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> It's no surprise my generation spends so much time on social media, and nobody can blame them. While I get the point, this is a dangerous precedent to set. W

> It's no surprise my generation spends so much time on social media, and nobody can blame them. While I get the point, this is a dangerous precedent to set. We are the final arbiter of what we do, this cannot be forgotten or thrown away. People do bear responsibility for their own actions, all of them.

tremon 6y ago
We are the final arbiter of what we do, this cannot be forgotten or thrown away While that is true, decision overload is also true: https://health.usnews.com/wellness/mind/articles/2017-03-15/the-hazards-of-decision-overload https://health.usnews.com/wellness/mind/articles/2017-03-15/... It takes mental effort (and hence energy) to resist temptation. We only have a limited amount of mental energy to spend each day. How much energy is highly dependent on each individual's situation, but it's not infinite. The more energy we are forced to spend on worthless distractions, the less energy we have left to make decisions that do matter and can meaningfully change our lives. Acting like it's ok to be abusive and coercive to people "because they bear responsibility for their own actions" is a more dangerous precedent to set, in my opinion.
- betwixthewires 6y ago
  I never said it is OK to be abusive to anyone. The companies are responsible for their actions, and we are responsible for ours.
  - throw3434053 6y ago
    To gain control of our actions we must destroy the means of external control, i.e. these companies. This is the Jordan Peterson "just clean your room" argument, not that cleaning rooms is bad, but it sidesteps the actual problems at hand people are facing.
yosito 6y ago
As an individual, I agree with you. Bearing personal responsibility for one's actions is one of my highest values. However, at scale, people are easily manipulated. This has been known at least since the invention of religion. You can extol the virtues of personal responsibility and self control as much as you want, but the masses are still going to be vulnerable to manipulation.

tremon 6y ago

We are the final arbiter of what we do, this cannot be forgotten or thrown away While that is true, decision overload is also true: https://health.usnews.com/wellness/mind/articles/2017-03-15/the-hazards-of-decision-overload https://health.usnews.com/wellness/mind/articles/2017-03-15/... It takes mental effort (and hence energy) to resist temptation. We only have a limited amount of mental energy to spend each day. How much energy is highly dependent on each individual's situation, but it's not infinite. The more energy we are forced to spend on worthless distractions, the less energy we have left to make decisions that do matter and can meaningfully change our lives. Acting like it's ok to be abusive and coercive to people "because they bear responsibility for their own actions" is a more dangerous precedent to set, in my opinion.

betwixthewires 6y ago
I never said it is OK to be abusive to anyone. The companies are responsible for their actions, and we are responsible for ours.
- throw3434053 6y ago
  To gain control of our actions we must destroy the means of external control, i.e. these companies. This is the Jordan Peterson "just clean your room" argument, not that cleaning rooms is bad, but it sidesteps the actual problems at hand people are facing.

yosito 6y ago

As an individual, I agree with you. Bearing personal responsibility for one's actions is one of my highest values. However, at scale, people are easily manipulated. This has been known at least since the invention of religion. You can extol the virtues of personal responsibility and self control as much as you want, but the masses are still going to be vulnerable to manipulation.