but not as intensely as coders (who basically are always facing new problems and can never go on autopilot), so they were able to fill out their days with productive activities better than us.

arpyzo 6y ago
> what is there to do but refresh Hacker News or rewatch old shows This statement boggles my mind. There are so many interesting things in this modern era to do, watch, learn, listen to, participate in that it would take 10 lifetimes just to scratch the surface. I've had to make brutal cuts to my hobbies in recent years just so I could focus on deep diving into a few and I'm still desperately short on time.
- muffinman26 6y ago
  It's not that there's nothing interesting to do, it's that there's a lack of interesting things to do that I am capable of doing in that frame of mind. To use a physical example, there are loads of different strenuous activities to do, but I have a limited amount of physical energy in the day. Rock-climbing, hiking, skiing, and weight-lifting are all fun, but if I tried to do all of them in one day, especially consistently, I would cause myself serious injury. It's similar with mental energy. I have a limited amount of mental focus in a day. Beyond that, further attempts to read scholarly articles, play around with code, or do whatever other academic hobby don't actually teach me anything, they simply delay my mind's ability to recover so I can be useful at work the next day. Now, if I didn't have a job, I could work on mental activities until I had used all of my mental energy and then go do something physical. With a job, though, I'm expected to be at a desk and responding to people for ~40 hours a week. If I only have the mental energy for, say, 35 hours, there's a certain amount of time where I have to be sitting still but don't have the mental energy to do anything. Yes, I still have 10 lifetimes worth of things I want to do, but I can't work on them any faster with that extra time, I can literally only do something mindless.
  - burntoutfire 6y ago
    Yes, exactly this. However, I remember that when I started working in 2003, I could focus for most of the work day, endure shitty commute and still play Civiliation in the evening or study for my Masters. Now it's out of question. Two things have changed: I'm older and I had to endure 17 years of laboring (whereas in 2003 I was young and yet unspent) and also Internet got vastly better and more addicting. I wonder which of those had more of an effect on me.
    - john_moscow 6y ago
      Work on your sleep routine. 8 hours of sleep a day should be your top priority. Even if it means a pay cut. If you can't fall asleep, do more exercise during the day and read something relaxing before bed (Sci-Fi works well for me). You will notice positive changes n a couple of months.