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The food analogy is really good. Like food, hyper-distraction affects different people differently, I've watched really bad habits affect real peoples lives in

The food analogy is really good. Like food, hyper-distraction affects different people differently, I've watched really bad habits affect real peoples lives in bad ways, and many people who grow up in a culture where that's normal may never break those habits. Also like food, I'm spending way more time in front of screens in order to cope with the pandemic. Is it okay? Eh, not really, but I think it's okay to accept the necessity of overindulgence given the circumstances.

saiya-jin 6y ago
> it's okay to accept the necessity of overindulgence given the circumstances Yes and no. To be honest I am not very happy with all the articles/folks advocating that people should en masse self-medicate during covid with gaming/hours on internet. Its like unless you sit in front of computer/phone there is literally nothing to do at home, just slowly go crazy. I wish governments did recognize this since early pandemics and actually encouraged people to do individual sports outdoors, not effectively banning like in France. That's much better way to keep one fit mentally, and as a bonus physically too which helps not only with covid. The reason for my opinion is this behavior creates patterns that will be very hard to shed off for many people, once things go +-back to as they were (although I don't think we ever get there 100%). Unfortunately, humans are creatures of habits and wired to create many dependencies, ie on substances, but also activities that produce dopamine rush. I hope I am wrong in this. Maybe it won't be as bad and the same people would end up with these 'addictions' regardless of covid, maybe a bit less pronounced.
- coffeefirst 6y ago
  Yeah, I've thought about that, but at least for the people I know personally, they're all bored to death with these stopgap habits and the second it's safe to hang them up and go back to parties, music, and weddings, it's going to be a second roaring 20's. (But agreed on the "don't take a walk" style lockdowns. And I'm honestly surprised the backlash to them isn't stronger.)

saiya-jin 6y ago

> it's okay to accept the necessity of overindulgence given the circumstances Yes and no. To be honest I am not very happy with all the articles/folks advocating that people should en masse self-medicate during covid with gaming/hours on internet. Its like unless you sit in front of computer/phone there is literally nothing to do at home, just slowly go crazy. I wish governments did recognize this since early pandemics and actually encouraged people to do individual sports outdoors, not effectively banning like in France. That's much better way to keep one fit mentally, and as a bonus physically too which helps not only with covid. The reason for my opinion is this behavior creates patterns that will be very hard to shed off for many people, once things go +-back to as they were (although I don't think we ever get there 100%). Unfortunately, humans are creatures of habits and wired to create many dependencies, ie on substances, but also activities that produce dopamine rush. I hope I am wrong in this. Maybe it won't be as bad and the same people would end up with these 'addictions' regardless of covid, maybe a bit less pronounced.

coffeefirst 6y ago
Yeah, I've thought about that, but at least for the people I know personally, they're all bored to death with these stopgap habits and the second it's safe to hang them up and go back to parties, music, and weddings, it's going to be a second roaring 20's. (But agreed on the "don't take a walk" style lockdowns. And I'm honestly surprised the backlash to them isn't stronger.)